Dinosaur biostratigraphy of the Edmonton Group (Upper Cretaceous), Alberta, Canada: evidence for climate influence

2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (7) ◽  
pp. 701-726 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth ◽  
David C. Evans ◽  
Donald B. Brinkman ◽  
François Therrien ◽  
Darren H. Tanke ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Middle Zone ◽  
Faunal Change ◽  
Morphological Stasis ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Bottom To Top ◽  
Dinosaur Park Formation ◽  
Horseshoe Canyon Formation

A high-resolution biostratigraphic analysis of 287 dinosaurian macrofossils and 138 bonebeds in the Edmonton Group (Upper Cretaceous) of southern Alberta provides evidence for at least three dinosaurian assemblage zones in the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (HCFm). From bottom to top the zones comprise unique assemblages of ornithischians and are named as follows: (1) Edmontosaurus regalis – Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis (lower zone); (2) Hypacrosaurus altispinus – Saurolophus osborni (middle zone); and (3) Eotriceratops xerinsularis (upper zone). Whereas the lower and middle zones are well defined and based on abundant specimens, the validity of the uppermost zone (E. xerinsularis) is tentative because it is based on a single specimen and the absence of dinosaur taxa from lower in section. The transition from the lower to the middle zone coincides with the replacement of a warm-and-wet saturated deltaic setting by a cooler, coastal-plain landscape, characterized by seasonal rainfall and better-drained substrates. Whereas changes in rainfall and substrate drainage appear to have influenced the faunal change, changes in mean annual temperature and proximity to shoreline appear to have had little influence on faunal change. We speculate that the faunal change between the middle and upper zones also resulted from a change in climate, with ornithischian dinosaurs responding to the re-establishment of wetter-and-warmer climates and poorly-drained substrates. Compared with the shorter-duration and climatically-consistent dinosaurian assemblage zones in the older Dinosaur Park Formation of southern Alberta, HCFm assemblage zones record long-term morphological stasis in dinosaurs. Furthermore, the coincidence of faunal and paleoenvironmental changes in the HCFm suggest climate-change-driven dinosaur migrations into and out of the region.

The first record of spiral coprolites from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Judith River Group, Upper Cretaceous) southern Alberta, Canada

1995 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1191-1194 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clive E. Coy
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
First Record ◽  
Niobrara Formation ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Dinosaur Park Formation

Spiral coprolites from the Upper Cretaceous of North America are poorly known. Enterospirae (fossilized intestines) reported from the Upper Cretaceous Niobrara Formation of western Kansas (Stewart, 1978) were disputed by McAllister (1985), who felt they represented spiral coprolites similar to those described from the Permian by Neumayer (1904). Previously described coprolites from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta are small, unstructured, ellipsoidal forms thought to derive from a crocodilian or terrestrial, carnivorous reptile of necrophagic or piscivorous habits (Waldman, 1970; Waldman and Hopkins, 1970).

High-precision U–Pb CA–ID–TIMS dating and chronostratigraphy of the dinosaur-rich Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian–Maastrichtian), Red Deer River valley, Alberta, Canada

2020 ◽  
Vol 57 (10) ◽  
pp. 1220-1237 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth ◽  
Sandra L. Kamo
Keyword(s):  
High Precision ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Red Deer ◽  
Alluvial Plain ◽  
Type Area ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Dinosaur Evolution ◽  
Horseshoe Canyon Formation ◽  
Upper Campanian

