Ferris Formation

The Ferris Formation is a Late Cretaceous (~66 Ma) to Paleocene (66-63 Ma), fluvial-deltaic geological formation in southern Wyoming. It contains a variety of trace and body fossils, preserved in sandy fluvial channel deposits and overbank units. Dinosaur remains are fragmentary, but include Triceratops, Tyrannosaurus, dromaeosaurids, Paronychodon, Ricardoestesia, Edmontosaurus, Edmontonia, Ankylosaurus, and Pachycephalosaurus.[1]

Ferris Formation
Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian-Danian
~66–63 Ma
↓
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesHanna Formation
OverliesMedicine Bow Formation
Thickness600–2,000 m (2,000–6,600 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryMudstone
OtherSandstone
Location
Coordinates41.8°N 106.6°W / 41.8; -106.6
Approximate paleocoordinates48.8°N 82.2°W / 48.8; -82.2
Region Wyoming
Country United States
ExtentHanna Basin
Ferris Formation (the United States)
Ferris Formation (Wyoming)

Some of the fluvial channels contain evidence of tidal influence and brackish water, in the form of tidal facies, shark teeth, and shrimp burrows. This demonstrates that the western shoreline of the Western Interior Sea was still within a few hundred kilometers even during the latest Cretaceous. The local K-T boundary is contained within a sandy channel deposit made up of stacked bars. Reworked Cretaceous fossils are preserved at the base of the channel complex, associated with mud rip-up clasts, and Paleocene mammal fossils are preserved in the upper portion of the bar.[2]

The Ferris Formation is up to 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) thick in the Hanna Basin and represents a rapid accumulation of predominantly fine-grained sediment on a broad delta. The delta previously fed the deepwater Lewis Shale and shallow marine Fox Hills Formation. The Ferris followed behind as a system of lagoons, bays, and delta plain environments.

Vertebrate paleofauna

In addition to a variety of dinosaurs, the following taxa are known from the Ferris Formation:

and a variety of Cretaceous and Paleocene multituberculates, marsupial, and placentals.

Ornithischians
Ornithischians of the Ferris Formation
GenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionAbundanceNotesImages
Ankylosaurus[3] Indeterminate[3]
Nodosauridae[4] Indeterminate[3]
Stygimoloch[3] S. spinifer[3]
Thescelosaurus[3] Indeterminate[3]
Triceratops[3] Indeterminate[3] Ferris remains previously attributed to Triceratops have been subsequently identified as indeterminate chasmosaurine fossils[3]

Saurischians
Saurischians of the Ferris Formation
GenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionAbundanceNotesImages
Ornithomimus[5] O. sp.[5]
Tyrannosaurus[3] T. rex[3]
Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
 Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

See also

References
  1. Wroblewski, 1995
  2. Lillegraven & Eberle, 1999
  3. "3.12 Wyoming, United States; 9. Ferris Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.585
  4. Listed as "Edmontonia cf. rugosidens" in "3.12 Wyoming, United States; 9. Ferris Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.585
  5. Listed as "Ornithomimus cf. velox" in "3.12 Wyoming, United States; 9. Ferris Formation," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.585

Bibliography
  • Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21. ISBN 0-520-24209-2
  • Wroblewski, Anton F.. 1995. First report of changes in lower vertebrate faunas across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, western Hanna Basin, Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology Supp. to volume 15. 61A.
  • Lillegraven, Jason A., and Jaelyn J. Eberle. 1999. Vertebrate Faunal Changes through Lancian and Puercan Time in Southern Wyoming. Journal of Paleontology 73. 691–710. Accessed 2020-11-16.
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