Eutaw Formation
Encyclopedia
The Eutaw Formation is a geological formation in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

, within the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 states of Alabama
Alabama
Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

, and Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

. The strata date from the late Coniacian
Coniacian
The Coniacian is an age or stage in the geologic timescale. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series and spans the time between 89.3 ± 1 Ma and 85.8 ± 0.7 Ma...

 to the early Santonian
Santonian
The Santonian is an age in the geologic timescale or a chronostratigraphic stage. It is a subdivision of the Late Cretaceous epoch or Upper Cretaceous series. It spans the time between 85.8 ± 0.7 mya and 83.5 ± 0.7 mya...

 stage of the Late Cretaceous
Late Cretaceous
The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

. It consists of the upper Tombigbee Sand Member and an unnamed lower member. Dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

, mosasaur
Mosasaur
Mosasaurs are large extinct marine lizards. The first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the Meuse in 1764...

, and pterosaur
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs were flying reptiles of the clade or order Pterosauria. They existed from the late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous Period . Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight...

 remains have been recovered from the Eutaw Formation.

Mosasaurs

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

Clidastes
Clidastes
Clidastes is an extinct genus of mosasaur lizard from marine environments of the Late Cretaceous.Clidastes was an agile and fast swimmer that cruised the surface or shallow waters hunting for fish, flying reptiles and anything that got too close.- Appearance :Clidastes was the smallest of the...


Clidastes sp.
  • Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

    .

Mosasaurines


Eonatator
Eonatator
Eonatator is a genus of halisaurine mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous of North America and Europe. Originally, this taxon was included within Halisaurus, but was placed in its own genus...


E. sternbergii
  • Alabama
    Alabama
    Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

    .
  • A halisaurine
    1. E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergii
      Halisaurus
      Halisaurus is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. With a length of 3–4 m , it was small compared to most other mosasaurs. It was named by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1869, but renamed Baptosaurus by Marsh in 1870, who thought the name was already in use by a fish...


    Platecarpus
    Platecarpus
    Platecarpus is an extinct genus of aquatic lizard belonging to the mosasaur family, living around 75 million years ago during the end of the Cretaceous period. Fossils have been found in Belgium and the United States as well as a possible specimen in Africa. Platecarpus probably fed on fish,...


    P. tympaniticus
    • Alabama
      Alabama
      Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

      .
  • A plioplatecarpine

  • Selmasaurus
    Selmasaurus
    Selmasaurus is a genus of medium-sized plioplatecarpine mosasaur from the Upper Cretaceous Mooreville Chalk Formation of western Alabama...


    S. russelli
    • Alabama
      Alabama
      Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

      .
  • A plioplatecarpine

  • Tylosaurus
    Tylosaurus
    Tylosaurus was a mosasaur, a large, predatory marine lizard closely related to modern monitor lizards and to snakes.-Paleobiology:...


    Tylosaurus sp.
    • Alabama
      Alabama
      Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...

      .
  • Mosasaurines

  • Ornithodires

    Dinosaur
    Dinosaur
    Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

     feathers have been found in the Ingersoll Shale
    Ingersoll Shale
    The Ingersoll Shale is a Late Cretaceous Geological formation in eastern Alabama. Fourteen Theropod feathers have been recovered from it....

     of Georgia
    Georgia (U.S. state)
    Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

    , which is a subunit of the Eutaw Formation. Indeterminate hadrosaurid remains have been found in Mississippi
    Mississippi
    Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...

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

    Pteranodon
    Pteranodon
    Pteranodon , from the Late Cretaceous geological period of North America in present day Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska, Wyoming, and South Dakota, was one of the largest pterosaur genera and had a maximum wingspan of over...


    Indeterminate
    • Georgia
      Georgia (U.S. state)
      Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...

      .

    Pteranodontid
    Pteranodontidae
    The Pteranodontidae are a family of large pterosaurs of the Cretaceous Period of North America.The family was named in 1876 by Othniel Charles Marsh....

    s

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