Fruitland Formation

Fruitland formation Stratigraphic range: Late Cretaceous
Type	Geological formation
Underlies	Kirtland Formation
Overlies	Pictured Cliffs Sandstone
Location
Region	North America

The Fruitland Formation is a sedimentary geological formation containing layers of sandstone, shale, and coal. It was laid down in marshy delta conditions, with poor drainage and frequent flooding, under a warm, humid and seasonal climate. It is dated from the late Campanian (part of the Cretaceous period), and is found in the San Juan Basin in the states of New Mexico and Colorado, in the United States of America.

The Fruitland is underlain by the Pictured Cliffs Sandstone, and overlain by the more recent Kirtland Formation. The sequence of rocks represents the final filling of the Cretaceous seaway. The underlying Pictured Cliffs is a marginal marine sandstone, deposited in an environment similar to offshore barrier islands of the southeast United States. As the seaway retreated, the Pictured Cliffs was covered by the Fruitland Formation, which was deposited in near-shore swampy lowlands.

The Fruitland Formation contains beds of bituminous coal that are mined in places along the outcrop.

Since the 1980s, the coal beds of the Fruitland Formation have yielded large quantities of coalbed methane. The productive area for coalbed methane straddles the Colorado-New Mexico state line, and is one of the most productive areas for coalbed methane in the United States.

Contents 1 Paleofauna 1.1 Ornithischians 1.2 Saurischians 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 References

Paleofauna

Ornithischians

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative data are in small text; crossed out data are discredited.

Ornithischians of the Fruitland Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Chasmosaurus[1]	Indeterminate[1]
Corythosaurus[2]	Indeterminate[2]
Kritosaurus[3]	K. navajovius[3]				Fruitland remains once attributed to Kritosaurus navajovius are now regarded as indeterminate hadrosaurine remains.[4]
Monoclonius[5]	Indeterminate[5]				Remains previously referred to a possible Monoclonius are now regarded as indeterminate ceratopsid remains.[4]
Parasaurolophus[4]	P. cyrtocristatus[4]
Pentaceratops[4]	P. fenestratus[4]				A jr. synonym of P. sternbergii.[4]
	P. stenbergii[4]		Fossil Forest[6]
Stegoceras[7]	S. novomexicanum[7]		Fossil Forest[7]	"(holotype) NMMNH P-33898, nearly complete frontoparietal" and "SMP VP-2555, greater posterior part of left frontal and anterior-most portions of left and right frontals"[7]	Also found in the lower Kirtland Formation.
Thescelosaurus[8]	Indeterminate[8]

Saurischians

Some remains (OMNH 10131) of Bistahieversor, a tyrannosauroid from the overlying Kirtland Formation, may actually have originated in the upper Fruitland Formation.^[9]

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative data are in small text; crossed out data are discredited.

Saurischians of the Fruitland Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Albertosaurus[10]	Indeterminate[10]
Gorgosaurus[11]	G. libratus[11]
Ornithomimus[12]	Indeterminate[12]
Paronychodon[4]	P. lacustris[4]				Now regarded as possible indeterminate troodontid remains.[4]

See also

• List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils

Footnotes

References

• Carr, T.D. and Williamson, T.E. (2010). "Bistahieversor sealeyi, gen. et sp. nov., a new tyrannosauroid from New Mexico and the origin of deep snouts in Tyrannosauroidea." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(1): 1-16. doi:10.1080/02724630903413032
• Sullivan, R.M., and Lucas, S.G. 2006. "The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age" – faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America." New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 35:7-29.
• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.