Bone bed explained

A bone bed is any geological stratum or deposit that contains bones of whatever kind. Inevitably, such deposits are sedimentary in nature. Not a formal term, it tends to be used more to describe especially dense collections such as Lagerstätte. It is also applied to brecciated and stalagmitic deposits on the floor of caves, which frequently contain osseous remains.

In a more restricted sense, the term is used to describe certain thin layers of bony fragments, which occur in well-defined geological strata. One of the best-known of these is the Ludlow Bone Bed, which is found at the base of the Downton Sandstone in the Upper Ludlow series. At Ludlow (England) itself, two such beds are actually known, separated by about 14feet. of strata. Although quite thin, the Ludlow Bone Bed can be followed from that town into Gloucestershire, for a distance of 45miles. It is almost completely made up of fragments of spines, teeth and scales of ganoid fish. Another well-known bed, formerly known as the Bristol or Lias Bone Bed, exists in the form of several thin layers of micaceous sandstone, with the remains of fish and saurians, which occur in the Rhaetic Black Paper Shales that lie above the Keuper marls, in the south-west of England. A similar bone bed has been traced on the same geological horizon in Brunswick, Hanover (Germany), in Franconia and in Tübingen (Germany).[1] [2] A bone bed has also been observed at the base of the Carboniferous limestone series, in certain parts of the south-west of England.

Bone beds are also recorded in North America, South America, Mongolia and China. Terrestrial bonebed examples are: the Triassic Metoposaurus bone bed from Portugal,[3] the Mapusaurus bone bed at Cañadón del Gato, in Argentina,[4] the Allosaurus-dominated Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry of Utah,[5] the Dinosaur National Monument on the boundary of Utah and Colorado,[6] an Albertosaurus bonebed from Alberta,[7] a Daspletosaurus bone bed from Montana, the Cenozoic John Day Fossil Beds of Oregon,[8] a Triceratops bonebed from Montana,[9] a Centrosaurus bonebed in Alberta,[10] a Styracosaurus bone bed in Alberta,[11] an Edmontosaurus annectens bone bed in Wyoming,[12] an Edmontosaurus regalis bone bed in Alberta,[13] a Gryposaurus bone bed in the Oldman Formation,[14] [15] a Pachyrhinosaurus bone bed in the Wapiti Formation,[16] and the Nemegt Basin in the Gobi Desert region of Mongolia, specifically the Saurolophus bone bed known as the Dragon's Tomb.[17] Bentiaba, Angola, is an example of a marine bonebed[18] with numerous mosasaurs and plesiosaurs. Another example of a marine bonebed is the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed located in the Temblor Formation in California.[19] [20] [21] [22]

Fossil bonebeds don't always consist of one single species, but rather many species of organisms. There are several of the bonebeds known throughout North America. Two of the best examples include the Mixson's Bone Bed of Florida, whose geological settings preserved the remains of Ambelodon, Aepycamelus, and Cormohipparion,[23] and the Agate Fossil Beds in Nebraska which has the fossils of abundant creatures such as Menoceras, Stenomylus, and Daphoenodon.[24] [25] [26] [27]

