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86-436: Dinosaur and crocodilian remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. This fossil formation preserves organisms that were endemic to Appalachia . The Woodbine Group was first mapped and named by Robert T. Hill , known as the "Father of Texas Geology", for outcrops near the small town of Woodbine, Texas in 1901. The Woodbine represents ancient river and delta systems that originated from erosion of

172-521: A Cupressaceae member, plus several undescribed flowers from a fagalean angiosperm . Of the inclusions found in Sayreville ambers, 34% are identified as dipterans , while a 2001 paper notes that up to 20% of the inclusions found in New Jersey amber are of coccoid true bugs. In 2010 the coccoid number was reported to only be 10% of all inclusions, while nematoceran flies made up 30% of

258-568: A stagodontid , and a herpetotheriid . Unlike ptilodontoideans, metatherians show a lesser degree of endemism, implying a degree of interchange with Laramidia and Europe. Research in this area has revealed that the Taeniolabidoidea mammals can trace their origins here and that there were several species of multituberculates endemic to Appalachia. Eutheria fossils, most notably molars, have also been unearthed in Mississippi. It

344-537: A bit of a resurgence of interest due to several discoveries made in the past few years. As mentioned earlier, not much is known about Appalachia, but some fossil sites, such as the Woodbine Formation , Navesink Formation , Ellisdale Fossil Site , Mooreville Chalk Formation, Demopolis Chalk Formation, Black Creek Group and the Niobrara Formation , together with ongoing research in

430-513: A ceratopsian tooth was unearthed in Mississippi's Owl Creek Formation , which has been dated to be 67 million years old. The owner of this one particular tooth was probably a chasmosaurine since by the end of the Cretaceous, the centrosaurines had completely vanished from most of North America, though they were thriving in Asia as in the case of Sinoceratops . While leptoceratopsid remains,

516-584: A few groups such as the charadriiformes , which consisted of Graculavus and Telmatornis , anseriformes as represented by Anatalavis , procellariiformes with Tytthostonyx being a representative of the group, and Palaeotringa and Laornis belonging to a currently unknown group of birds. Hesperornithid fossils have also been unearthed in Arkansas. Some birds found in Canada such as Tingmiatornis and Canadaga were found in areas that were

602-460: A lack of interest in Appalachia, many fossils that have been found in Appalachia lie unstudied and remain in the inaccurate genera to which they were assigned in the days of E. D. Cope and O. C. Marsh . Only a few fossils of the terrestrial creatures that were found in this region have given us a brief glimpse into what life was like here during the Cretaceous period. However, the area has seen

688-622: A land bridge must have formed sometime during the Campanian . In 2020, a forelimb belonging to a lambeosaur was unearthed in the New Egypt Formation from New Jersey with evidence of sharks scavenging on its remains. While ornithopod fossils have been unearthed in the eastern United States in the past, including footprints in Virginia, they primarily belonged to scrappy remains and couldn't be described as distinct species, with

774-430: A milky to chalky coloration. The fires are one of possible causes for the large amount of resin production that resulted in the amber. A study published in 2011 suggested that the majority of the resin production was initiated by the boring activity of insects such as beetles. Trees that are being attacked by beetles and other insects will often produce defensive resin flows and the majority of New Jersey amber, about 70%,

860-551: A part of Appalachia during the time that the Western Interior Seaway had divided North America into two landmasses. Fossils of Appalachian pterosaurs have also been unearthed in Kansas and Texas . Pteranodontidae seems to be the most common group of pterosaurs in Appalachia and is represented by five species: Pteranodon , Nyctosaurus , Geosternbergia , Dawndraco , and Alamodactylus . Members of

946-708: A part of Appalachia. Enantiornithine birds are also known from Appalachia, as is the case of Flexomornis from the Woodbine Formation from Texas. Through the Ellisdale Fossil Site , a good picture of Appalachia's amphibian fauna is present. Amidst lissamphibians , there is evidence for sirenids (including the large Habrosaurus ), the batrachosauroidid salamander Parrisia , hylids , and possible representatives of Eopelobates and Discoglossus . These show close similarities to European faunas, but aside from Habrosaurus (which

