Geraldine Bonebed: Asselian - Sakmarian, Texas

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Russellites sp. leaf
Ectosteorachis nitidus
Dipnoi - Sagenodontidae
Sagenodus sp. Owen 1867
1 element
MCZ 8453 (tooth plate); "not from quarry itself but from the general vicinity"
unclassified
Archeria crassidisca (Cope 1884)
Edaphosauridae
Edaphosaurus boanerges Romer and Price 1940
Sphenacodontidae
Dimetrodon natalis (Cope 1878)
Ophiacodontidae
Ophiacodon retroversus (Cope 1878)
Romer and Price 1940 1 individual
AMNH 4195 (part)
Ophiacodon uniformis (Cope 1878)
1 individual
MCZ 7787 (a single astragalus); "not from quarry itself but from the general vicinity"
Reptilia - Bolosauridae
Bolosaurus striatus Cope 1878
Diadectidae
Diadectes sp. Cope 1878
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Eryopidae
Eryops megacephalus Cope 1877
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Trimerorhachidae
Trimerorhachis insignis Cope 1878
spelled "Trimerorachis insignis" in the reference; "not from quarry itself but from the general vicinity"
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Zatracheidae
Zatrachys sp. Cope 1878
no exact amount given; "not from quarry itself but from the general vicinity"
Chondrichthyes - Xenacanthida - Orthacanthidae
Orthacanthus texensis Cope 1888
unclassified
Hexapoda indet. Latreille 1825
Ostracoda
Ostracoda indet. Latreille 1802
Bacillariophyceae - Naviculales - Pinnulariaceae
Pinnularia sp. Ehrenberg 1843
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Sphenopteridae
Sphenopteris cf. macilenta leaf
unclassified
Callipteridium virginianum leaf
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Callipteridium cf. pteridium leaf
Pteropsida
Pecopteris sp. leaf Brongniart 1822
Pecopteris arborescens leaf
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Pecopteris candolleana leaf
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Pecopteris unita leaf
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Polypodiopsida - Cyatheales - Cyatheaceae
Pecopteris hemitelioides leaf Brongniart 1834
recombined as Hemitelites hemitelioides
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Polypodiopsida - Equisetales - Calamitaceae
Calamites sp. Suckow 1784
Orginally described as Dorycalamites by W. C. Darrah in Romer and Price 1940. Synonym of Calamites
Calamites undulatus axis Sternberg 1825
Polypodiopsida - Equisetales
Annularia cf. stellata leaf
Polypodiopsida - Marattiales - Marattiaceae
Psaronius sp. root Cotta 1832
Coniferales
Samaropsis spp. seed/fruit
Pinopsida - Cordaitanthales
Cordaites principalis leaf
Sigillariaceae
Sigillaria brardii
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
unclassified
Walchia sp. multi organs Sternberg 1825
fronds, stem impressions, and shoots
Peltaspermopsida - Peltaspermales - Peltaspermaceae
Callipteris sp. Brongniart 1849
Odontopteris sp. Brongniart 1825
Odontopteris genuina leaf
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Odontopteris cf. osmundaeformis leaf
Odontopteris conferta leaf
Equisetopsida - Sphenophyllales
Sphenophyllum oblongifolium
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
Equisetopsida - Araucariaceae
Dadoxylon sp. wood Endlicher 1847
unclassified
Tingia sp. Halle 1925
From list by Darrah in Romer and Price (1940)
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:Texas County:Archer
Coordinates: 33.7° North, 98.7° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:3.3° South, 31.2° West
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Permian Epoch:Cisuralian
*Period:Early/Lower Permian *Epoch:Rotliegendes
*International age/stage:Asselian - Sakmarian *Local age/stage:Wolfcampian
Key time interval:Asselian - Sakmarian
Age range of interval:298.90000 - 290.10000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Wichita Formation:Nocona Local bed:Geraldine Bonebed
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: The Geraldine Bonebed has been placed in the Nocona Formation, the old assignment to the Admiral Formation has been revised, as the Admiral is now restriced to a marine limestone and shale unit lying to the southwest of the same age as the Nocona.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:grading,gray,yellow claystone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: gray, blocky to flaky and rarely laminated claystone grading downwards into yellow clays...Notable is the occurrence of small "blebs" of azurite and malachite staining on joint faces. Some layers of small clay pebbles are present
Environment:"floodplain"
Geology comments: Extensive discussion of paleoenvironmental interpretation (p. 223-226; 233-234). The setting of the Geraldine Bobebed and vicinity was a lushly vegetated floodplain with small lakes and a swamp forest of Psaronius, Cordaites and some seed ferns. Forest and brush vegetation (Walchia, seed ferns) lived on the "upland" divides between drainages.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:adpression,charcoalification,coalified
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Disassociated major elements:some
Disassociated minor elements:some
Temporal resolution:snapshot
Spatial resolution:parautochthonous
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:some macrofossils
Collection methods:selective quarrying,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Metadata
Database number:11165
Authorizer:H. Sims, J. Mueller Enterer:S. Ostrowski, H. Sims, T. Liebrecht
Modifier:A. McGowan Research group:paleobotany
Created:2001-07-23 07:53:07 Last modified:2003-09-19 14:26:29
Access level:the public Released:2001-07-23 07:53:07
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
4113. P. M. Sander. 1987. Taphonomy of the Lower Permian Geraldine Bonebed in Archer County, Texas. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 61:221-236 [H. Sims/S. Ostrowski/J. Cassara]

Secondary references:

28940 R. Broom. 1913. On the structure and affinities of Bolosaurus. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 32:509-516 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/M. Carrano]
5692 A. S. Romer and L. I. Price. 1940. Review of the Pelycosauria. Geological Society of America Special Paper 28:1-538 [A. Behrensmeyer/A. Behrensmeyer/T. Liebrecht]