Fort Union Formation

{{Short description|Geologic formation in the northwestern United States}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Fort Union Formation

| image = Impression of 65 million years old partial fossil leaf of Beringiaphyllum cupanoides and fragments of Sparganium antiquum from Fort Union Formation, Glendive Montana, USA, by Omar Hoftun.JPG

| caption = Fossils from the Fort Union Formation

| type = Geological formation

| age = Maastrichtian-Selandian (Lancian-Clarkforkian)
~{{fossil range|66|58}}

| period = Danian

| prilithology = Sandstone, shale

| otherlithology = Coal

| namedfor =

| namedby =

| region = Montana, North Dakota
Wyoming, Colorado

| country = United States

| coordinates ={{coord|47.0|N|104.6|W|display=inline,title}}

| unitof =

| subunits = Atwell Gulch, China Butte, Ekalaka, Lebo, lower Ludlow, Overland, Rock Bench Quarry, Sentinel Butte, Shotgun, Somber beds, Tongue River, Tullock, upper Ludlow, Polecat Bench Formation

| overlies = Hell Creek Formation, Lance Formation

| underlies = Wasatch Formation

| thickness =

| extent = Powder River Basin

| area =

| map =

| map_caption =

|paleocoordinates={{coord|52.8|N|80.1|W|display=inline}}}}

The Fort Union Formation is a geologic unit containing sandstones, shales, and coal beds in Wyoming, Montana, and parts of adjacent states. In the Powder River Basin, it contains important economic deposits of coal, uranium, and coalbed methane.[http://www.searchanddiscovery.net/documents/2005/ashley/index.htm Wyodak Coal, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, Powder River Basin, Wyoming: "No-Coal Zones" and Their Effects on Coalbed Methane Production, by Mark Ashley, 2005]

Description

The Fort Union is mostly of Paleocene age and represents a time of extensive swamps as well as fluvial and lacustrine conditions. The rocks are more sandy in southwestern Wyoming and more coal-bearing in northeast Wyoming and southeast Montana, reflecting a general change from rivers and lakes in the west to swamps in the east, but all three environments were present at various times in most locations.Eocene and Paleocene rocks of the southern and central basins, by Robert E. McDonald, in Geologic Atlas of the Rocky Mountain Region, Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists, Denver, CO, 1972: p. 248

Coal in the Fort Union in the Powder River Basin occurs mainly in the Tongue River Member, where as many as 32 coal seams total more than 300 feet in thickness. One such bed, the Wyodak Coal near Gillette, Wyoming, is as much as {{convert|110|ft|m}} thick. Most of the coals in the Fort Union Formation are ranked subbituminous.Cretaceous and Tertiary coals of the Rocky Mountains and Great Plains regions, by R.M. Flores and T.A. Cross, 1991, in Economic Geology, U.S., Geological Society of America, Decade of North American Geology Series, vol. P-2, p. 547-571.File:Coal Stratigraphy Powder River Basin.png

Fossil content

{{Paleobiota-key-compact}}

=Mammals=

==Cimolestans==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Cimolestans reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Crustulus

|C. fontanus

| Northeastern Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Clemens |first=William A. |date=2018-02-17 |title=A pantodont (Mammalia) from the latest Puercan North American Land Mammal Age (earliest Paleocene) of the Western Interior, USA |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2016.1276178 |journal=Historical Biology |volume=30 |issue=1–2 |pages=183–188 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2016.1276178 |bibcode=2018HBio...30..183C |s2cid=132830375 |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}

|Tullock Member.

|An isolated upper molar.

| A pantodont.

|

==Leptictids==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Leptictids reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Prodiacodon

|P. crustulum

| Garfield & McCone counties, Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Clemens |first=W. |date=January 9, 2015 |title=(Leptictidae, Mammalia) from the Tullock Member of the Fort Union Formation, Garfield and McCone Counties, Montana, USA |journal=PaleoBios |language=en |volume=32 |issue=1 |pages=1–17|doi=10.5070/P9321025382 |s2cid=55974838 |doi-access=free }}

|Tullock Member.

|Fragmentary dentary & isolated teeth.

| A leptictid.

|

==Marsupials==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Marsupials reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Peradectes