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1032-499: A wide variety of plant diversity such as sporophytes , gametophytes , Detrusandra , Hamamelidaceae , Actinidiaceae , and a multitude of 63 species of plants have been unearthed in this region. Angiosperm plants have been found in the Woodbine Formation. Pinaceae and Lauraceae fossils have been unearthed in Mississippi and North Carolina respectively. Plant fossils found in Massachusetts and Rhode Island indicate that

1118-470: Is a distinct difference with how the leptoceratopsians evolved in Appalachia and Laramida. The Appalachian leptoceratopsian that was unearthed in the Tar Heel Formation, which grew to the size of a large dog, had a more slender jaw that teeth that curved downward and outward in its beak. This would imply a specialized feeding strategy for feeding on the foliage that was native to Appalachia during

1204-533: Is also found on Laramidia) there is a high degree of endemism, suggesting no interchanges with other landmasses throughout the Late Cretaceous. There is also a high degree of endemism in regards to its reptilian fauna: among squamates, the teiid Prototeius is exclusive to the landmass, and native representatives of iguanids , helodermatids , and necrosaurids are also known. No fossilized remains of snakes have been discovered in Appalachia during

1290-603: Is known to have lived in Appalachia; Terminonaris whose remains have been unearthed in Texas and Kansas. Pterosaur fossils, mostly similar to Pteranodon and Nyctosaurus , have been unearthed in Georgia, Alabama and Delaware. On a similar note, azhdarchid remains, which belong to Arambourgiania , have been unearthed in Tennessee. There have been a number of specimens of pterosaurs unearthed in areas that were

1376-404: Is low due its UV absorption, making specimens susceptible to UV deterioration. The only conditions that Bisulca et al identified which seemed to produce stable New Jersey amber specimens were those that were anoxic. Edward W. Berry notes that an "amber-like" substance preserved in resin canals of fossil conifer cones that he assigned to taxon " Dammara ". Berry suggests that the majority of

1462-480: Is not completely understood how the leptoceratopsians were able to reach Appalachia; however, the most commonly accepted theory was that they island hopped during the time that the Western Interior Seaway split the North American continent into two different land masses in a way that some species of leptoceratopsids, most notably Ajkaceratops , were able to reach Europe. It should also be noted that there

1548-409: Is noted to be brittle and friable , with specimens noted to crack and craze . Deep-red amber specimens are also noted to form deep needle-like cracks. A series of tests on ambers, including New Jersey amber, was published in 2012 by Bisulca et al . Exposure to a combination of light and humidity changes can cause significant crazing. The amber also has a distinct light absorbance curve that peaks in

1634-407: Is now believed that some of these are the bones of juvenile dryptosaurs while others belong to various undescribed species of ornithomimids. As of 2019, no distinct species of ornithomimosaurs have been identified yet, mostly due to the fact that no complete skeleton has been unearthed yet. However, it can be assumed that most of them were around the same size of their Laramidian relatives, though there

1720-487: Is one specimen that could have reached a large size similar to Gallimimus or Beishanlong . In 2022, fossils from the Eutaw Formation from Mississippi revealed that large ornithomimids did indeed roam Appalachia. Fossils from the Woodbine Formation in Texas, one of the few fossil sites that is one of Appalachia's more well preserved fossils, reveal that other theropods might have roamed Appalachia around

1806-531: Is part of the Old Crossman's pit clay mine in Sayreville, New Jersey . It contains outcrops of the amber-bearing South Amboy Fire Clay that are noted to be rich in inclusions. New Jersey amber is grouped by Anderson 1992 as a Class Ib amber, being composed of labdanoid diterpenes , and lacking a presence of succinic acid in the structure. Ragazzi et al in 2003 listed the possible plant families

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1892-545: Is possible that they belong to a creature rather reminiscent to Protungulatum . The genus Alphadon as well as members of the Allotheria family have had their remains unearthed in New Jersey. While not much was known about Appalachia's land-based fauna until recently, the marine life that in the area, as well as the life that lived in the nearby Western Interior Seaway, has been well studied by paleontologists for years. Such examples of fossil sites that have preserved

1978-466: Is represented by Scolomastax and Deltasuchus , Alligatoroidea are presented Deinosuchus and Leidyosuchus , Gavialoidea are represented by Thoracosaurus , Eothoracosaurus , and Crocodilia is presented by Borealosuchus , are well established in Laramidia as well, probably indicative of their ocean crossing capacities. Deinosuchus , being one of the largest crocodilians of

