Paleobiota of the Chinle Formation
Paleorhinus[4] Indeterminate[4] Machaeroprosopus[5] M. buceros[5] M. mccauleyi[5] M. pristinus[5] Redondasaurus[9] R. gregorii[9] Calyptosuchus[14] C. wellesi[15] Common, although "non-armor material is comparatively rare".
[21] Indeterminate[22] Parrishia[24] P. mccreai[24] Poposaurus[25] P. gracilis[25] Postosuchus[26] P. kirkpatricki[26] Revueltosaurus[27] R. callenderi[28] R. hunti[29] Rioarribasuchus R. chamaensis A late-surviving paratypothoracin typothoracine aetosaur.
Originally referred to Desmatosuchus, but later reinterpreted as a relative of Paratypothorax based on a phylogenetic analysis performed on the remains by Parker in 2003.
[34] Vivaron[35] V. haydeni[35] Prosauropod tracks are present in the Redonda, Sloan Canyon, and Sheep Pen Sandstone formations.
[36] Theropod tracks have been found in Utah and New Mexico recovered from the Redonda, Sloan Canyon, and Sheep Pen Sandstone formations.
[36] Indeterminate theropod remains are stratigraphically present in the Petrified Forest, Bluewater Creek, and Rock Point members of New Mexico.
Daemonosaurus D. chauliodus Eucoelophysis E. baldwini A silesaurid dinosauriform closely related to the Polish genus Silesaurus.
Tecovasaurus[49] T. murryi[49] An unknown amniote represented by scattered teeth formerly believed to be from an ornithischian dinosaur.
[49] Later discoveries of similar teeth in pseudosuchians meant that these could no longer be regarded as anything more specific than some kind of archosauriform.
[49] Trilophosaurus[50] T. buettneri[51] T. dornorum[52] T. jacobsi[53] T. phasmalophos[54] Vancleavea[55] V. campi[55] A strange aquatic carnivorous archosauriform, represented by both articulated skeletons and scattered elements like osteoderms and vertebrae.
Might be more closely related to crown-group frogs (anurans) than to Early Triassic taxa Triadobatrachus and Czatkobatrachus.
[105] Isolated scales from Chinle microvertebrate sites commonly have Turseodus-like ridges, however that feature is not unique to Turseodus and in 2005 Irmis advised researchers to regard them as indeterminate palaeoniscid remains.
[105] The Chinle Formation has a diverse flora of plant megafossils, though they are concentrated in only a few sites with suitable conditions.
Conifers are the most common and diverse plants, including petrified wood and leafy branches from massive trees (Araucarioxylon, Pagiophyllum) as well as smaller shrubby forms (Pelourdea).
Cycad and bennettitalean leaves and other remains make up a significant portion of the flora (Zamites, Nilssoniopteris, Williamsonia, etc.).
are abundant, with a range of growth habits including low shrubs, tree ferns, and palm-like fronds comparable to their modern relatives.
have low diversity but high abundance, and the largest Neocalamites fossils in the Chinle Formation could reach up to 6 meters (20 feet) in height.
The flora is rounded out by unusual low-growing gymnosperms such as Sanmiguelia (an angiosperm-like shrub), Dechellyia, and Dinophyton (possible relatives of Gnetales).
[108][109] The floral composition of the Chinle Formation (and other parts of Late Triassic North America) seem to shift with changes in climate over time.
The lowest parts of the Chinle, such as the Shinarump Conglomerate, are dominated by the bennettitalean Eoginkgoites alongside the first occurrence of other persistent plants such as Phlebopteris, Equisetites, and most common conifer species.
In these later layers, by far the most common plant fossils belong to Sanmiguelia (an endemic of southwestern North America) alongside conifers and horsetails.
[114] B. hegewaldia[121] E. davidsonii[127] P. duttonia,[107] P. navajoensis,[107] P. readiana,[107] P. zuniana,[107] P. simpsonii[128] P. diffusa, P. sphenolepis P. emmonsi, P. lanceolatus P. braunianum S. puerca Schilderia S. adamanica Woodworthia W. arizonica Stems and petrified wood of a conifer related to A.
C. lasiophora[136] P. utensis C. campii E. bradyi N. virginiensis Paleoscolytus[145] P. divergus A species of bark beetle, evidenced by trace fossils of tracks made on A. arizonicum specimens.
