Alexander: Puercan, Colorado

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia - Crocodylia
Leidyosuchus sp. Lambe 1907
Middleton and Dewar 2004
uncommon
    = Crocodylia indet. Owen 1842
Alroy 2007
Reptilia - Crocodylidae
Crocodylidae indet. Cuvier 1807
Middleton and Dewar 2004
abundant
Reptilia
Allognathosuchus sp. Mook 1921
Middleton and Dewar 2004
common
Compsemys victa (Leidy 1856)
Middleton and Dewar 2004
uncommon
Reptilia - Baenidae
Baenidae indet. Cope 1882
Middleton and Dewar 2004
common
Reptilia - Testudines - Trionychidae
Middleton and Dewar 2004
common
    = Trionychidae indet. Gray 1825
Alroy 2007
Reptilia - Squamata
Squamata indet. Oppel 1811
Sullivan and Lucas 1996 12 specimens
UCM 34618, medial part of right dentary with basal tooth remnants; 34959, medial fragment of left dentary with an incomplete tooth; 34992, medial part of right dentary lacking teeth; 35005, vertebra; 37608, dentary fragment with two complete teeth; 38862, distal end and shaft of humerus; 38875, ?dentary fragments; 39542, fragment of right dentary with splenial and three complete teeth; 43746, two articulated vertebra; 47293, axis? vertebra; 47300, osteoderms and two dentary fragments; and unnumbered, posterior part of right dentary.
Reptilia - Anguidae
Anguidae indet. Gray 1825
Sullivan and Lucas 1996 1 specimen
UCM 34993, posterior part of right dentary
cf. Odaxosaurus piger (Gilmore 1928)
Sullivan and Lucas 1996 1 specimen
UCM 34991, posterior part of left maxilla with four teeth
Reptilia - Contogeniidae
Palaeoscincosaurus middletoni n. gen., n. sp. Sullivan and Lucas 1996
Sullivan and Lucas 1996 7 specimens
UCM 34621 (holotype), medial part of left mandible with two teeth; UCM nos. 34623, posterior part of left maxilla with six teeth; 34624, medial part of right mandible with three teeth; 34994, articulated anterior portions of right maxilla and mandible; 35064, medial and posterior part of right mandible with five teeth; 35065, posterior part of right maxilla with four teeth; and 39543, medial part of left mandible with two teeth.
cf. Palaeoscincosaurus middletoni Sullivan and Lucas 1996
Sullivan and Lucas 1996 1 specimen
UCM 48762, posterior part of left maxilla with seven teeth
Reptilia - Globauridae
aff. Contogenys sp. Estes 1969
Middleton and Dewar 2004
new genus, aff. Contogenys; uncommon
Mammalia - Proteutheria
Proteutheria indet. Romer 1966
Mammalia - Cimolestidae
Procerberus grandis n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Procerberus andesiticus n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Mammalia - Periptychidae
? Tinuviel gazini
(1 measurement)
    = Alticonus gazini n. gen., n. sp. Eberle and Lillegraven 1998
Eberle and Lillegraven 1998
originally an unpublished name
Ampliconus browni n. gen., n. sp. Eberle and Lillegraven 1998
originally an unpublished name
Conacodon matthewi n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Oxyacodon archibaldi n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
recombined as Miniconus archibaldi
Auraria urbana n. gen., n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Middleton and Dewar 2004
Mammalia - Procreodi - Arctocyonidae
Arctocyonidae indet. Murray 1866
Oxyclaenus subbituminus n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Baioconodon cannoni Middleton and Dewar 2004
    = Baioconodon sp. Gazin 1941
Alroy 2002
(unpublished name)
Baioconodon denverensis Gazin 1941
Oxyprimus cf. galadrielae Van Valen 1978
Mammalia
Peradectes pusillus (Matthew and Granger 1921)
    = Thylacodon pusillus Matthew and Granger 1921
Alroy 2002
Mammalia - Multituberculata
Cimexomys arapahoensis n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Cimexomys minor Sloan and Van Valen 1965
Mammalia - Multituberculata - Neoplagiaulacidae
Mesodma cf. ambigua Jepsen 1940
Xyronomys robinsoni n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Mammalia - Multituberculata - Ptilodontidae
Kimbetohia mziae n. sp. Middleton and Dewar 2004
Mammalia - Multituberculata - Taeniolabididae
Catopsalis alexanderi n. sp. Middleton 1982
(6 measurements)
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Batrachosauroididae
Opisthotriton cf. kayi Auffenberg 1961
Middleton and Dewar 2004
rare
    = Opisthotriton kayi Auffenberg 1961
Gardner and DeMar 2013
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Scapherpetontidae
? Scapherpetodontidae indet.
Middleton and Dewar 2004
rare, ? new genus
    = Scapherpetontidae indet. Auffenberg and Goin 1959
Gardner and DeMar 2013
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes - Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteidae indet. Cuvier 1825
Middleton and Dewar 2004
rare
Actinopteri
Teleostei indet. Müller 1846
Middleton and Dewar 2004
rare
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:Colorado County:Arapahoe
Coordinates: 39.7° North, 104.7° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:45.9° North, 82.5° West
Basis of coordinate:based on political unit
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Paleogene Epoch:Paleocene
Stage:Danian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 1
*Period:Early/Lower Tertiary *Epoch:Early/Lower Paleocene
*Local age/stage:Puercan
Key time interval:Puercan
Age range of interval:66.00000 - 63.30000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields
Stratigraphy
Formation:Denver
Regional section:Denver Basin Regional bed:4
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: "about 145 m above" the base of the formation.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:brown,red,yellow argillaceous,silty "shale"
Secondary lithology:tuffaceous sandstone
Lithology description: "interbedded reddish and yellowish brown shale, mudstone, siltstone, and tuffaceous sandstone"
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Geology comments: Per Middleton and Dewar (2004) this locality is essentially fill dirt turned up from a construction site. Source rocks are from "adjacent sediments that were predominantly fine-grained and thinly bedded. These beds probably represent overbank deposition, as the state of the specimens imply little fluvial transport (Middleton, 1983)."
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:some macrofossils
Collection methods:bulk,surface (float),sieve,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: "mostly surface collected, however, some screenwashing". Middleton and Dewar (2004) report fossil wood.
Taxonomic list comments:? "Hemithlaeus" = Conacodon harbourae is from UCM loc. 78169
"Auraria urbana" (unpublished genus and species names)
eight unpublished species listed by Middleton 1983 were finally published by Middleton and Dewar 2004 (see below)
Metadata
Also known as:UCM loc. 77267; UCM locality 77267
Database number:14658
Authorizer:J. Alroy, P. Barrett, P. Holroyd Enterer:J. Alroy, T. Cleary, P. Holroyd
Modifier:P. Mannion Research group:vertebrate
Created:1993-09-27 00:00:00 Last modified:2021-08-18 05:33:19
Access level:the public Released:1993-09-27 00:00:00
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

