Moreno Formation

The Moreno Formation is a Mesozoic geologic formation located in San Joaquin Valley (California).
Dinosaur remains diagnostic to the genus level are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[1]

Moreno Formation
Stratigraphic range: Maastrichtian 70–66 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Chico Group
Underlies	Unconformity with the Martinez Formation and Tejon Formation
Overlies	Panoche Formation
Thickness	1,600–2,000 ft (487.68–609.60 m)
Lithology
Primary	Shale
Other	Sandstone
Location
Region	San Joaquin Valley  California
Country	United States

Paleofauna

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Ray-finned fish

Ray-finned fishes reported from the Moreno Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Bonnerichthys[2]	B. gladius				A large, filter-feeding pachycormid.	Bonnerichthys
Saurodon[3]	S. sp.				An ichthyodectid.	Saurodon

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs reported from the Moreno Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Augustynolophus[4]	A. morrisi[4]				saurolophine.[4]	Augustynolophus
Saurolophus[4]	S. morrisi[4]				Reclassified as Augustynolophus morrisi.[4]

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs reported from the Moreno Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Kolposaurus[5]	K. bennisoni[5]				The name Kolposaurus was preoccupied and its two constituent species moved to the new genus Plotosaurus.[5]
	K. tuckeri[5]
Plesiotylosaurus[6]	P. crassidens[6]					Plesiotylosaurus crassidens
Plotosaurus[5]	P. bennisoni[5]					Plotosaurus bennisoni
	P. tuckeri[5]				A junior synonym of P. bennisoni.
Prognathodon[7]	P. cf. waiparaensis
cf. Mosasaurus[7]	cf. M. sp.
Halisaurus[7]	H. sp.

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs reported from the Moreno Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Aphrosaurus[8]	A. furlongi[8]					Aphrosaurus
Fresnosaurus[9]	F. drescheri[9]					Fresnosaurus
Hydrotherosaurus[8]	H. alexandrae[8]					Hydrotherosaurus
Morenosaurus[9]	M. stocki[9]					Morenosaurus

Turtles

Testudines reported from the Moreno Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Material	Notes	Images
Adocus					J. Howard Hutchison later referred the specimen originally identified as Adocus by to the genus Basilemys.[10]
Basilemys
Osteopygis[9]

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Paleontology portal
• Dinosaurs portal

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
  • List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera

Footnotes

1. Weishampel, et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution." Pp. 517-607.
2. Friedman, Matt; Shimada, Kenshu; Everhart, Michael J.; Irwin, Kelly J.; Grandstaff, Barbara S.; Stewart, J. D. (8 January 2013). "Geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the Late Cretaceous suspension-feeding bony fish Bonnerichthys gladius (Teleostei, Pachycormiformes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (1): 35–47. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.713059. S2CID 128958842.
3. Friedman, Matt; Shimada, Kenshu; Everhart, Michael J.; Irwin, Kelly J.; Grandstaff, Barbara S.; Stewart, J. D. (8 January 2013). "Geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the Late Cretaceous suspension-feeding bony fish Bonnerichthys gladius (Teleostei, Pachycormiformes)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 33 (1): 35–47. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.713059. S2CID 128958842.
4. Prieto-Márquez, Albert; Wagner, Jonathan R.; Bell, Phil R.; Chiappe, Luis M. (2014). "The late-surviving 'duck-billed' dinosaur Augustynolophus from the upper Maastrichtian of western North America and crest evolution in Saurolophini". Geological Magazine. 152 (2): 225–241. doi:10.1017/S0016756814000284. S2CID 131049979.
5. "4: The Marine Reptiles; Mosasaurs," in Hilton (2003) p. 107-110
6. "Appendix: Summary of the Mesozoic Reptilian Fossils of California," in Hilton (2003) p. 273
7. Lindgren, Johan; Schulp, Anne (15 September 2010). "New material of Prognathodon (Squamata: Mosasauridae), and the mosasaur assemblage of the Maastrichtian of California, U.S.A." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 30 (5): 1632–1636. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.501444. S2CID 131124198.
8. "Appendix: Summary of the Mesozoic Reptilian Fossils of California," in Hilton (2003) p. 276
9. "Appendix: Summary of the Mesozoic Reptilian Fossils of California," in Hilton (2003) p. 277
10. "4: The Marine Reptiles; Turtles," in Hilton (2003) p. 114

References

• Hilton, Richard P. 2003. Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California. Berkeley: University of California Press. 318 pp.
• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.