2064-426: The Campanian . Several bird remains are known from Appalachian sites, most of them sea birds like hesperornithes like Hesperornis , Canadaga , Baptornis , Fumicollis , Parahesperornis , and Ichthyornis , enantiornithes like Halimornis and ornithurans like Apatornis and Iaceornis , possibly indicating that Appalachia may have possessed a diverse variety of birds that were endemic to

2150-497: The Coon Creek Formation . Hypsibema crassicauda , over fifty feet long, was one of the largest eastern hadrosaurs, outgrowing some of more derived western hadrosaurs like Lambeosaurus and Saurolophus . The genus likely took up the environmental niche occupied by large sauropods in other areas, possibly grown to colossal sizes to that of Magnapaulia and Shantungosaurus . Hypsibema missouriensis ,

2236-591: The Dallas Paleontological Society have excavated at the site up to present day, where work continues. Other vertebrate fossils that have been identified in the Woodbine include lungfish , fish , turtles , sharks , and coprolites containing bones. Invertebrate fossils found in the Woodbine include ammonites , Inoceramus , oysters , crustaceans , and agglutinated foraminifera . Appalachia (Mesozoic) During most of

2322-615: The Hadrosauridae which is now considered to be their "ancestral homeland"; eventually making their way to Laramidia, Asia , Europe , South America and Antarctica where they diversified into the lambeosaurine and saurolophine dinosaurs, though some of the primitive hadrosaurs were still present until the end of the Mesozoic. While the fossil record shows a staggering variety of hadrosaur forms in Laramidia, hadrosaur remains for Appalachia show less diversity due to

2408-671: The Late Cretaceous (100.5 to 66 million years ago) the eastern half of North America formed Appalachia (named for the Appalachian Mountains ), an island land mass separated from Laramidia to the west by the Western Interior Seaway . This seaway had split North America into two massive landmasses due to a multitude of factors such as tectonism and sea-level fluctuations for nearly 40 million years. The seaway eventually expanded, divided across

2494-485: The Laurentide Ice Sheet during Quaternary glaciations , but it is difficult to ascertain how much sediment has been removed, or whether these sediments would have been any more productive than those that remain. Thus relatively little is known about Appalachia in comparison to Laramidia, with the exception of plant life, marine life and the insects trapped in amber from New Jersey . In addition, due to

2580-472: The Maastrichtian , Laramidia and Appalachia eventually connected. Because of this, its fauna was isolated, and developed very differently from the tyrannosaur , ceratopsian , hadrosaurid , pachycephalosaur and ankylosaurid dominated fauna of the western part of North America, known as " Laramidia ". Due to high sea levels, subsequent erosion, and the lack of orogenic input of sediment into

2666-610: The Ornithocheiridae and Anhangueridae are represented by Aetodactylus and Cimoliopterus respectively. The remains of indeterminate choristoderans have turned up in the Navesink Formation ; the only known genus of choristodere during the Late Cretaceous was Champsosaurus . As a whole Appalachian choristodere fossils are very rare, speculated to the result of the lack of a suitable cold freshwater environment as seen in Laramidia at similar latitudes;

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2752-655: The Raritan and Magothy Formations of the Central Atlantic (Eastern) coast of the United States. It is dated to the Late Cretaceous , Turonian age, based on pollen analysis of the host formations. It has been known since the 19th century, with several of the old clay-pit sites now producing many specimens for study. It has yielded a number of organism fossils, including fungi, plants, tardigrades, insects and feathers. The first identified Cretaceous age ant

2838-578: The leptoceratopsids somehow managed to inhabit that location. A Campanian -era leptoceratopsid ceratopsian has been found in the Tar Heel Formation , marking the first discovery of a ceratopsian dinosaur in the Appalachian zone. This specimen bears a uniquely long, slender and downcurved upper jaw, suggesting that it was an animal with a specialized feeding strategy, yet another example of speciation on an island environment. Recently,

2924-452: The ultraviolet B range at 385 nm . This is similar to the slightly older Burmese amber , which has an absorbance peak of 380 nm. Exposure to increase in temperature over a period of time has been shown to result in "yellowing" or darkening of the amber over a long period of time, though not to as significant a degree as seen in Baltic amber . Overall the stability of New Jersey amber