2585. M. D. Middleton. 1983. Early Paleocene vertebrates of the Denver Basin, Colorado. 1-404 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Uhen]

Secondary references:

6294 J. Alroy. 2002. Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil mammals. [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/M. Kouvari]
19636 J. Alroy. 2007. Synonymies and reidentifications of North American fossil vertebrates and so forth. [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
77694 M. R. Atteberry and J. J. Eberle. 2021. New earliest Paleocene (Puercan) periptychid ‘condylarths’ from the Great Divide Basin, Wyoming, USA. Journal of Systematic Palaeontology [P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
1420 J. J. Eberle and J. A. Lillegraven. 1998. A new important record of earliest Cenozoic mammalian history. Rocky Mountain Geology 33(1):49-117 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
65027 J. D. Gardner and D. G. DeMar. 2013. Mesozoic and Palaeocene lissamphibian assemblages of North America: a comprehensive review. Palaeobiodiversity and Palaeoenvironments 93:459-515 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd/M. Carrano]
19561 M. D. Middleton and E. W. Dewar. 2004. New mammals from the early Paleocene Littleton fauna (Denver Formation, Colorado). In S. G. Lucas, K. E. Zeigler, P.E. Kondrashov (eds.), New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 26:59-80 [P. Holroyd/P. Holroyd/M. Uhen]
31563ETE R. L. Nydam and B. M. Fitzpatrick. 2009. The occurrence of Contogenys-like lizards in the Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of the Western Interior of the U.S.A. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(3):677-701 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/P. Mannion]
6996 R. M. Sullivan and S. G. Lucas. 1996. Palaeoscincosaurus middletoni, new genus and species (Squamata: ?Scincidae) from the early Paleocene (Puercan) Denver Formation, Colorado. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 16(4):666-672 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy/J. Alroy]