The non-marine Horseshoe Canyon Formation (HCFm, southern Alberta) yields taxonomically diverse, late Campanian to middle Maastrichtian dinosaur assemblages that play a central role in documenting dinosaur evolution, paleoecology, and paleobiogeography leading up to the end-Cretaceous extinction. Here, we present high-precision U–Pb CA–ID–TIMS ages and the first calibrated chronostratigraphy for the HCFm using zircon grains from (1) four HCFm bentonites distributed through 129 m of section, (2) one bentonite from the underlying Bearpaw Formation, and (3) a bentonite from the overlying Battle Formation that we dated previously. In its type area, the HCFm ranges in age from 73.1–68.0 Ma. Significant paleoenvironmental and climatic changes are recorded in the formation, including (1) a transition from a warm-and-wet deltaic setting to a cooler, seasonally wet-dry coastal plain at 71.5 Ma, (2) maximum transgression of the Drumheller Marine Tongue at 70.896 ± 0.048 Ma, and (3) transition to a warm-wet alluvial plain at 69.6 Ma. The HCFm’s three mega-herbivore dinosaur assemblage zones track these changes and are calibrated as follows: Edmontosaurus regalis – Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis zone, 73.1–71.5 Ma; Hypacrosaurus altispinus – Saurolophus osborni zone, 71.5–69.6 Ma; and Eotriceratops xerinsularis zone, 69.6–68.2 Ma. The Albertosaurus Bonebed — a monodominant assemblage of tyrannosaurids in the Tolman Member — is assessed an age of 70.1 Ma. The unusual triceratopsin, Eotriceratops xerinsularis, from the Carbon Member, is assessed an age of 68.8 Ma. This chronostratigraphy is useful for refining correlations with dinosaur-bearing upper Campanian–middle Maastrichtian units in Alberta and elsewhere in North America.

Stratigraphy of the Danek Bonebed (Upper Cretaceous Horseshoe Canyon Formation, central Alberta) and correlations with strata in the Drumheller and Grande Prairie regions

2014 ◽  
Vol 51 (11) ◽  
pp. 975-981 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth ◽  
Phil R. Bell
Keyword(s):  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Faunal Assemblage ◽  
The North ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
North Slope Of Alaska ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Geologic Time Scale ◽  
Assemblage Zone ◽  
Considerable Work ◽  
Horseshoe Canyon Formation

Although considerable work has been conducted on the stratigraphy and dinosaur assemblages of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation of southern Alberta, equivalent strata and assemblages in central Alberta remain poorly understood. Data from the Danek Bonebed (Edmonton, Alberta) are beginning to fill this gap. The bonebed occurs 4 m above the #9 Big Island Coal Seam. This stratigraphic position lies just below the middle of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in the Edmonton region, and also lies below a thick, stratigraphically significant non-coaly interval that is expressed throughout central and southern Alberta. The stratigraphic position of the Danek Bonebed equates best with the uppermost Horsethief Member of the Horseshoe Canyon Formation in the Drumheller region and the upper part of Unit 4 of the Wapiti Formation in the Grande Prairie region. In both Drumheller and Grande Prairie, the correlated position of the bonebed underlies a zone of marine transgression (Drumheller Marine Tongue), which, in turn, includes the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary. In the context of Geologic Time Scale 2004, we infer a late Campanian age of 71.0–71.3 Ma for the bonebed. The Danek’s dinosaurian assemblage is limited taxonomically, but compares well with the Edmontosaurus regalis – Pachyrhinosaurus canadensis fossil assemblage zone in the Drumheller region. We propose that a mega-herbivore faunal assemblage, characterized by Edmontosaurus and Pachyrhinosaurus, extended continuously across the climatically wet coastal plain of latest Campanian southern and central Alberta, and likely extended northwest into the North Slope of Alaska, where it persisted into the early Maastrichtian.

scholarly journals New insights into chasmosaurine (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) skulls from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of Alberta, and an update on the distribution of accessory frill fenestrae in Chasmosaurinae

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5194
Author(s):  
James A. Campbell ◽  
Michael J. Ryan ◽  
Claudia J. Schröder-Adams ◽  
David C. Evans ◽  
Robert B. Holmes
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Variation ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Western Canada ◽  
Size And Shape ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Position And Orientation ◽  
Dinosaur Park Formation