3010-540: The Carolinas and the Gulf Coast sites) has some tyrannosauroids such as Appalachiosaurus , some hadrosauroids such as Eotrachodon and Lophorhothon , nodosaurs, dromaeosaurs, and new leptoceratopsian while the northern assemblage (which consists of New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland) has some tyrannosauroids such as Dryptosaurus , hadrosauroids such as Hadrosaurus , smaller theropods, and a possible lambeosaur in

3096-601: The Carolinas, have a very scant amount of Cretaceous plant fossils with the exception of Georgia, the northern parts of Appalachia, such as New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware have a much better record in terms of plant species being unearthed there, especially with fossils sites like the Ellisdale Fossil Site , and have given us a better glimpse into a forgotten world. In the Ellisdae Fossil Site, excavations have revealed that plants like Picea , Metasequoia , Liriodendron , and possibly Rhizophora inhabited

3182-606: The Cenomanian to the Maastrichtian, Appalachia was inhabited by various groups of dinosaurs including, hadrosauroids , hadrosaurs , nodosaurs , leptoceratopsians , indeterminate ornithopods , tyrannosauroids , dromaeosaurs , ornithomimids , and indeterminate maniraptors lived in the area. There is also fossil evidence of possible chasmosaurs , lambeosaurs , sauropods , carcharodontosaurs , caenagnathids , troodontids , and coelurosaurs that might have inhabited

3268-504: The Cretaceous period, only being found in Laramidia. Amidst turtles , which are rather common finds in Appalachia, Adocus , Bothremys and Chedighaii are well represented, the latter two in particular more common in Appalachian sites than Laramidian ones. Pleurochayah , a bothremyid , is known from Texas. In Santonian Alabama occurred the giant endemic Appalachemys . Two marine stem group - trionychians , " Trionyx " priscus and " Trionyx " halophilus , are known from

3354-761: The Dakota Formation in Nebraska. As mentioned earlier, Georgia has a rich fossil record of plant life dating back to the Cretaceous. Some of the examples of flora that was present in that area include Salicaceae , Lauraceae , Sequoioideae , Moraceae , Pinophyta , Malpighiales , Monocotyledon , Ericaceae , Cinnamomum , Ranunculales , Salicaceae , Torreya , Cupressaceae , Magnoliaceae and Rhamnaceae . Plant fossils of Minnesota have revealed that cycads , evergreens , Equisetum , laurels , ferns , willows , redwoods , poplars , tulip trees , and pomegranates were present in

3440-687: The Dakotas , and by the end of the Cretaceous, it retreated towards the Gulf of Mexico and the Hudson Bay . This left the island masses joined in the continent of North America as the Rocky Mountains rose. From the Cenomanian to the end of the Campanian ages of the Late Cretaceous , Appalachia was separated from the rest of North America. As the Western Interior Seaway retreated in

3526-573: The Kanguk Formation also revealed the dietary preferences of hadrosaurs, which revealed that they had a diet of conifers , stems , twigs , and various deciduous plants . In 2020, the remains of one small-bodied hadrosaur and two small-bodied hadrosauromorphs were unearthed in the New Egypt Formation in New Jersey. The fossils were dated to the Maastrichtian, which was the last stage of the Cretaceous period that ended with

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3612-466: The Late Cretaceous. These fossilized teeth possibly belong to a species of Appalachiosaurus or an undescribed species of a new tyrannosaur. There is also the possibility of a fourth tyrannosaur known from Applachia known as Diplotomodon , but the genus is considered dubious. Fossils from New Jersey and Delaware, most notably in the Mt. Laurel Formation and Merchantville Formations , have revealed that

3698-747: The Niobrara Formation in Kansas, which is made up of shale, sandstone and limestone, as well as the Woodbury Formation in New Jersey. Many species of arthropods are known from the Turonian aged New Jersey amber , situated on the Atlantic coast of Appalachia. Arthropods are also known from the Cenomanian aged Redmond Formation of Labrador, Canada. While the fossil sites from the southern part in Appalachia, places like Alabama and