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |P. sp.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Swain Quarry, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Johanson |first=Zerina |date=November 1996 |title=New marsupial from the Fort Union Formation, Swain Quarry, Wyoming |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-paleontology/article/abs/new-marsupial-from-the-fort-union-formation-swain-quarry-wyoming/32D033CDFC2A42D61645C86AE4B1E5C1 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=70 |issue=6 |pages=1023–1031 |doi=10.1017/S0022336000038725 |bibcode=1996JPal...70.1023J |s2cid=133554548 |issn=0022-3360|url-access=subscription }}

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Upper & lower molars.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Reassigned to Swaindelphys.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

Swaindelphys

|S. cifellii

|Swain Quarry, Wyoming.

|

|Upper & lower molars.

|An opossum.

|

==Primatomorphs==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Primatomorphs reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Carpodaptes

|C. sp.

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Gazin |first=C. Lewis |date=1971 |title=Paleocene primates from the shotgun member of the Fort Union Formation in the Wind River Basin, Wyoming |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/44304 |journal=Proceedings of the Biological Society of Washington |volume=84 |pages=13–37 |issn=0006-324X}}

|Shotgun Member.

|2 isolated fourth lower premolars.

|A carpolestid.

|File:Carpodaptes aulacodon.jpg

rowspan="3" |Chiromyoides

|C. caesor

|Hell's Half Acre (UCM locality 78009), Mesa County, Colorado.{{Cite journal |last1=Burger |first1=Benjamin J. |last2=Honey |first2=James G. |date=2008-09-12 |title=Plesiadapidae (Mammalia, Primates) from the late Paleocene Fort Union Formation of the Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/232670200 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=28 |issue=3 |pages=816–825 |doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[816:pmpftl]2.0.co;2 |s2cid=128913932 |issn=0272-4634}}

|

|A single upper incisor (UCM 53515).

|A plesiadapid.

|

C. gigas

|Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado.

|

|Multiple teeth.

|A plesiadapid.

|

C. sp.

|UCM locality 78060, Colorado.

|

|A left molar (UCM 41606).

|A plesiadapid.

|

Elphidotarsius

|E. shotgunensis

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|Right ramus of mandible & isolated teeth.

|A carpolestid.

|

Nannodectes

|N. gazini

|Fremont County, Colorado.

|

|A right maxilla (USGS 16872).

|A plesiadapid.

|

rowspan="2" |Palaechthon

|P., near P. alticuspis

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|3 upper molars & 4 lower molars.

|A plesiadapiform.

|

P. woodi

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|A lower jaw & 13 isolated teeth.

|A plesiadapiform.

|

Palenochtha

|P. cf. minor

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|5 lower teeth.

|A plesiadapiform.

|

Paromomys

|P., near P. depressidens

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|Approximately 12 upper teeth, 8 isolated lower teeth & a jaw fragment.

|A paromomyid.

|

rowspan="2" |Phenacolemur

|P. fremontensis

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|A lower jaw & isolated teeth.

|A paromomyid.

|

P. cf. frugivorus

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|2 upper molars & 8 isolated lower molars.

|A paromomyid.

|

rowspan="3" |Plesiadapis

|P. dubius

|Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado.

|

|Jaw elements & teeth.

|A plesiadapid.

|File:Plesiadapis sp. - MUSE.JPG

P. fodinatus

|Piceance Creek Basin, Colorado.

|

|Jaw elements & teeth.

|A plesiadapid.

|

P. sp.

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|5 lower molars, 3 anterior upper molars & a premolar.

|A plesiadapid.

|File:Plesiadapis NT.jpg

Plesiolestes

|P. cf. problematicus

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|Approximately 45 isolated teeth.

|A plesiadapiform.

|

Pronothodectes

|P. intermedius

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|Jaw elements & teeth.

|A plesiadapid.

