Eutaw Formation

Eutaw Formation
Stratigraphic range: Upper Cretaceous
Type Geological formation
Sub-units Tombigbee Sand Member, Ingersoll Shale
Underlies Mooreville Chalk Formation
Overlies Tuscaloosa Group
Thickness 40 m (130 ft) to 120 m (390 ft)
Lithology
Primary Glauconitic sandstone
Location
Region Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi
Country  United States
Type section
Named for Eutaw, Alabama

The Eutaw Formation is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. The strata date from the late Coniacian to the early Santonian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[1] It consists of the upper Tombigbee Sand Member and an unnamed lower member. Dinosaur, mosasaur, and pterosaur remains have been recovered from the Eutaw Formation.[2][3]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs of the Eutaw Formation
Taxa Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Clidastes

Clidastes sp.[2]

Mosasaurines
Eonatator sternbergii
Tylosaurus proriger

Eonatator

E. sternbergii[2][4]
  • A halisaurine
  1. E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergii

Platecarpus

P. tympaniticus[2]
  • A plioplatecarpine

Selmasaurus

S. russelli[2]
  • A plioplatecarpine

Tylosaurus

Tylosaurus sp.[2]
  • Mosasaurines

Ornithodires

Dinosaur feathers have been found in the Ingersoll Shale of Georgia, which is a subunit of the Eutaw Formation.[3] Indeterminate hadrosaurid remains have been found in Mississippi.

Ornithodires of the Eutaw Formation
Genus Species State Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Pteranodon

Indeterminate

Pteranodontids
Pteranodon sp.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Liu, Kaiyu. "Facies Changes of the Eutaw Formation (Coniacian-Santonian), Onshore to Offshore, Northeastern Gulf of Mexico Area". Department of Geological Sciences. University of Alabama. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 Kiernan, Caitlin R. (2002). "Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0091:SDAHSO]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Coastal Plain Geologic Province". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Georgia Humanities Council and the University of Georgia Press. 2007-08-30. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  4. ↑ Bardet N; Suberbiola P; Iarochene M; Bouyahyaoui F; Bouya B; Amaghzaz M (2002). "A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical relationships of the Halisaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 143: 447–472. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00152.x. Retrieved 2009-02-10.