The Severn Formation is a
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic Era ( ), also called the Age of Reptiles, the Age of Conifers, and colloquially as the Age of the Dinosaurs is the second-to-last era of Earth's geological history, lasting from about , comprising the Triassic, Jurassic and Creta ...
geologic
formation
Formation may refer to:
Linguistics
* Back-formation, the process of creating a new lexeme by removing or affixes
* Word formation, the creation of a new word by adding affixes
Mathematics and science
* Cave formation or speleothem, a secondary ...
in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), 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; ...
.
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
remains diagnostic to the
genus
Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...
level are among the
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 ...
that have been recovered from the formation.
[Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.]
Paleofauna
Dinosaurs
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...
* ''
"Coelosaurus" antiquus''
*
Ornithomimidae
Ornithomimidae (meaning "bird-mimics") is a family of theropod dinosaurs which bore a superficial resemblance to modern ostriches. Ornithomimids were fast, omnivorous or herbivorous dinosaurs known mainly from the Late Cretaceous Period of Laura ...
indet.
*
Hadrosauridae
Hadrosaurids (), or duck-billed dinosaurs, are members of the ornithischian family Hadrosauridae. This group is known as the duck-billed dinosaurs for the flat duck-bill appearance of the bones in their snouts. The ornithopod family, which incl ...
indet.
Plesiosaurs
The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia.
Plesiosaurs first appeared ...
* ''
Cimoliasaurus magnus''
Mosasaurs
Mosasaurs (from Latin ''Mosa'' meaning the 'Meuse', and Greek ' meaning 'lizard') comprise a group of extinct, large marine reptiles from the Late Cretaceous. Their first fossil remains were discovered in a limestone quarry at Maastricht on the ...
* ''
Halisaurus platyspondylus''
* ''
Prognathodon rapax
''Prognathodon'' is an extinct genus of marine lizard belonging to the mosasaur family. It is classified as part of the Mosasaurinae subfamily, alongside genera like ''Mosasaurus'' and ''Clidastes''. ''Prognathodon'' has been recovered from depo ...
''
* ''
Mosasaurus hoffmanni
''Mosasaurus'' (; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages o ...
''
*
''Mosasaurus sp''.
* cf. ''
Mosasaurus conodon
''Mosasaurus'' (; "lizard of the Meuse River") is the type genus (defining example) of the mosasaurs, an extinct group of aquatic squamate reptiles. It lived from about 82 to 66 million years ago during the Campanian and Maastrichtian stages ...
''
*
Mosasauridae indet.
Crocodylomorphs
Crocodylomorpha is a group of pseudosuchian archosaurs that includes the crocodilians and their extinct relatives. They were the only members of Pseudosuchia to survive the end-Triassic extinction.
During Mesozoic and early Cenozoic times, cr ...
* ''
Deinosuchus rugosus
''Deinosuchus'' () is an extinct genus of alligatoroid crocodilian, related to modern alligators and caimans, that lived 82 to 73 million years ago (Ma), during the late Cretaceous period. The name translates as "terrible crocodile" and ...
''
* ''
Thoracosaurus neocesariensis
''Thoracosaurus'' is an extinct genus of eusuchian crocodylomorph which existed during the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleocene in North America and Europe. The taxon had traditionally been thought to be related to the modern false gharial, large ...
''
*
Alligatorinae
Alligatorinae is a subfamily within the family Alligatoridae that contains the alligators and their closest extinct relatives, and is the sister taxon to Caimaninae (the caimans). Many genera in Alligatorinae are described, but only the genus ' ...
indet.
Turtles
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked t ...
*
''Peritresius ornatus''
* ''
Osteopygis emarginatus''
* ''
Trionyx priscus''
*
Toxochelyidae
''Toxochelys'' () is an extinct genus of marine turtle from the Late Cretaceous period. It is the most commonly found fossilized turtle species in the Smoky Hill Chalk, in western Kansas.
Description
''Toxochelys'' was about 2 m (6 ft ...
indet.
Chondrichthyans
Chondrichthyes (; ) is a class that contains the cartilaginous fishes that have skeletons primarily composed of cartilage. They can be contrasted with the Osteichthyes or ''bony fishes'', which have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. ...