|

rowspan="3" |Purgatorius

|P. janisae

|'Harley's Point’ UCMP locality V77087, Garfield County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson Mantilla |first1=Gregory P. |last2=Chester |first2=Stephen G. B. |last3=Clemens |first3=William A. |last4=Moore |first4=Jason R. |last5=Sprain |first5=Courtney J. |last6=Hovatter |first6=Brody T. |last7=Mitchell |first7=William S. |last8=Mans |first8=Wade W. |last9=Mundil |first9=Roland |last10=Renne |first10=Paul R. |title=Earliest Palaeocene purgatoriids and the initial radiation of stem primates |journal=Royal Society Open Science |year=2021 |volume=8 |issue=2 |pages=210050 |doi=10.1098/rsos.210050 |issn=2054-5703 |pmc=8074693 |pmid=33972886|bibcode=2021RSOS....810050W }}

|Tullock Member.

|UCMP 150018 (right m1), and UCMP 192398 (left m3).

|A purgatoriid.

|

P. mckeeveri

|Garfield County, Montana.

|Tullock Member.

|Dentary remains & teeth.

|A purgatoriid.

|

P. cf. P. mckeeveri

|Harley's Point’ UCMP locality V77087, Garfield County, Montana.

|Tullock Member.

|UCMP 150019 (right M2), and UCMP 150020 (right M2).

|A purgatoriid.

|

Torrejonia

|Cf. T. wilsoni

|Wind River Basin, Wyoming.

|Shotgun Member.

|About 14 lower teeth & possibly 3 upper molars.

|A plesiadapiform.

|

Zanycteris

|Z. honeyi

| UMC locality number 92177, Colorado.{{Cite journal |last=Burger |first=Benjamin John |date=2013-10-29 |title=A new species of the archaic primate Zanycteris from the late Paleocene of western Colorado and the phylogenetic position of the family Picrodontidae |journal=PeerJ |volume=1 |pages=e191 |doi=10.7717/peerj.191 |issn=2167-8359 |pmc=3817582 |pmid=24255808 |doi-access=free }}

|Atwell Gulch Member.

|Right maxilla (UCM 87378).

| A plesiadapiform.

|

==Ungulates==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Ungulates reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
rowspan="3" |Dissacus

|D. argenteus

|Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=O'Leary |first1=Maureen A. |last2=Rose |first2=Kenneth D. |date=1995-05-12 |title=New mesonychian dentitions from the Paleocene and Eocene of the Bighorn Basin, Wyoming |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/215127 |journal=Annals of the Carnegie Museum |volume=64 |issue=2 |pages=147–172 |doi=10.5962/p.215127 |s2cid=89955337 |issn=0097-4463|doi-access=free |bibcode=1995AnCM...64..147O }}

|Upper part of the formation.

|Jaw elements & teeth.

|A mesonychid.

|File:Dissacus argenteus.jpg

style="background:#fbdddb;" |D. cf. navajovius

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Upper part of the formation.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Jaw elements & teeth.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |Specimens reassigned to D. argenteus.

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

D. praenuntius

|Park County, Wyoming.

|Upper part of the formation.

|Mandible (YPM-PU 16159).

|A mesonychid also known from the Willwood Formation.

|

Ectocion

|E. mediotuber

|Princeton Quarry, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Thewissen |first=J. G. M. |date=1990 |title=Evolution of Paleocene and Eocene Phenacodontidae (Mammalia, Condylarthra) |hdl=2027.42/48629 |url=http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/handle/2027.42/48629 |language=en-US}}

|

|Dentary.

|A phenacodontid.

|

Periptychus

|P. carinidens

|Makoshika State Park, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Shelley |first1=Sarah L. |last2=Williamson |first2=Thomas E. |last3=Brusatte |first3=Stephen L. |date=2018-07-18 |title=The osteology of Periptychus carinidens: A robust, ungulate-like placental mammal (Mammalia: Periptychidae) from the Paleocene of North America |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=e0200132 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0200132 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=6051615 |pmid=30020948|bibcode=2018PLoSO..1300132S |doi-access=free }}

|

|

|A periptychid also found in the Nacimiento, North Horn, Black Peaks & Animas formations.

|File:Periptychus skeletal.PNG

Sigynorum

|S. magnadivisus

|Great Divide Basin, southern Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=McComas |first1=Katie M. |last2=Eberle |first2=Jaelyn J. |date=May 2015 |title=A new earliest Paleocene (Puercan) arctocyonid mammal from the Fort Union Formation, Great Divide Basin, Wyoming, and its phylogenetic position among early 'condylarths' |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14772019.2015.1066886?cookieSet=1 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=445–459|doi=10.1080/14772019.2015.1066886 |s2cid=127411164 |url-access=subscription }}

|China Butte Member.