3784-824: The Ouachita Uplift in modern-day Oklahoma and Arkansas and the Sabine Uplift in modern-day Texas and Louisiana . Sediments from these deltas flowed into the East Texas and Brazos Basins of the ancient East Texas shelf. The Arlington Archosaur Site is a location in Arlington, Texas that currently excavates fossils from the Woodbine Group. It became available to access by the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in spring of 2008. UTA and

3870-727: The South Amboy Fire clay has returned a Turonian age, placing the members in the Complexiopollis – Santanacites palynostratigraphic zones . Amber specimens are recovered from the South Amboy Fire Clay member, part of the Raritan Formation . Deposited in lagoons and saltwater marshes along the Cretaceous eastern seaboard. The lithology exposed in the Crossmans clay pits shows that

3956-404: The Western Interior Seaway unlike the east coast of Laramidia, no terrestrially formed deposits have survived, with most dinosaur remains originating from seaborne carcasses that were transported into marine environments. This same lack of terrestrial sediments is also present on the western coast of Laramidia. Some sediments in the northern part of the range have been removed by glacial erosion of

4042-685: The amber deposits at the Old Crossmans locality are fossil plants and insects preserved as fusianized charcoal remains. Ferns, gymnosperms, mosses and over one hundred angiosperm taxa have been identified from the Raritan formation lignite fossils. The plants, such as Microvictoria svitkoana and insects such as Paracupes svitkoi were entombed in the anoxic forest floor and then transformed to carbon remains by possible forest fires. Specimens of amber show evidence of heating in fire as well, having large amounts of bubbles on outer surfaces, and

4128-534: The amber in the taxon was considered araucarian in relationship by Barry and his contemporaries. Restudy of the fossils identify them as not araucarian, but cupressaceous in relation. Wilson and Carpenter noted in 1966 that study of pollen spores and cones in the Mogathy and older Potomac Formation has suggested Metasequoia , Sequoiadendron or a related Taxodiaceae genus. Work using pyrolysis gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy published in 2000 linked

4214-484: The amber may have been produced by as including Cupressaceae, Araucariaceae, or Hamamelidaceae, but only Cupressaceae was listed by Bisulca et al . The amber is noted as being insoluble in solutions of both ethyl ether and ethanol . Ragazzi et al indicated that New Jersey amber had a distinct amount of sulphur , 0.29%, included in its chemical composition. The color of the amber ranges from clear yellows and yellow oranges through opaque yellows and reds. The amber

4300-477: The amber to the " Dammara conescales, fossil Pityoxylon woods and possibly Juniperus hypnoides foliage. Further work identified methyl callitrisate , a identifying compound of Cupressaceae, in the ambers composition. The organisms preserved in New Jersey amber are diverse, with fungus, plant, and animal inclusions having been described. Fungi are represented by a single described Agaricales species. Plant fossils are also sparse, with conifer shoots from

4386-603: The animals are speculated to have been more common at higher latitudes and altitudes. Several types of mammals are also present in Ellisdale and in both of the Carolinas . The most common are ptilodontoidean multituberculates , such as Mesodma , Cimolodon and a massively-sized species. The sheer diversity of species on the landmass, as well as the earlier appearance compared to other Late Cretaceous locales, suggests that ptilodontoideans evolved in Appalachia. Metatherians are also known, including an alphadontid ,

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4472-493: The apex predators of their environment at the time. Plesiosaur fossils, belonging to the genus Cimoliasaurus , have been unearthed in New Jersey. Mosasaur remains have also been unearthed in Missouri. Fish fossils are rather common throughout Appalachia, especially in locations abundant in marl , shale , and limestone . Fish fossils, as well as a lot of Cretaceous era marine fauna, are rather abundant in regions like

4558-617: The area during the Cretaceous. There is also a huge concentration of Normapolles unearthed in the southeastern United States, suggesting that there was a distinct phytogeography through the area during the Cretaceous. Fossils unearthed near from the Redmond Formation in Labrador have revealed that many of the modern-day angiosperms first appeared in Appalachia. Plant fossils found in Crawford County , Georgia show

4644-562: The area, have given us a better look into this forgotten world of paleontology . Appalachia stretched from Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador all the way down to the Eastern United States and west to the Midwestern United States . Fossils found in these regions indicate that the area was covered in coastal plains and coastal lowlands during the Cretaceous period. Some scientists have proposed

