Hamilton Quarry
Hamilton Quarry is a Late Carboniferous lagerstätte near Hamilton, Kansas, United States. It has a diverse assemblage of unusually well-preserved marine, euryhaline, freshwater, flying, and terrestrial fossils (invertebrates, vertebrates, and plants). This extraordinary mix of fossils suggests it was once an estuary. This type of Lagerstätte is considered a Konservat-Lagerstätte (or conservation lagerstätte), due to the quality the preservation of soft tissue (skin preservation).
The lagerstätte occurs within a paleovalley that was incised into the surrounding Carboniferous cyclothemic sequence during a time of low sea level and was then filled in during a subsequent transgression. The channel has a capping series of interbedded laminated limestones and mudstones for which are designated the Lagerstätte beds or ‘vertebrate horizon’. This facies contains a well-preserved mixed assemblage of terrestrial (conifers, insects, myriapods, reptiles), freshwater (ostracods), aquatic (amphibians, reptile), brackish or euryhaline (ostracods, eurypterids, microconchids, fish), and marine (brachiopods, echinoderms) fossils.
Paleobiota
According to thesis
Color key
|
Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Vertebrates
Vertebrates | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Orthacanthus | O. platypternus | Elasmobranch in order Xenacanthida. | |
Expleuracanthus | E. cf. E. parallelus | ||
Xenacanthus | Indeterminate | ||
Hamiltonichthys | H. mapesi | A Hybodont elasmobranch. | |
Petalodus | Indeterminate | A petalodont holocephalian. | |
Acanthodes | A. bridgei | An acanthodiform acanthodian. | |
Elonichthys | Indeterminate | A palaeonisciform actinopterygian. | |
"Feroniscus" | "F. hamiltoni"/"F. hamiltonensis" | A palaeonisciform actinopterygian, nomen nudum (Only described in thesis). | |
Gnathorhiza | Indeterminate | A lungfish. | |
Sagenodus | S. cf. copeanus | ||
Eoscopus | E. lockardi | An amphibamiform temnospondyl. | |
Euconcordia | E. cunninghami | A captorhinid. | |
Spinoaequalis | S. schultzei | An early semi-aquatic diapsid. | |
Archaeovenator | A. hamiltonensis | A varanopid. | |
Eocasea | E. martini | A caseid synapsid. | |
Ianthasaurus | I. cf. I. hardestii/hardestiorum | An edaphosaurid synapsid. | |
?Lupeosaurus | Indeterminate |
Arthropods
Arthropods | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Prothelyphonus | Indeterminate | A whip scorpion. | |
Archaeoctonus | A. cf. A. glaber | A scorpion. Multiple papers misspelled as Archaeoctonous. | |
Adelophthalmus | A. cf. A. mazonensis | An adelophthalmid eurypterid. | |
Amphissites | Indeterminate | Ostracod. | |
Geisina | |||
Gutschickia | |||
Bairdia | |||
Pseudobythocypris | |||
Carbonita | |||
Darwinula | |||
Paromylacris | A roachoid. | ||
Oedischia | An orthopteran. | ||
Meganeura | Meganisopteran. | ||
Titanophasma | |||
Carrizopteryx | A palaeodictyopteran. |
Mollusks
Mollusks | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Anthraconaia | Indeterminate | Myalinid bivalve. | |
Myalinella | M. meeki | ||
Permophorus | Indeterminate | A cardiid bivalve. | |
Phestia | Indeterminate | A nuculanid bivalve. | |
Schizodus | Indeterminate | A trigoniid bivalve. | |
Bellerophon | Indeterminate | Bellerophontid gastropod. | |
Euphemites | Indeterminate |
Other animals
Other animals | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Streptognathodus | Indeterminate | An ozarkodinid conodont. | |
Apographiocrinus | A. cf. calycinus | Dendrocrinid crinoid. | |
Delocrinus | D. cf. vulatus | ||
Plaxocrinus | P. cf. crassidiscus | ||
Serpula | Indeterminate | Annelid in order Canalipalpata. | |
Spirorbis | Indeterminate | ||
Punctospirifer | Indeterminate | Spiriferid brachiopod. | |
Neospirifer | Indeterminate | ||
Juresania | Indeterminate | Productid brachiopod. | |
Antiquatonia | Indeterminate | ||
Kozlowskia | Indeterminate | ||
Neochonetes | Indeterminate |
Lycophytes and ferns
