View source for Earth:Williams Fork Formation

{{Short description|Geological Formation in Colorado}}
{{Infobox rockunit
| name           = Williams Fork Formation
| image          =
| caption        =
| type           = [[Earth:Geological formation|Geological formation]]
| period         = Campanian
| age            = [[Earth:Campanian|Campanian]] ([[Earth:Edmontonian|Edmontonian]])<br />~{{fossil range|84|71}}
| prilithology   = Mudstone
| otherlithology = [[Earth:Sandstone|Sandstone]]
| namedfor       = 
| namedby        = 
| region         = Colorado
| country        = {{USA}}
| coordinates    = {{coord|40.0|N|108.8|W|display=inline,title}}
| paleocoordinates = {{coord|47.5|N|80.3|W|display=inline}}
| unitof         = Mesaverde Group
| subunits       =
| underlies      =
| overlies       =
| thickness      =
| extent         =
| area           =
| map            = {{Location map+ | United States#Colorado
| relief = 1
| width   = 250
| float   = center
| places  =  {{Location map~ | United States#Colorado
  | lat_deg = 40.0
  | lon_deg = -108.8
  | mark = Lightgreen pog.svg
  | marksize = 12
  }}
}}
| map_caption    =
}}
The '''Williams Fork Formation''' is a [[Earth:Campanian|Campanian]] ([[Earth:Edmontonian|Edmontonian]]) geologic formation of the Mesaverde Group in Colorado. [[Biology:Dinosaur|Dinosaur]] remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, most notably ''[[Biology:Pentaceratops|Pentaceratops sternbergii]]'',<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Diem|first1=Steve|last2=Archibald|first2=James D.|title=Range extension of southern chasmosaurine Ceratopsian dinosaurs into northwestern Colorado|journal=Journal of Paleontology|date=2005|volume=79|issue=2|pages=251–258|doi=10.1666/0022-3360(2005)079<0251:REOSCC>2.0.CO;2|url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/range-extension-of-southern-chasmosaurine-ceratopsian-dinosaurs-into-northwestern-colorado/27F4029AED9999BD1238D6D450BF4277|access-date=21 September 2016|citeseerx=10.1.1.538.7263|s2cid=17715685 }}</ref>. Other fossils found in the formation are the [[Biology:Ammonite|ammonite]] ''Lewyites'', [[Biology:Neosuchia|neosuchian crocodylomorphs]], and the mammals ''Glasbius'' and ''[[Biology:Meniscoessus|Meniscoessus collomensis]]''.<ref>[http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&collection_no=14497 Jubb Creek] at [[Biology:Fossilworks|Fossilworks]].org</ref><ref>[http://www.fossilworks.org/cgi-bin/bridge.pl?a=collectionSearch&collection_no=76715 Rangely South (SDNHM)] at [[Biology:Fossilworks|Fossilworks]].org</ref>

== See also ==
* List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
** List of stratigraphic units with indeterminate dinosaur fossils

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===
* {{cite LSA |last=Weishampel |first=David B. |last2=Dodson |first2=Peter |last3=Osmólska (eds.) |first3=Halszka |year=2004 |title=The Dinosauria, 2nd edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZFDb_iw40C |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |pages=1–880 |accessdate=2019-02-21}} {{ISBN|0-520-24209-2}}

== Further reading ==
* J. R. Foster and R. K. Hunt-Foster. 2015. First report of a giant neosuchian (Crocodyliformes) in the Williams Fork Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Campanian) of Colorado. Cretaceous Research 55:66-73
* W. J. Kennedy, W. A. Cobban, and G. R. Scott. 2000. Heteromorph ammonites from the Upper Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) ''Baculites cuneatus'' and ''Baculites reesidei'' zones of the Pierre Shale in Colorado, USA. Acta Geologica Polonica 50:1-20
* J. A. Lillegraven. 1987. Stratigraphic and evolutionary implications of a new species of ''Meniscoessus'' (Multituberculata, Mammalia) from the Upper Cretaceous Williams Fork Formation, Moffat County, Colorado. Dakoterra 3:46-56
* Sullivan, R.M., and Lucas, S.G. 2006. "[http://www.nmnaturalhistory.org/science/bulletins/35/sci_bulletin35_2.pdf The Kirtlandian land-vertebrate "age" – faunal composition, temporal position and biostratigraphic correlation in the nonmarine Upper Cretaceous of western North America]." New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 35:7-29.


[[Category:Campanian Stage]]
[[Category:Mudstone formations]]
[[Category:Sandstone formations of the United States]]
[[Category:Fluvial deposits]]
[[Category:Shallow marine deposits]]

{{Sourceattribution|Williams Fork Formation}}