Main Callison Quarry, FPA: Tithonian, Colorado
collected by G. L. Callison & party / 1979

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia
Ornithopoda indet. (Marsh 1881)
Foster 2003 1 specimen
Reptilia - Heterodontosauridae
Fabrosauridae indet. Galton 1972
1 individual
"n. gen."; LACM 120478
    = cf. Echinodon sp. Owen 1861
Kirkland 2006
    = Fruitadens haagarorum Butler et al. 2010
Butler et al. 2010
LACM 120478, left humerus, partial left femur, and articulated left tibia, fibula, and astragalus-calcaneum
Reptilia
Theropoda indet. (Marsh 1881)
Foster 2003 1 specimen
Coelurosauria indet. (Huene 1914)
Foster 2003 2 specimens
Reptilia - Prismatoolithidae
Prismatoolithus coloradensis Hirsch 1994
Hirsch 1994
recombined as Preprismatoolithus coloradensis
Reptilia - Camarasauridae
Camarasaurus sp. Cope 1877
Foster 2003 1 specimen
Reptilia - Diplodocidae
Diplodocidae indet. Marsh 1884
Foster 2003 1 specimen
Reptilia
Pterosauria indet. (Kaup 1834)
Kirkland 2006
Reptilia - Goniopholididae
Goniopholis sp. Owen 1842
Foster 2003 3 specimens
Reptilia
Macelognathus vagans Marsh 1884
Gohlich et al. 2005 2 specimens
LACM 5572/150148 (cranial and postcranial elements), 5572/150211 (metatarsal III and both calcanea)
Reptilia - Sphenodontidae
Foster 2003 1 specimen
Reptilia
Sphenodontia indet. (Jaekel 1910)
Foster 2003 4 specimens
Opisthias sp. Gilmore 1909
Foster 2003 3 specimens
cf. Opisthias sp. Gilmore 1909
Kirkland 2006
Parviraptor sp. Evans 1994
Foster 2003 3 specimens
    = Parviraptor gilmorei Evans 1996
Kirkland 2006
recombined as Diablophis gilmorei
Reptilia - Paramacellodidae
Saurillodon sp. Estes 1983
Kirkland 2006
Paramacellodus sp. Hoffstetter 1967
Kirkland 2006
Reptilia
Lacertilia indet. (Owen 1842)
Foster 2003 12 specimens
Anguimorpha indet. (Fürbringer 1900)
Foster 2003 16 specimens
Reptilia - Dorsetisauridae
Dorsetisaurus sp. Hoffstetter 1967
Foster 2003 4 specimens
Reptilia - Testudines
Chelonia indet. (Latreille 1800)
Hirsch et al. 1987
synonym of Testudines
eggshell
Mammalia
Mammalia indet. (Linnaeus 1758)
Foster 2003
Mammalia - Multituberculata
Foster 2003 1 specimen
    = Glirodon grandis Engelmann and Callison 1999
Kirkland 2006
Mammalia - Symmetrodonta
Symmetrodonta indet. (Simpson 1925)
Foster 2003 4 specimens
Mammalia - Dryolestidae
Dryolestidae indet. Marsh 1879
Foster 2003 5 specimens
Mammalia - Paurodontidae
Paurodontidae indet. Marsh 1887
Kirkland 2006
Mammalia - Eutriconodonta - Triconodontidae
Priacodon fruitaensis n. sp. Rasmussen and Callison 1981
Kirkland 2006 1 individual
LACM 120451
Actinopteri - Amiiformes
Amioidea indet. Bonaparte 1838
Kirkland 2006
Malacostraca - Decapoda - Cambaridae
cf. Cambaridae indet. Hobbs 1942
Kirkland 2006
see common names