Notes and References

  1. Johannes Baier: Das Tübinger "Rhätolias-Grenzbonebed" . - Fossilien 31(1), 26-30, 2014.
  2. Johannes Baier: Der Geologische Lehrpfad am Kirnberg (Keuper; SW-Deutschland). - Jber. Mitt. oberrhein. geol. Ver, N. F. 93, 9-26, 2011.
  3. Brusatte, S. L., Butler R. J., Mateus O., & Steyer S. J. (2015). A new species of Metoposaurus from the Late Triassic of Portugal and comments on the systematics and biogeography of metoposaurid temnospondyls. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, e912988., 2015
  4. Web site: LALLANILLA. MARC. April 17, 2006. Huge Meat-Eating Dinosaur Discovered. live. January 16, 2022. ABC News. https://web.archive.org/web/20060419192013/http://abcnews.go.com:80/Technology/story?id=1851725 . 2006-04-19 .
  5. Web site: Switek. Brian. The Making of an Allosaurus Graveyard. 2022-01-16. Scientific American Blog Network. en.
  6. Web site: Dinosaur National Monument - the remaining portion dinosaur bone bed U.S. Geological Survey. 2022-01-16. www.usgs.gov.
  7. Eberth. David A.. Currie. Philip J.. September 2010. Stratigraphy, sedimentology, and taphonomy of the Albertosaurus bonebed (upper Horseshoe Canyon Formation; Maastrichtian), southern Alberta, CanadaThis article is one of a series of papers published in this Special Issue on the theme Albertosaurus.. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 47. 9. 1119–1143. 10.1139/e10-045. 0008-4077.
  8. Book: Paleontology, Fremd, Theodore J. Society of Vertebrate. Guidebook: SVP Field Symposium 2010 John Day Basin Field Conference. 809956619.
  9. Matthews . Joshua . Brusatte . Stephen . Williams . Scott . Henderson . Michael . The First Triceratops Bonebed and Its Implications for Gregarious Behavior . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . March 12, 2009 . 29 . 1 . 286–290 . 10.1080/02724634.2009.10010382 . 20491089 . 2009JVPal..29..286M . 196608646 . 17 January 2022.
  10. RYAN. M. J.. RUSSELL. A. P.. EBERTH. D. A.. CURRIE. P. J.. 2001-10-01. The Taphonomy of a Centrosaurus (Ornithischia: Certopsidae) Bone Bed from the Dinosaur Park Formation (Upper Campanian), Alberta, Canada, with Comments on Cranial Ontogeny. PALAIOS. 16. 5. 482–506. 10.1669/0883-1351(2001)016<0482:ttoaco>2.0.co;2. 2001Palai..16..482R. 130116586 . 0883-1351.
  11. Ryan. Michael J.. Holmes. Robert. Russell. A. P.. 2007-12-12. http://dx.doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[944:arotlc2.0.co;2 A revision of the late campanian centrosaurine ceratopsid genusStyracosaurusfrom the Western Interior of North America]. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 27. 4. 944–962. 10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[944:arotlc]2.0.co;2. 86218327 . 0272-4634.
  12. Snyder. Keith. McLain. Matthew. Wood. Jared. Chadwick. Arthur. 2020-05-21. Over 13,000 elements from a single bonebed help elucidate disarticulation and transport of an Edmontosaurus thanatocoenosis. PLOS ONE. 15. 5. e0233182. 10.1371/journal.pone.0233182. 32437394. 7241792. 2020PLoSO..1533182S. 1932-6203. free.
  13. Burns. Michael E.. Coy. Clive. Arbour. Victoria M.. Currie. Philip J.. Koppelhus. Eva B.. November 2014. The Danek Edmontosaurus Bonebed: new insights on the systematics, biogeography, and palaeoecology of Late Cretaceous dinosaur communities. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 51. 11. v–vii. 10.1139/cjes-2014-0217. 2014CaJES..51D...5B. 0008-4077. free.
  14. Book: Scott, Evan E.. The first monodominant hadrosaur bonebed from the Oldman Formation (Campanian) of Alberta. 929643085.
  15. Scott. Evan E.. Ryan. Michael J.. Evans. David C.. Agryposaurussp. Bonebed from the Oldman Formation (Campanian) of Alberta with Implications for Juvenile Social Structures. 2016. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Geological Society of America. 10.1130/abs/2016nc-275480.
  16. Fanti. Federico. Currie. Philip J.. Burns. Michael E.. April 2015. Taphonomy, age, and paleoecological implication of a new Pachyrhinosaurus (Dinosauria: Ceratopsidae) bonebed from the Upper Cretaceous (Campanian) Wapiti Formation of Alberta, Canada. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 52. 4. 250–260. 10.1139/cjes-2014-0197. 2015CaJES..52..250F. 0008-4077.
  17. Fanti. F.. Bell. P.R.. Currie. P.J.. Tsogtbaatar. K.. April 2018. The Nemegt Basin — One of the best field laboratories for interpreting Late Cretaceous terrestrial ecosystems. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 494. 1–4. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2017.07.014. 2018PPP...494....1F. 0031-0182.
  18. Strganac, C., Jacobs L., Polcyn M., Mateus O., Myers T., Araújo R., Fergunson K. M., Gonçalves A. O., Morais M. L., Schulp A. S., da Tavares T. S., & Salminen J. (2014). Geological Setting and Paleoecology of the Upper Cretaceous Bench 19 Marine Vertebrate Bonebed at Bentiaba, Angola. Netherlands Journal of Geosciences. 1-16.
  19. Web site: Fossil bone bed helps reconstruct life along California's ancient coastline. 2022-01-23. phys.org. en.
  20. Web site: 06.08.2009 - Bone bed tells of life along California's ancient coastline. 2022-01-23. www.berkeley.edu.
  21. Velez-Juarbe. Jorge. 2018-07-04. New data on the early odobenid Neotherium mirum Kellogg, 1931, and other pinniped remains from the Sharktooth Hill Bonebed, California. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 38. 4. (1)–(14). 10.1080/02724634.2018.1481080. 91544891. 0272-4634.
  22. Nicholas Pyenson. Pyenson. Nicholas D.. Irmis. Randall B.. Lipps. Jere H.. Barnes. Lawrence G.. Mitchell. Edward D.. McLeod. Samuel A.. June 2009. Origin of a widespread marine bonebed deposited during the middle Miocene Climatic Optimum. Geology. 37. 6. 519–522. 10.1130/g25509a.1. 2009Geo....37..519P. 1943-2682.
  23. Web site: 2017-03-27. Mixson's Bone Bed. 2022-01-23. Florida Museum. en-US.
  24. Loomis. F. B.. 1911-01-01. The camels of the Harrison beds, with three new species. American Journal of Science. s4-31. 181. 65–70. 10.2475/ajs.s4-31.181.65. 1911AmJS...31...65L. 0002-9599.
  25. Web site: Tweet. Justin. 2015-12-27. Equatorial Minnesota: North American camels: not the run-of-the-mill Christmas camels. 2022-01-23. Equatorial Minnesota.
  26. Hunt. Robert. Extinct Carnivores Entombed in 20 Million Year Old Dens, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska. 1984. The George Wright Forum. 4. 1. 29–39. 43597031. 0732-4715.
  27. Hunt. Robert M.. Xiang-Xu. Xue. Kaufman. Joshua. 1983. Miocene Burrows of Extinct Bear Dogs: Indication of Early Denning Behavior of Large Mammalian Carnivores. Science. 221. 4608. 364–366. 10.1126/science.221.4608.364. 1691735. 17798890. 1983Sci...221..364H. 46512625. 0036-8075.

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