4730-487: The area. In 2022, fossils unearthed from the Woodbine Formation in Texas confirmed that carcharodontosaurs, troodontids, and coelurosaurs did indeed inhabit Appalachia. In Late Cretaceous North America, the dominant predators were the Tyrannosauroidea , huge predatory theropods built for ripping flesh from their prey. In Appalachia, dryptosaurs were the top predators in this clade. Rather than developing

4816-489: The area. Vertebrate fossils have been found along the Atlantic Seaboard as well as other states like Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, and Minnesota. Parts of Canada that were a part of Appalachia during the Cretaceous include, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, Nunavut, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Nova Scotia. From

4902-564: The clay layers are lignite lenses, leaf impressions, and the amber. At the time of the paper's publication, the age was uncertain, and given by Wilson and Carpenter as approximately 100 million years old. Amber deposits of the Raritan Formation are mainly in the Old Bridge sand member and South Amboy Fire Clay Member, with the latter being fossilized in situ , with no disturbance after deposition. Palynological dating of

4988-405: The climate here was sub-humid and paratropical too, indicating that some of Appalachia's habitats largely consisted of coastal plains and deciduous forests . Plants of Pinaceae , Taxodioideae , Araucariaceae , Taxaceae , Cycas and Thallophyte have been found in Georgia and South Carolina. New Jersey amber New Jersey Amber , sometimes called Raritan amber , is amber found in

5074-617: The crestless hadrosaurs of Laramidia like Gryposaurus and Edmontosaurus , despite the fact that they are not considered to be saurolophines . Claosaurus is known from a specimen which floated into the Interior Seaway and was found in Kansas, might also be from Appalachia, since it was found closer to the Appalachia side of the seaway and is unknown from Western North America. Hadrosaur remains have even been found in Iowa , though in fragmentary remains, Tennessee , most notably from

5160-648: The dromaeosaurid remains, tyrannosauroid and possible ornithomimid remains have been unearthed in Missouri as well. It should also be noted that dromaeosaur remains are more commonly found in the southern region of Appalachia when compared to the northern region, with their sizes ranging from smaller forms to gigantic forms. Recent fossils unearthed in New Jersey show that maniraptorans were present in Appalachia as well. Various ornithomimid bones, such as Coelosaurus , have also been reported from Appalachia from Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and as far north in states like Maryland, New Jersey, and Delaware, but it

5246-474: The early and late Cretaceous period, include Priconodon , Propanoplosaurus , Niobrarasaurus , Silvisaurus and possibly Hierosaurus , though its validity is disputed. Just like the Claosaurus specimen, it is possible that the specimens of Niobrarasaurus , Silvisaurus and Hierosaurus floated into the Interior Seaway from the east, since these two species of nodosaurids were discovered in

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5332-502: The eastern coastal margin of Appalachia (New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and the Carolinas). Crocodiles were rather abundant in Appalachia with nine local crocodilian genera belonging to several confirmed families, with the possibility of much more undiscovered crocodiles waiting to be unearthed. Goniopholididae is represented by Dakotasuchus and Woodbinesuchus , Alligatoridae is represented by Bottosaurus , Neosuchia

5418-429: The exception being Tenontosaurus . However, this all changed with the descriptions of Convolosaurus and Ampelognathus from early Cretaceous and late Cretaceous Texas, respectively. The nodosaurids , a group of large, herbivorous armored dinosaurs resembling armadillos , are another testament to Appalachia's difference from Laramidia. During the early Cretaceous, the nodosaurids prospered and were one of

5504-606: The extinction the dinosaurs. This information would imply that Appalachia probably had a rich diversity of life, but research will be need in order to get a better picture of this lost world. In 2021, new remains of Hypsibema missouriensis , also known as Parrosaurus missouriensis , were unearthed in Missouri. Indeterminate lambeosaurinae remains, mostly similar to Corythosaurus , have been reported from New Jersey's Navesink Formation , Bylot Island and Nova Scotia, Canada . It cannot yet be explained how lambeosaurines might have reached Appalachia though some have theorized that

