The Bullion Creek Formation is a
geologic formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exp ...
in western
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the Native Americans in the United States, indigenous Dakota people, Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north a ...
. It preserves bones and tracks of an extinct
crocodile
Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...
and other
fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved in ...
of
Late Paleocene
The Thanetian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy, ICS Geologic timescale, the latest age (geology), age or uppermost stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Paleocene epoch (geology), Epoch or series (stratigraphy), Serie ...
age.
[Erickson, B.R., 2005. Crocodile and Arthropod Tracks from the Late Paleocene Wannagan Creek Fauna of North Dakota, USA. Ichnos, 12(4):3 03-308.]
See also
*
List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in North Dakota
*
Paleontology in North Dakota
References
Paleogene geology of North Dakota
Paleocene Series of North America
Thanetian Stage
{{Paleogene-stub