Portland Formation

Not to be confused with Portland Group (geology) or Portland stone.

The Portland Formation is a geological formation in Connecticut and Massachusetts in the northeastern United States.^[1] It dates back to the Early Jurassic period.^[2] The formation consists mainly of sandstone laid down by a series of lakes (in the older half of the formation) and the floodplain of a river (in the younger half). The sedimentary rock layers representing the entire Portland Formation are over 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) thick and were formed over about 4 million years of time, from the Hettangian age (lower half) to the late Hettangian and Sinemurian ages (upper half).^[3]

Portland Formation
Stratigraphic range: Hettangian-Sinemurian ~199–195 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Agawam Group, Newark Supergroup
Sub-units	Turners Falls Sandstone & Mount Toby Formation
Overlies	East Berlin Formation
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Mudstone, siltstone, limestone
Location
Coordinates	42.3°N 72.5°W / 42.3; -72.5
Approximate paleocoordinates	24.0°N 18.6°W / 24.0; -18.6
Region	Connecticut, Massachusetts
Country	USA
Extent	Deerfield & Hartford Basins
Portland Formation (the United States) Show map of the United States Portland Formation (Massachusetts) Show map of Massachusetts

In 2016, the paleontologist Robert E. Weems and colleagues suggested the Portland Formation should be elevated to a geological group within the Newark Supergroup (as the Portland Group), and thereby replacing the former name "Agawam Group". They also reinstated the Longmeadow Sandstone as a formation (within the uppermost Portland Group); it had earlier been considered identical to the Portland Formation.^[4]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaur coprolites are known from the formation.^[2] This formation and the underlying East Berlin Formation are well-known for its numerous well-preserved dinosaur tracks, which represent ornithischians, theropods, and sauropodomorphs, which are preserved at sites such as Dinosaur Footprints Reservation.^[2][5] Other tracks are also known representing animals such as pseudosuchians, turtles, and temnospondyls.^[6]

Dinosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Anchisaurus[2]	A. polyzelus[2]	Connecticut[2] Massachusetts[2]		Several specimens.	A relatively small basal Sauropodomorph. Many Otozoum tracks in the formation that may belong to Anchisaurus could have been made by potentially even larger specimens of the genus.[7]
Podokesaurus[2]	P. holyokensis	Massachusetts		Partial postcranial skeleton.[8]	A coelophysoid theropod. The only specimen was destroyed in a fire.
Neotheropoda sp.[9]		Massachusetts		Partial humerus.	Estimated to have been 9 meters long, and possibly a semiaquatic piscivore.
Theropoda sp.[10]		Connecticut		Bones and tracks attributed to "Anchisauripus"

Non-dinosaur archosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Stegomosuchus[11]	S. longipes	Hine's Quarry, Longmeadow		Partial postcranial skeleton.	Originally Stegomus. A small armored "protosuchian" crocodyliform.
Pterosauria sp.[12]		South Hadley, Massachusetts		Partial Wrist and tooth.	Non-pterodactyloid pterosaur estimated to have a wingspan of 40 cm.

Fish
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Acentrophorus[13]	A. chicopensis				Material initially referred to the genus Acentrophorus. Most researchers consider the species distinct from Acentrophorus.
Redfieldius[13]	R. gracilis				The last surviving redfieldiiform fish.
Semionotus[13]	S. sp.				A semionotid fish.

Invertebrate paleofauna

Insects
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Holcoptera	H. schlotheimi[14]				A coptoclavid beetle.
	H. giebeli[15]
Orthoptera sp.[15]					An indeterminate orthopteran.
Blattaria sp.[15]					An indeterminate cockroach.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. Portland Formation - USGS
2. Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.530–532
3. Olsen, P.E. (2002). "Stratigraphy and Age of the Early Jurassic Portland Formation of Connecticut and Massachusetts: A Contribution to the Time Scale of the Early Jurassic". Geological Society of America (Abstract). Archived from the original on 2018-11-28. Retrieved 2017-07-07.
4. Weems, R. E.; Tanner, L. H.; Lucas, S. G. (2016). "Synthesis and revision of the lithostratigraphic groups and formations in the Upper Permian?–Lower Jurassic Newark Supergroup of eastern North America". Stratigraphy. 13 (2): 111–153. doi:10.29041/strat.13.2.03.
5. Getty, Patrick (2004). "Ornithischian ichnites from Dinosaur Footprint Reservation (Early Jurassic Portland Formation), Holyoke, MA". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 23 (Supp 3): 63A. doi:10.1080/02724634.2003.10010538. S2CID 220410105.
6. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
7. Yates, Adam M. (2010). "A revision of the problematic sauropodomorph dinosaurs from Manchester, Connecticut and the status of Anchisaurus Marsh". Palaeontology. 53 (4): 739–752. Bibcode:2010Palgy..53..739Y. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00952.x.
8. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.48
9. McMenamin, M. (2021). Large neotheropod from the Lower Jurassic of Massachusetts. AcademiaLetters, Article 3591. doi:10.20935/AL3591.1©2021 by the author — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0
10. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/372010039_A_New_Specimen_of_Sand_Pseudomorph_Dinosaur_Bones_with_Tetrapod_Tracks_from_the_Early_Jurassic_Hartford_Basin_USA
11. von Huene, Friedrich (1922). "The Triassic reptilian order Thecodontia". American Journal of Science. 4 (19): 22–26. Bibcode:1922AmJS....4...22H. doi:10.2475/ajs.s5-4.19.22.
12. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/355340350_Early_Jurassic_pterosaur_from_Massachusetts ^{[bare URL]}
13. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351559379_The_first_Upper_Permian_amphibian_from_the_Dolomites
14. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.
15. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-02-09.

Bibliography

• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria, 2nd edition. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-24209-2. Retrieved 2019-02-21.