5590-429: The famous chalk formations of Kansas and are not known from any location from Western North America. Kansas was also a part of Appalachia when the other parts were covered by oceans, which were a part of the Western Interior Seaway. While remains of the advanced ceratopsians, most notably the centrosaurines and chasmosaurines which were very common in Laramidia during this time period, were not found in Appalachia,

5676-415: The few that have been discovered in recent years have been unearthed in the southern part of Appalachia. They appear to be completely absent from the northern part of Appalachia, states like New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland, suggesting the idea, proposed by paleontologist David R. Schwimmer, that there was a possible providence during the Late Cretaceous (although it may be a case of preservation bias ). It

5762-509: The findings are not diagnostic enough to identify the species, but the remains attest to a greater number of these armored dinosaurs in Appalachia. Multiple specimens have been unearthed in Kansas in the Niobrara Formation, Alabama in Ripley Formation , Mississippi, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey, possibly belonging to a multitude of different species. Five possible and best-known examples of Appalachian nodosaurids, from both

5848-418: The fossil record, was an apex predator that did prey on the dinosaurs in the area, the same case applies for Laramidia as well, despite the fact that the majority of its diet consisted of turtles and sea turtles . However, crocodiles still preyed on the endemic dinosaurs whenever they got the chance to do so; there is evidence of crocodile bite marks on the femur of large ornithomimosaur that indicates

5934-502: The huge heads and massive bodies of their western relatives such as Gorgosaurus , Albertosaurus and Lythronax , dryptosaurs had more in common with the basal tyrannosaurs like Dilong and Eotyrannus . Dryptosaurs were characterized by long arms with three fingers; while they were not as large as the largest tyrannosaurids, fossils from the Potomac Formation in New Jersey show that some of them did evolve some of

6020-432: The idea that an archipelago of islands had formed during the time that the Western Interior Seaway had divided Laramidia and Appalachia apart until the near end of the Cretaceous. This would allow dinosaurs to migrate into the Gulf Coast and why it would possibly explain why there are some noticeable distinctions with the fauna in the two assemblages of Appalachia. For instance, the southeastern assemblage (which consists of

6106-408: The inclusions and parasitoid wasps also constituted 30%. In 1967 a pair of fossil ants were described from a fossil found at a New Jersey beach exposure. The ants were described as the extinct species Sphecomyrma freyi , and were the first conclusive ants identified from the Cretaceous. Since that time a series of other ant genera have been identified in the New Jersey amber. Associated with

6192-408: The lagoons and marshes had brackish water channels where water flow diminished and anoxic conditions formed. This is supported by the presence of pyrite and marcasite on and around amber specimens, with some amber totally encased in the iron sulphides. The number of insect groups that need fresh water to survive, such as caddisflies , indicates that fresh water was close to the delta area. Amber

6278-550: The large-bodied features that can be found on other tyrannosaurs. Three genera of valid Appalachian tyrannosaurs are known, Dryptosaurus , Appalachiosaurus , and the recently discovered Teihivenator while other indeterminate fossils lie scattered throughout most of the southern United States like Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Fossil foot bones from Appalachian deposits indicate another, unnamed tyrannosauroid measuring 9 m (30 ft), indicating that diversity in these basal tyrannosauroids remained high during

6364-530: The most widespread dinosaurs throughout North America. However, by the latest Cretaceous, nodosaurids were scarce in western North America, limited to forms like Edmontonia , Denversaurus and Panoplosaurus ; perhaps due to competition from the ankylosauridae ; though they did thrive in isolation, most notably in Appalachia, as mentioned earlier and in the case of Struthiosaurus , Europe as well. Nodosaurid scutes have been commonly found in eastern North America, while fossil specimens are very rare. Often

6450-556: The predatory behavior of native crocodiles. Fossils unearthed in South Carolina and New Jersey shows that some of the crocodilians endemic to Appalachia survived the extinction of the dinosaurs and even persisted into the Cenozoic. Dyrosauridae , most notably Dyrosaurus and Hyposaurus fossils, are also known form Appalachia, particularly in New Jersey, Alabama, and South Carolina. Only one species of pholidosaurid

