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dinosaurs of the late Cretaceous, such
as
Triceratops
); the stegosaurs (plated
dinosaurs of the Jurassic, such as
Stegosaurus
); the pachycephalosaurs
(with domed and reinforced heads, such
as
Pachycephalosaurus
); and the
ankylosaurs (armoured dinosaurs, covered
in thick bony plates embedded in the skin,
such as
Ankylosaurus
).
Fossil evidence for terrestrial life
during much of the Jurassic is quite poor,
but towards the later part of the period
there are some exceptionally rich deposits,
especially in China, Tanzania, and North
America. This chapter is based on the
fossils of the Morrison Formation, a vast
and highly productive sequence, long
known for its spectacular dinosaur
skeletons, which outcrops along the Front
Range of the Rockies from Montana in the
north, to Arizona and New Mexico in the
south (
142
).
Over such a huge area the Morrison
Formation represents a variety of
terrestrial conditions from wet swamps
(with coal deposits) in the north, to desert
142
1 Dinosaur National
Monument, Utah
2 Canyon City, Colorado
Montana
3 Morrison, Colorado
South
Dakota
4 Como Bluff, Wyoming
5 Cleveland-Lloyd Quarry, Utah
Wyoming
6 Dry Mesa Quarry, Colorado
4
Nebraska
1
3
5
Utah
Colorado
Kansas
2
6
New Mexico
Arizona
Edge of Morrison basin
500 km
300 miles
142
Locality map to show the extent of the Morrison Formation outcrop in North America.
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