Geography
Country:United States State/province:Colorado County:Mesa
Coordinates: 39.1° North, 108.8° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:35.5° North, 55.9° West
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Altitude:1400 meters
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Jurassic Epoch:Late/Upper Jurassic
Stage:Tithonian 10 m.y. bin:Jurassic 6
Key time interval:Tithonian
Age range of interval:149.20000 - 145.00000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Morrison Member:Brushy Basin
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: "Drab flood-plain facies" at the base of the Brushy Basin Member of the Morrison Formation immediately above the "clay change" horizon (see Kirkland 2006, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36:67-95, fig. 6, pg. 93). Turner & Peterson (1999, Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah, Utah Geol. Survey Misc. Publ. 99-1, 77-114) placed the Fruitadens localities (listed as CO-33 in their stratigraphic sections) within the Kimmeridgian, and within their "Dinosaur Zone 2" and "charophyte-ostracod Zone 4". Stratigraphic horizons closely equivalent to the Fruitadens quarries yield 40Ar/39Ar isotopic dates of 150.3 +/- 0.3 Ma and 150.2 +/- 0.5 Ma (see Turner & Peterson 1999). This would place the Fruita quarries within the early Tithonian on recent timescales.
"middle of the formation near the base of the Brushy Basin Member"
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:gray mudstone
Secondary lithology: sandstone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: Drab flood-plain facies is characterised by interbedded crevasse splay sandstones and mudstones with minor sandstone and siltstone interals (see Kirkland 2006, New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 36:67-95)
Environment:crevasse splay
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Disassociated minor elements:many
Fragmentation:frequent
Temporal resolution:snapshot
Spatial resolution:parautochthonous
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:surface (float),mechanical,field collection,survey of museum collection
Reason for describing collection:general faunal/floral analysis
Museum repositories:LACM
Collectors:G. L. Callison & party Collection dates:July/August 1979
Metadata
Also known as:LACM Loc. #5572; Fruita, Quarry 4, CO-33
Database number:53040
Authorizer:M. Carrano Enterer:K. Maguire, M. Carrano
Modifier:M. Carrano Research group:vertebrate
Created:2005-09-01 14:54:07 Last modified:2023-08-23 12:24:51
Access level:the public Released:2005-09-01 14:54:07
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
71347. G. Callison and H. M. Quimby. 1984. Tiny dinosaurs: are they fully grown?. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 3(4):200-209 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

15174ETE E. S. Bray and K. F. Hirsch. 1998. Eggshell from the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. Modern Geology 23(1-4):219-240 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
31136ETE R. J. Butler, P. M. Galton, L. B. Porro, L. M. Chiappe, D. M. Henderson and G. M. Erickson. 2010. A new Upper Jurassic heterodontosaurid from North America: lower limits of ornithischian dinosaur body size inferred from North America. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 277:375-381 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/R. Butler]
15260ETE G. Callison. 1987. Fruita: a place for wee fossils. In W. R. Averett (ed.), Paleontology and Geology of the Dinosaur Triangle: Guidebook for 1987 Field Trip. Museum of Western Colorado, Grand Junction 91-96 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
15179ETE J. R. Foster. 2003. Paleoecological analysis of the vertebrate fauna of the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), Rocky Mountain region, U.S.A. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 23:1-95 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
61877 J. R. Foster, J. B. McHugh, J. E. Peterson and M. F. Leschin. 2016. Major bonebeds in mudrocks of the Morrison Formation (Upper Jurassic), northern Colorado Plateau of Utah and Colorado. Geology of the Intermountain West 3:33-66 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
44051 U. B. Gohlich, L. M. Chiappe, J. M. Clark and H.-D. Sues. 2005. The systematic position of the Late Jurassic alleged dinosaur Macelognathus (Crocodylomorpha: Sphenosuchia). Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 42:307-321 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant]
14216ETE K. F. Hirsch. 1994. Upper Jurassic eggshells from the Western Interior of North America. In K. Carpenter, K. F. Hirsch, and J. R. Horner (eds.), Dinosaur Eggs and Babies, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 137-150 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
15259ETE K. F. Hirsch, R. G. Young, and H. J. Armstrong. 1987. Eggshell fragments from the Jurassic Morrison Formation of Colorado. In W. R. Averett (ed.), Paleontology and Geology of the Dinosaur Triangle: Guidebook for 1987 Field Trip. Museum of Western Colorado, Grand Junction 79-84 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
65150 J. I. Kirkland. 2006. Fruita Paleontological Area (Upper Jurassic, Morrison Formation), western Colorado: an example of terrestrial taphofacies analysis. In J. R. Foster & S. G. Lucas (ed.), Paleontology and Geology of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 36:67-95 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
13281ETE C. E. Turner and F. Peterson. 1999. Biostratigraphy of dinosaurs in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the Western Interior, U.S.A. In D. D. Gillette (ed.), Vertebrate Paleontology in Utah, Utah Geological Survey Miscellaneous Publication 99-1:77-114 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano]