The East Berlin Formation is an

Early Jurassic The Early Jurassic Epoch (geology), Epoch (in chronostratigraphy corresponding to the Lower Jurassic series (stratigraphy), Series) is the earliest of three epochs of the Jurassic Period. The Early Jurassic starts immediately after the Triassic-J ...

geological 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 ...

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

. Dinosaur footprints and trackways are abundant in this formation. These tracks include ''

Eubrontes ''Eubrontes'' is the name of fossilised dinosaur footprints dating from the Late Triassic and Early Jurassic. They have been identified from France, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Australia (Queensland), USA, India and C ...

'' (belonging to medium-sized-

theropods Theropoda (; ), whose members are known as theropods, is a dinosaur clade that is characterized by hollow bones and three toes and claws on each limb. Theropods are generally classed as a group of saurischian dinosaurs. They were ancestrally c ...

like ''

Dilophosaurus ''Dilophosaurus'' ( ) is a genus of theropod dinosaurs that lived in what is now North America during the Early Jurassic, about 193 million years ago. Three skeletons were discovered in northern Arizona in 1940, and the two best preserved ...

''), ''Anchisauripus'' (belonging to small theropods like ''

Coelophysis ''Coelophysis'' ( traditionally; or , as heard more commonly in recent decades) is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 228 to 201.3 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period from t ...

''), and ''

Anomoepus ''Anomoepus'' is the name assigned to several fossil footprints first reported from Early Jurassic beds of the Connecticut River Valley, Massachusetts, USA in 1802. All four feet have left impressions. The smaller forefeet have five toes, wher ...

'' (belonging to indeterminate small

ornithischians Ornithischia () is an extinct order of mainly herbivorous dinosaurs characterized by a pelvic structure superficially similar to that of birds. The name ''Ornithischia'', or "bird-hipped", reflects this similarity and is derived from the Greek s ...

).Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607. Several museums, parks, and tourist attractions are based around the East Berlin Formation's dinosaur tracks, including

Dinosaur State Park Dinosaur State Park and Arboretum is a state-owned natural history preserve occupying in the town of Rocky Hill, Connecticut. The state park protects one of the largest dinosaur track sites in North America. The park was created in recognition of ...

Rocky Hill, Connecticut Rocky Hill is a town in Hartford County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 20,845 at the 2020 census. It was originally land of the Wangunks (a tribe of Native Americans). Europeans began to settle the area of Rocky Hill in 1650, as ...

and Powder Hill Dinosaur Park in

Middlefield, Connecticut Middlefield is a town in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 4,217 at the 2020 census. The town includes the village of Rockfall in the northeast section. History Middlefield, in Middlesex County, is so named becau ...

. Although the East Berlin Formation was originally intended to apply to the Hartford Basin of

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

and

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett language, Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut assachusett writing systems, məhswatʃəwiːsət'' English: , ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is the most populous U.S. state, state in the New England ...

, equivalent strata is found elsewhere in the

Newark Supergroup The Newark Supergroup, also known as the Newark Group, is an assemblage of Upper Triassic and Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks which outcrop intermittently along the United States East Coast. They were deposited in a series of Triassic basins app ...

. Equivalent formations include the Waterfall Formation (

Culpeper Basin The Culpeper Basin is one of the Newark Supergroup's Triassic rift basins. It lies east of the Appalachian Mountains and extends from the Madison County—Orange County line in Virginia to Frederick, Maryland.Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

Towaco Formation The Towaco Formation is a mapped bedrock unit in New Jersey. It is named for the unincorporated village of Towaco, which is near the place its type section was described by paleontologist Paul E. Olsen. Description The Towaco Formation is c ...

(

Newark Basin The Newark Basin is a sediment-filled rift basin located mainly in northern New Jersey but also stretching into south-eastern Pennsylvania and southern New York. It is part of the system of Eastern North America Rift Basins. Geology Approximatel ...

;

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

), White Oaks Formation ( Pomperaug Basin, Connecticut), and Turner Falls Sandstone ( Deerfield Basin, Massachusetts).

Footnotes

References

* Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. . Jurassic Massachusetts Jurassic Connecticut {{US-geologic-formation-stub

See also

Footnotes

References