Quarry butte (Permian of the United States)

Also known as UCMP locality V3529, NMMNH locality L 4707

Where: Rio Arriba County, New Mexico (36.1° N, 106.6° W: paleocoordinates 6.5° N, 33.0° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: El Cobre Canyon Formation (Cutler Group), Wolfcampian (298.9 - 286.0 Ma)

• Chama Basin

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lacustrine; brown, green claystone and siltstone

• The Welles quarry, VanderHoof quarry and Quarry Butte locality were interpreted by Langston (1953) as belonging to a single large lake deposit, due to their similar lithologies and verte- brate assemblages. However, Berman et al. (1988) interpreted the quarries as ephemeral crevasse channels that were temporary sites of standing water within a locally anastomosed river system.
• "Lithologically, the Quarry Butte locality consists of shale similar to those of the two nearby quarries, which are capped by crossbedded sandstones and underlain by marls. The only lithologically distinct characteristic of the site is a series of hard, lenticular, calcareous lenses in the shale." Lucas et al. (2005)

Size class: macrofossils

Reposited in the NMMNH, UCMP

Primary reference: S. G. Lucas, S. K. Harris, J. A. Spielmann, D. S. Berman, A. C. Henrici, A. B. Heckert, K. E. Zeigler and L. F. Rinehart. 2005. Early Permian Vertebrate Assemblage and its Biostratigraphic Significance, Arroyo del Agua, Rio Arriba County, New Mexico. New Mexico Geological Society, 56th Field Conference Guidebook, Geology of the Chama Basin 288-296 [R. Butler/E. Dunne]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 180383: authorized by Richard Butler, entered by Emma Dunne on 14.07.2016

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Osteichthyes
 Synapsida - Sphenacodontidae
Sphenacodon ferox Marsh 1878 synapsid
 Synapsida - Ophiacodontidae
Ophiacodon mirus Marsh 1878 ophiacodont
 Cotylosauria - Diadectidae
Diadectes lentus Marsh 1878 tetrapod
Amphibia
 Temnospondyli - Eryopidae
Eryops grandis Marsh 1878 tetrapod
 Temnospondyli - Dissorophidae
Platyhystrix rugosus Case 1910 tetrapod
 Temnospondyli - Cochleosauridae
Chenoprosopus milleri Mehl 1913 tetrapod
Osteichthyes
 Elonichthyiformes - Acrolepidae
Progyrolepis sp. Fritsch 1893 ray-finned fish
Chondrichthyes
 Xenacanthiformes - Xenacanthidae
Xenacanthus sp. Beyrich 1848 elasmobranch