Chasmosaurine ceratopsids are well documented from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Dinosaur Park Formation (DPF) of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, and includeChasmosaurus belli,Chasmosaurus russelli,Mercuriceratops gemini,Vagaceratops irvinensis, and material possibly referable toSpiclypeus shipporum.In this study, we describe three recently prepared chasmosaurine skulls (CMN 8802, CMN 34829, and TMP 2011.053.0046) from the DPF, and age-equivalent sediments, of Alberta. CMN 8802 and CMN 34829 are both referred toChasmosaurussp. based on the size and shape of the preserved parietal fenestrae. TMP 2011.053.0046 is referred toVagaceratopssp. based on the position and orientation of its preserved epiparietals. Each skull is characterized by the presence of an accessory fenestra in either the squamosal (CMN 8802 and TMP 2011.053.0046) or parietal (CMN 34829). Such fenestrae are common occurrences in chasmosaurine squamosals, but are rare in the parietal portion of the frill. The origin of the fenestrae in these three specimens is unknown, but they do not appear to exhibit evidence of pathology, as has been previously interpreted for the accessory fenestrae in most other chasmosaurine frills. These three skulls contribute to a better understanding of the morphological variation, and geographic and stratigraphic distribution, of chasmosaurines within the DPF and age-equivalent sediments in Western Canada.

A revised stratigraphy and depositional history for the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Cretaceous), southern Alberta plains

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (9) ◽  
pp. 1053-1086 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth ◽  
Dennis R. Braman
Keyword(s):  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Soil Formation ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Sequence Stratigraphic ◽  
Resource Distributions ◽  
Stratigraphic Model ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Horseshoe Canyon Formation

The Upper Cretaceous paralic to nonmarine Horseshoe Canyon Formation (HCFm) of southern Alberta is divided into seven mappable members: Strathmore, Drumheller, Horsethief, Morrin, Tolman, Carbon, and Whitemud (bottom to top). This subdivision, based on combined outcrop and subsurface analyses, reflects lithostratigraphic variations related to changes in sea level (previously recognized) and newly documented changes in climate, volcanism, and orogenesis in an evolving foreland basin. Million-year-scale cycles of orogenesis resulted in changes in sediment supply and rates of subsidence in the basin and are interpreted in the context of a simple, two-phase foreland-basin sequence stratigraphic model: (i) overthrust loading resulting in reduced rates of sediment supply and subsidence in the most distal portions of the Alberta foredeep (our field area); (ii) tectonic quiescence leading to increased rates of sediment supply and subsidence during proximal-foredeep rebound. During the first ∼2.5 Ma of its history (Strathmore and Drumheller members), the HCFm was tectonically and climatically “stable”, and depositional style and stratigraphic architecture were influenced by vertical aggradation and modest progradation of shorelines. During the remaining ∼4.5 Ma (Horsethief, Morrin, Tolman, Carbon, and Whitemud members), there were more complex and frequent changes in climate, volcanism, orogenesis, landscape weathering, and soil formation. Understanding this previously unrecognized complexity is critical for correctly assessing hydrocarbon resource distributions and biostratigraphic and taphonomic patterns.

Origins of dinosaur bonebeds in the Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada

2015 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 655-681 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Eberth
Keyword(s):  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Seasonal Basis ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
Scientific Attention ◽  
Flooding Events ◽  
Dinosaur Park Formation ◽  
Warm Temperate ◽  
Provincial Park

Upper Cretaceous dinosaur bonebeds are common in Alberta, Canada, and have attracted continuous scientific attention since the 1960s. Since its inception, the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology has documented the presence of hundreds of these sites and has been involved directly in the scientific study of many tens. Because many of these bonebeds have been used to address questions about the paleobiology and paleoecology of dinosaurs, questions have arisen about bonebed origins and preservation in the Cretaceous of Alberta. This study of 260 bonebeds delineates broad paleoenvironmental settings and associations, and taphonomic signatures of assemblages as a first step in assessing patterns of dinosaur bonebed origins in the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta. Bonebeds are known predominantly from the Belly River Group and the Horseshoe Canyon, lower St. Mary River, Wapiti, and Scollard formations. In these units, bonebeds are mostly associated with river channel and alluvial wetland settings that were influenced by a subtropical to warm-temperate, monsoonal climate. Most bonebeds formed in response to flooding events capable of killing dinosaurs, reworking and modifying skeletal remains, and burying taphocoenoses. The “coastal-plain-flooding hypothesis,” proposed in 2005, suggested that many bonebeds in the Dinosaur Park Formation formed in response to the effects of recurring coastal-plain floods that submerged vast areas of ancient southern Alberta on a seasonal basis. It remains the best mechanism to explain how many of the bonebeds were formed and preserved at Dinosaur Provincial Park, and here, is proposed as the mechanism that best explains bonebed origins in other Upper Cretaceous formations across central and southern Alberta.

