Paleobiota of the Chinle Formation
Wikimedia list article
The Chinle Formation is an extensive geological unit in the southwestern United States, preserving a very diverse fauna of Late Triassic (primarily Norian-age) animals and plants. This is a list of fossilized organisms recovered from the formation.
Amniotes
Archosauromorphs
Phytosaurs
Suchians
Ornithodirans
"Prosauropod" tracks are present in the Redonda, Sloan Canyon, and Sheep Pen Sandstone formations, though these geological units are typically regarded as part of the Dockum Group rather than the Chinle Formation. Prosauropod tracks might be present in the Rock Point Formation as well. Geographically, the tracks are present in New Mexico.
Theropod tracks have been found in Utah and New Mexico recovered from the Redonda, Sloan Canyon, and Sheep Pen Sandstone formations. Indeterminate theropod remains are present throughout unambiguous strata of the Chinle Formation, including the Petrified Forest, Bluewater Creek, and Rock Point members of New Mexico.
Other archosauromorphs
Other reptiles
Synapsids
Amphibians
Cartilaginous fish
Lobe-finned fish
Coelacanths
Lungfish
Ray-finned fish
Arthropods
Plants
The Chinle Formation has a diverse flora of plant megafossils, though they are concentrated in only a few sites with suitable conditions. One of the most diverse floral communities is found near Fort Wingate, New Mexico. Paleobotanists have traditionally placed the Fort Wingate plant beds into the Monitor Butte Member, though more recently they are placed within the Bluewater Creek Formation, a subunit of the Chinle Formation first defined in 1989.
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