6536-725: The primitive tyrannosauroids were much more diverse than expected, and some of them grew to lengths of 8 to 9 meters long, making them around the same size as some of the more advanced tyrannosaurs found in Laramidia. Fossils in Cenomanian deposits further indicate tyrannosauroids had been a constant presence in Appalachia since the Middle Cretaceous. The dryptosaurs were not the only predatory dinosaurs in Appalachia. Indeterminate dromaeosaur fossils, possibly belonging to Velociraptorinae and Saurornitholestinae , and teeth, most closely matching those of Saurornitholestes , have also been unearthed in Appalachia as well; mostly in

6622-437: The region during the late Cretaceous period, implying that the environment during that time period was a coastal forest with a few types of marine environments as well including estuarine , lagoonal , marine, and terrestrial. Plant fossils found in neighboring states such as Delaware and Maryland have revealed that ferns , gymnosperms , and angiosperms did indeed inhabit the area. Angiosperm fossils were unearthed in

6708-463: The region. Of particular interest are possible lithornithid remains in New Jersey , arguably one of the best records for Cretaceous birds as some specimens were preserved in the greensands in the area, which would represent a clear example of palaeognath Neornithes in the Late Cretaceous. However, this issue is still under debate. Examples of birds that were endemic to Appalachia include

6794-426: The relative uncommon number of fossil beds. However, a decent number of hadrosaurs are known from Appalachia with Protohadros , Claosaurus , and Lophorhothon representing Hadrosauromorpha , Hypsibema crassicauda and Hypsibema missouriensis representing Hadrosauroidea , and Hadrosaurus and Eotrachodon representing Hadrosauridae . These hadrosaurs from Appalachia seem to be closely related to

6880-611: The remains of marine life from that period include the Niobrara Formation, the Demopolis Chalk Formation, and the Mooreville Chalk Formation are just a few examples of the fossil sites that have successfully preserved the skeletal remains of various marine creatures from the Cretaceous. Examples of the marine fauna that lived near Appalachia include chondrichthyes , osteichthyes , chelonioids , plesiosaurs , and mosasaurs , which were

6966-579: The southern states like Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia. Finds from the Campanian Tar Heel Formation in North Carolina indicate that there may have been dromaeosaurids of considerable size; intermediate between genera such as Saurornitholestes and Dakotaraptor . Though known only from teeth, the discovery indicates large dromaeosaurids were part of Appalachia's fauna. Along with

7052-455: The time when the Western Interior Seaway first formed, they include possible specimens of allosauroids , troodontids , caenagnathids , dromaeosaurs, and tyrannosaurs. The most of these being the carcharodontosaurid Acrocanthosaurus . Another common group, arguably the most widespread species in the area, of Appalachian dinosaurs were the hadrosaurs which were represented by three groups including Hadrosauromorpha , Hadrosauroidea , and

7138-607: The two formations that New Jersey amber is found in, the Raritan Formation underlies the Magothy Formation. The Magothy formation is reported by Wilson's 1967 paper describing Sphecomyrma freyi as having exposures in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Delaware, and other unspecified islands along the New England coastline. The formation consists of gray to dark brown clay beds interlayered in light-colored sands. In

7224-721: Was another large species of hadrosaur, but it grew up to 45 to 49 feet, which wasn't as large as Hypsibema crassicauda . When it was first discovered in 1945, it was mistaken for a species of sauropod. Hypsibema missouriensis, possibly even all of the other hadrosaurs living on Appalachia, had serrated teeth for chewing the vegetation in the area. Hadrosaur fossils from the Kanguk Formation in Axel Heiberg Island in Nunavut, Canada show that hadrosaurs were rather widespread throughout Appalachia. The fossils found in

7310-442: Was described from a fossil found in New Jersey in 1966. Though named after New Jersey , the fossil-bearing strata of the Raritan and overlying Magothy formations are also exposed in several neighboring U.S. states , including Maryland through south and central New Jersey , across Staten Island and Long Island (coastal areas of New York state), to a northern exposure at Martha's Vineyard , an island of Massachusetts . Of

7396-466: Was first mentioned in 1821 by naturalist Gerard Troost , who described a specimen which contained a group of fossil scale insects from an outcrop at Cape Sable, Maryland. Hollick reported in 1905 that during the height of clay mining at the turn of the 20th century, amber was found in such volumes that it was saved, and burned during the winter for heat. A number of the clay mines are now sources of amber for study. The White Oaks site (or White Oaks pit)

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