A history of Albertosaurus discoveries in Alberta, CanadaThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Albertosaurus.

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (9) ◽  
pp. 1197-1211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren H. Tanke ◽  
Philip J. Currie
Keyword(s):  
New Genus ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Considerable Confusion ◽  
Taxonomic Uncertainty ◽  
History Of ◽  
Information Politics ◽  
Horseshoe Canyon Formation

After many years of taxonomic uncertainty, Albertosaurus was established as a new genus in 1905, the year Alberta became a province of Canada. Gorgosaurus is a closely related tyrannosaurid from the Judithian beds of southern Alberta that was subsequently synonymized with Albertosaurus. Although most researchers consider the genera as distinct, there has been considerable confusion over the temporal and geographic range of Albertosaurus. Albertosaurus sarcophagus is only known from 13 skulls and (or) skeletons of varying completeness, and one (possibly two) bonebeds, all from the Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian) of Alberta. Many of the major Albertosaurus specimens are scientifically compromised due to poor collection techniques, incomplete locality and stratigraphic information, politics, vandalism, accidents, gunplay, and landowner issues. The background of each specimen is discussed to eliminate some of the sources of confusion and to document how much of each specimen is preserved.

Lateral and vertical facies sequences in the Upper Cretaceous Chungo Member, Wapiabi Formation, southern Alberta

1987 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 771-783 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lorne R. P. Rosenthal ◽  
Roger G. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Sea Level ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Fluvial Deposits ◽  
Southern Alberta ◽  
Surface Marking ◽  
Shoreline Progradation ◽  
Erosion Surface

The Chungo Member of the Wapiabi Formation (Campanian) shales out northward and (or) eastward from Lundbreck to the Bow Valley, southern Alberta. At Lundbreck, basinal mudstones are overlain by turbidite and hummocky cross-stratified sandstones in an overall coarsening-upward sequence. The marine part of the sequence is capped by dominantly swaley cross-stratified sandstones, interpreted as storm-dominated shoreface deposits. Nonmarine fluvial deposits overlie the shoreface. Essentially the same sequence persists northward to the area of the Highwood River, but in the Highwood River – Sheep River – Longview area, the swaley cross-stratified shoreface sandstones are progressively cut out by a north- and (or) east-ward-dipping erosion surface with up to 40 m of relief. The erosion surface is overlain by a lag of chert pebbles and then by a marine coarsening-upward sequence of offshore to shoreface deposits (the lower tongue of the Nomad Member). Nonmarine Chungo deposits then prograded north- and (or) eastward to overlie this marine tongue in the Highwood area. They are in turn abruptly overlain by a gravel-coated transgressive surface marking the upper marine tongue of the Nomad Member. Finally, marine shales of the Nomad Member are abruptly overlain by dominantly fluvial rocks of the Belly River Formation.We suggest that the main Chungo shoreface, stratigraphically equivalent to the Milk River sandstone of southeastern Alberta, prograded north- and (or) eastward to at least the Highwood River area. A rapid relative lowering of sea level followed by stillstand resulted in the formation of the erosion surface and the supply of gravel to the basin. The overlying coarsening-upward sequence indicates the resumption of shoreline progradation, but this appears to have been relatively short-lived; it was terminated by the transgression of the upper Nomad tongue.

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