Lycophytes and ferns | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Sigillaria | S. brardii | A tree-like lycophyte. | |
Asterophyllites | A. equisetiformis, A. longiformis | Equisetid fern. | |
Annularia | A. mucronata | ||
Paleostachya | P. sp. |
Seed ferns
Seed ferns | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Sphenopteris | S. cf. S. germanica | A seed fern. | |
"Callipteris" | C. conferta, C. flabellifora, C. scheibei | A seed fern in order Peltaspermales. | |
Cyclopteris | Indeterminate | Seed plant in order Medullosales. | |
Neuropteris | N. sp. (two species) | ||
Odontopteris | Indeterminate | ||
Trigonocarpus | Indeterminate | A seed fern seed. |
Gymnosperms
Gymnosperms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Cordaites | C. principalis | Gymnosperm in order Cordaitales. | |
Cordaianthus | C. cf. pitcairniae | ||
Samaropsis | S. fluitans | ||
Emporia | E. cryptica, E. lockardii, E. royalii | Conifer in order Voltziales. | |
Hanskerpia | H. hamiltonensis | ||
Barthelia | B. furcata | ||
Gomphostrobus | Indeterminate | Conifer in order Voltziales, stem and leaf. | |
Walchia | W. hypnoides, W. piniformis, W. schneideri | Conifer in order Voltziales, leaves. | |
Walchianathus | Indeterminate | Conifer in order Voltziales, male cone. | |
Walchiastrobus | Indeterminate | Conifer in order Voltziales, female cone. |
Spores and Pollen
Gymnosperms | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Leiotriletes | L. sp. | Spore microfossils. | |
Calamospora | C. sp. | ||
Triletes | T. sp. | ||
Acanthoriletes | A. teretriangulatus | ||
Nuskoisporites | N. trianguloris | Pollen microfossils. | |
Potoniesporites | P. gtranulatus, P. neglectus | ||
Sulcatisporites | S. splendens, S. sp. | ||
Protohaploxypinus | P. samoilocichii | ||
Striatopodocarpites | S. sp (Two species) | ||
Hamiapollenites | H. perisporites, H. succatus | ||
Striatoabitites | S. multistriatus, S. sp. | ||
Alisporites | A. indarraensis, A. gracilis, A. nuthalensis | ||
Falcisporites | F. zapfei | ||
Limitisporites | L. sp. | ||
Lueckisporites | L. vickkiae | ||
Striatites | S. splendens | ||
Vittatina | V. cf. V. subsuccata, V. cf. V. verrucosa |
Fuslinids
Fuslinids | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Notes | Images |
Globivalvulina | Indeterminate | Fusulinid in family Biseriamminidae. | |
Dunbarinella | D. ervinensis | Fusulinid in family Schwagerinidae. | |
Triticites | T. cullomensis, T. plummeri, T. ventricosus |
References
- ^ Wehrbein, Randol (2017-05-12). Comparisons of Paleoenvironments, Taxa, and Taphonomy of the Late Carboniferous Garnett and Hamilton Quarry Localities, Eastern Kansas (Thesis thesis).
- ^ Beck, Kimberly; Soler-Gijon, Rodrigo; Carlucci, Jesse; Willis, Raymond (2014). "Morphology and histology of dorsal spines of the xenacanthid shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: palaeobiological and palaeoenvironmental implications". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. doi:10.4202/app.00126.2014. ISSN 0567-7920.
- ^ Kjellesvig-Waering, E. N. (1986). "A restudy of the fossil Scorpionida of the world". Palaeontographica Americana. 55: 1–287.
- ^ Cunningham, Christopher R. (1993). "Hamilton Fossil-Lagerstätte (Upper Pennsylvanian, Greenwood County, Kansas): Internal Stratigraphy and Addition to the Microfossil Assemblage". Transactions of the Kansas Academy of Science. 96 (1/2): 131–139. doi:10.2307/3628324. ISSN 0022-8443. JSTOR 3628324.
- ^ Cunningham, Christopher R.; Feldman, Howard R.; Franseen, Evan K.; Gastaldo, Robert A.; Mapes, Gene; Maples, Christopher G.; Schultze, Hans-Peter (1993). "The Upper Carboniferous Hamilton Fossil-Lagerstätte in Kansas: a valley-fill, tidally influenced deposit". Lethaia. 26 (3): 225–236. doi:10.1111/j.1502-3931.1993.tb01524.x. ISSN 0024-1164.
External links
- Hamilton Quarry is managed by the Johnston Geology Museum at Emporia State University.
- The Surficial Geology of the Hamilton Quarry Area, Kansas Geological Survey (KGS) Open-file Report 2005-13.