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update 110914

Late Cretaceous

Maastrichtian

Kirtland Formation

New Mexico

The Kirtland succeeds the Late Campanian (Judithian) Fruitland fauna. The Kirtland Formationin the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico was originally named by Bauer (1916) as the Kirtland Shale.  The fauna is intermediate in diversity and composition between the coastal plain fauna of the Fruitland formation and the inland vertebrate upper Kirtland fauna later in the Maastrichtian.

This lower, Early Maastrichtian fauna contains at least 9 dinosaurs.  Pentaceratops, Parasaurolophus, Struthiomimus,  Albertosaurus, Kritosaurus the rare Aublysodon, indeterminate nodosaurid and ankylosaurid probably Euoplocephalus and Edmontonia plus scrappy finds of small dromesaurid, hyilophidontid and pachycephlasaurid.

Pentaceratops (five horn face ) was 34 feet long with a skull of 18 feet that held the record for largest skull in a land animal.  Recent Torosaurus finds exceed it, but not by much. .  The frill is very elaborate when compared to the later Triceratops.  It fades out in the early part of the Maastrichtian when the fauna changes.

Parasaurolophus fossils have been found in groups of three to four animals.  Fragmentary fossils have be assigned to it even late in the Maastrichtian but like all crested duck bills it seems to decline.

The Parasaurolophus crest has been suggested as a snorkel or  trumpet.  There isn't a breathing hole so it isn't a snorkel. It could have made a noise like a French horn that would have been useful for calling mates or marking territory. 

 

The small pacycephalosaur Sphaerotholus  "round dome" probably resembled Prenocephale.  There are also indeterminate dromaeosaurid fossil finds.  Most of the small fauna is based on scrappy material.

Parkosaurus was a small plant eater.  The small biped plant eater niche lasted through the whole Mesozoic.  They were most common in arid or stressed environments.  They all looked pretty similar externally.

Bistahieversor (Destroyer from Bistahi) is a long-snouted tyrannosaur. Durring this period tyrannosaurs were diverse in western North America.