* ''
Carcharias holmdelensis''
* ''
Carcharias samhammeri
''Carcharias'' is a genus of sand tiger sharks belonging to the family Odontaspididae. Once bearing many prehistoric species, all have gone extinct with the exception of the critically endangered sand tiger shark.
Description
''Carcharias'' ar ...
''
* ''
Chiloscyllium greeni''
* ''
Cretalamana appendiculata''
* ''
Dasyatis
''Dasyatis'' (Greek δασύς ''dasýs'' meaning rough or dense and βατίς ''batís'' meaning skate) is a genus of stingray in the family Dasyatidae that is native to the Atlantic, including the Mediterranean. In a 2016 taxonomic revisi ...
sp.''
* ''
Tomewingia problematica''
* ''
Galeorhinus garadoti''
* ''
Ginglymostoma
''Ginglymostoma'' is a genus of shark in the family Ginglymostomatidae. There are two members in the genus. Members of this genus eat small fish and crustaceans, and are commonly quite lethargic unless provoked. Members of this genus have the abi ...
sp.''
* ''
Heterodontus sp.''
* ''
Hybodus
''Hybodus'' (from el, ύβος , 'crooked' and el, ὀδούς 'tooth') is an extinct genus of hybodont, a group of shark-like elasmobranchs that lived from the Late Devonian
The Devonian ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Pal ...
sp.''
* ''
Ischyrhiza cf. avonicola''
* ''
Ischyrhiza mira
''Ischyrhiza'' is an extinct genus of sclerorhynchoid ray from the Late Cretaceous and Early Paleogene.
It had a large, toothed rostrum closely resembling that of a modern-day sawfish. Despite formerly being classified within a family of e ...
''
* ''
Myliobatis
''Myliobatis'' is a genus of eagle rays in the family Myliobatidae.
Description
''Myliobatis'' species can reach a width up to about . Their bodies consist of a rhomboidal disc, wider than long, with one dorsal fin. The head is broad and short, ...
sp.''
* ''
Odontaspis aculeatus''
* ''
Plicatoscyllium antiquum''
* ''
Plicatoscyllium derameei''
* ''
Pseudohypolophus mcnultyi''
* ''
Ptychotrygon vermiculata
''Ptychotrygon'' is a genus of sawfish-like Late Cretaceous ray whose fossils have been found worldwide. It, '' Ptychotrygonoides'', '' Texatrygon'', and '' Asflapristis'' are members of the family Ptychotrygonidae within the suborder Sclerorhyn ...
''
* ''
Raja farishi''
* ''
Rhinobatos
''Rhinobatos'' is a genus of fish in the Rhinobatidae family. Although previously used to encompass all guitarfishes, it was found to be polyphyletic, and recent authorities have transferred many species included in the genus to ''Acroteriobatu ...
sp.''
* ''
Rhombodus binkhorsti''
* ''
Serratolamna serrata''
* ''
Squalicorax kaupi
''Squalicorax'', commonly known as the crow shark, is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. The genus had a global distribution in the Late Cretaceous epoch. Multiple species within this genus are co ...
''
* ''
Squalicorax pristodontus''
* ''
Squatina hassei''
* ''
Ischyodus
''Ischyodus'' (from el, ισχύς , 'power' and el, ὀδούς 'tooth') is an extinct genus of chimaera. It is the most diverse and long-lived chimaera genus, with over 39 species found worldwide spanning over 140 million years from the Mid ...
sp.''
Osteichthyans
*
Albuidae indet.
* ''
Anomoedus cf. haseolus''
* ''
Cylinadracanthus sp.''
* ''
Egertonia sp.''
* ''
Enchodus ferox''
* ''
Hadrodus sp.''
* ''
Lepidosteus sp.''
* ''
Paralbula casei''
See also
*
List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
This list of dinosaur-bearing rock formations is a list of geologic formations in which dinosaur fossils have been documented.
Containing body fossils
* List of stratigraphic units with dinosaur body fossils
** List of stratigraphic units with f ...
**
List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera
This list of stratigraphic units with few non-avian dinosaur genera includes Mesozoic stratigraphic units of formation rank or higher that have produced dinosaur body fossils
A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, i ...
Footnotes
References
* Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. .
Maastrichtian Stage of North America
Cretaceous Maryland
{{US-geologic-formation-stub