Paleobiota of the Chinle Formation

Crosbysaurus[1]

C. harrisae[1]

• Arizona
• Utah [1]

• Blue Mesa[1]

An archosauriform represented only by teeth.[1] It is treated as indeterminate archosauriform remains by Irmis in 2005.[1] It was originally thought to be an ornithischian dinosaur.

• New Mexico

• Bluewater Creek

Tanytrachelos[4]

Indeterminate[4]

• Arizona[4]

• Mesa Redondo[4]

Represented by a cervical rib.[4]

A tanystropheid represented by several hundred fossil specimens.

Tecovasaurus[5]

T. murryi[5]

• Arizona[5]

• Mesa Redondo[5]

An unknown amniote represented by scattered teeth formerly believed to be from an ornithischian dinosaur.[5] Later discoveries of similar teeth in pseudosuchians meant that these could no longer be regarded as anything more specific than some kind of archosauriform.[5]

Trilophosaurus[6]

T. buettneri[7]

• Arizona[7]

• Blue Mesa[7]

T. dornorum[8]

• Arizona[8]

• Sonsela[8]

T. jacobsi[9]

• Arizona[9]

• Blue Mesa[9]
• Mesa Redondo[9]

T. phasmalophos[10]

• Arizona

• Sonsela

Vancleavea[11]

V. campi[11]

• Arizona[11]

• Petrified Forest[11]
• Sonsela[11]
• Blue Mesa[11]

A strange aquatic carnivore of uncertain affinities that is represented by both articulated skeletons and scattered elements like osteoderms and vertebrae.[11]

Acallosuchus[12]

A. rectori[12]

• Arizona[12]

• Blue Mesa[12]

Known only from a partial skull.[12]

A strange neodiapsid whose bones were heavily ornamented "with subtriangular knobs... running the length of the bones." Even these ornamentations were ornamented "with additional grooves." It is too bizarre to be currently classified as anything more than a probable diapsid.[12]

• Arizona

• Petrified Forest

• New Mexico

• 'Siltstone'

• New Mexico

Colognathus[15]

C. obscurus[15]

• Arizona[15]

• Blue Mesa[15]

Known only from a jaw fragment and some isolated teeth.[15]

Originally believed to be a fish, Colognathus had distinct, fluted teeth.[15]

• New Mexico

• Petrified Forest

• New Mexico

• Petrified Forest

Kataigidodon[17]

K. venetus

• Arizona

• Blue Mesa

A non-mammalian eucynodont.

Kraterokheirodon[18]

K. colberti[18]

• Arizona[18]

• Petrified Forest[18]
• Blue Mesa or Mesa Redondo[18]

Known only from two teeth.[18]

Although they share some similarities with cynodont teeth, the known Kraterokheirodon teeth are very distinctive and can't be confidently referred to a known amniote group.[18]

• Arizona

Placerias[20]

P. hesternus[20]

• Arizona[20]

• Blue Mesa[20]
• Mesa Redondo[20]

Known from several hundred remains, but very rare outside of the highly concentrated Placerias Quarry.[20] the large numbers of specimens in the Placerias Quarry attributable to "taphonomic processes."[20]

• Arizona

• Blue Mesa

Uatchitodon[22]

U. schneideri[23]

• Arizona[24]

• Mesa Redondo[24]

Known in Chinle from only a single tooth. The presence of venom channels is consistent with other known Uatchitodon specimens, although the Chinle specimen's channels are unique in being "completely enclosed under the surface of the crown."[24]

• New Mexico

• Petrified Forest

• Utah

Chinlea[38]

Indeterminate[39]

• Arizona[39]

• Owl Rock[39]
• Blue Mesa[39]

Arganodus[40]

A. dorotheae[40]

Indeterminate[40]

• Arizona[40]

• Petrified Forest[40]
• Sonsela[40]
• Blue Mesa[40]
• Mesa Redondo[40]

Arganodus toothplates are the most common fossil in the formation from a non-tetrapod.[40] They are evenly distributed across strata, although some individual localities have very high concentrations.[40]

Most Chinlean Arganodus fossils are isolated tooth plates.[40]

Ceratodus[40]

C. dorotheae[40]

Named by Case in 1921, in the 1980s it was referred to Arganodus.[40]