Black Peaks Formation Explained

Black Peaks Formation
Type:	Geological formation
Age:	Maastrichtian-Danian (Tiffanian) ~
Period:	Danian
Prilithology:	Mudstone
Otherlithology:	Limestone
Country:	United States
Coordinates:	29.3°N -103.4°W
Paleocoordinates:	36°N -82.8°W
Unitof:	Tornillo Group
Overlies:	Javelina Formation

The Black Peaks Formation is a geological formation in Texas whose strata date back to the Late Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains (from the sauropod Alamosaurus) and the pterosaur Quetzalcoatlus northropi^[1] have been among the fossils reported from the formation.^{[2] [3]} The boundary with the underlying Javelina Formation has been estimated at 66.5 million years old.^[4] The formation preserves the rays Rhombodus and Dasyatis, as well as many gar scales.^[5]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• List of pterosaur-bearing stratigraphic units

Further reading

• J. A. Fronimos and T. M. Lehman. 2014. New specimens of a titanosaur sauropod from the Maastrichtian of Big Bend National Park, Texas. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(4):883-899
• T. M. Lehman and K. Barnes. 2010. Champsosaurus (Diapsida: Choristodera) from the Paleocene of West Texas: Paleoclimatic Implications. Journal of Paleontology 84(2):341-345
• J. A. Schiebout. 1974. Vertebrate paleontology and paleoecology of Paleocene Black Peaks Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas. Texas Memorial Museum Bulletin 24:1-88
• J. A. Wilson. 1967. Early Tertiary mammals. In R. A. Maxwell, J. T. Lonsdale, R. T. Hazzard, & J. A. Wilson (eds.), Geology of Big Bend National Park, Brewster County, Texas. The University of Texas Publication 6711:157-169

Notes and References

1. Andres . Brian . Langston . Wann . 2021-12-14 . Morphology and taxonomy of Quetzalcoatlus Lawson 1975 (Pterodactyloidea: Azhdarchoidea) . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 41 . sup1 . 46–202 . 10.1080/02724634.2021.1907587 . 0272-4634. free . 2021JVPal..41S..46A .
2. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. .
3. Lehman, T. M. and A. B. Coulson. 2002. A juvenile specimen of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus sanjuanensis from the Upper Cretaceous of Big Bend National Park,Texas. Journal of Paleontology 76(1): 156-172.
4. Woodward, H. N. (2005). Bone histology of the sauropod dinosaur Alamosaurus sanjuanensis from the Javelina Formation, Big Bend National Park, Texas.
5. Hunt, ReBecca K., Vincent L. Santucci and Jason Kenworthy. 2006. "A preliminary inventory of fossil fish from National Park Service units." in S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielmann, P.M. Hester, J.P. Kenworthy, and V.L. Santucci (ed.s), Fossils from Federal Lands. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin 34, pp. 63-69.