|

|An arctocyonid.

|

=Reptiles=

==Birds==

A partial ornithurine coracoid bone found in this formation is identical to others found in the older Hell Creek Formation. At present, this unnamed species is the only known individual bird species that have survived the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event.Longrich, N.R., Tokaryk, T. and Field, D.J. (2011). "Mass extinction of birds at the Cretaceous–Paleogene (K–Pg) boundary." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 108(37): 15253-15257. {{doi|10.1073/pnas.1110395108}}

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Birds reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Lithornis

|L. celetius

|Bangtail Quarry, Sedan Quadrangle, Park County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Houde |first=Peter W. |date=1988 |title=Paleognathous Birds from the Early Tertiary of the Northern Hemisphere |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4087644 |journal=The Auk |volume=107 |issue=2 |pages=455–456 |doi=10.2307/4087644 |jstor=4087644 |issn=0004-8038|url-access=subscription }}

|

|

|A lithornithid.

|File:Lithornis.png

==Crocodilians==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Crocodilians reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocation

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Allognathosuchus

|A. sp.

| Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Estes |first=Richard |date=1975 |title=Lower Vertebrates from the Fort Union Formation, Late Paleocene, Big Horn Basin, Wyoming |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3891523 |journal=Herpetologica |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=365–385 |jstor=3891523 |issn=0018-0831}}

|

|Anterior end of left dentary (PU 16988).

|A crocodilian.

|File:Allognathosuchus gracilis.jpg

==Squamates==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Squamates reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Anguidae

|Genus & species indeterminate

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Fragmentary jaw elements.

|An anguid lizard.

|

cf. Anguidae

|

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|6 partial dentaries.

|Provisionally referred to anguid lizards based on size & shape.

|

Contogenys

|cf. C. sloani

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last=Sullivan |first=Robert M. |date=January 1982 |title=Fossil lizards from Swain Quarry "Fort Union Formation," middle Paleocene (Torrejonian), Carbon County, Wyoming |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289505965 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=996–1010}}

|

|Posterior part of a right maxilla (AMNH 12069).

|A skink.

|

rowspan=2|Exostinus

|E. cf. E. lancensis

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|4 partial dentaries.

|A xenosaurid lizard.

|

E. rugosus

|Princeton & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|Multiple specimens.

|A xenosaurid lizard.

|

Glyptosaurinae

|Genus & species indeterminate

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Several jaw remains.

|A glyptosaurine lizard.

|

Glyptosaurinae or Odaxosaurinae

|Genus & species indeterminate

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Fragmentary jaw elements & osteoderms.

|Indeterminate lizard remains.

|

Machaerosaurus

|M. torrejonensis

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Numerous jaw elements.

|An anguid lizard also known from the Nacimiento Formation.

|

Odaxosaurus

|O. piger

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Many fragmentary jaw remains.

|An anguid lizard.

|

Oligodontosaurus

|O. wyomingensis

|Park County, Wyoming.

|

|A left mandible (PU 14246).

|An amphisbaenian.

|

Palaeosaniwa

|cf. P. canadensis

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Medial part of left dentary (AMNH 15957).

|A large anguimorph lizard.

|

Palaeoxantusia

|P. fera

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Numerous jaw elements.

|A night lizard.

|

Pancelosaurus

|P. piger

|Princeton, Fritz & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|Multiple skull elements.

|An anguid lizard.

|

rowspan=2|Provaranosaurus

|P. acutus

|Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|PU 14243 (left maxilla), 14561 (anterior portion of left dentary) & 17145 ( fragment of left maxilla).

|A palaeovaranid lizard.

|

cf. P. sp.

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|3 partial dentaries (AMNH 14306, 14307 & 14309).

|A palaeovaranid lizard.

|

Rhineuridae

|Unidentified genus & species

|Fritz Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|An almost complete right dentary & a broken vertebra (PU 18627).

|An amphisbaenian.

|

Saniwa

|cf. S. sp.

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|2 trunk vertebrae (AMNH 15960 & 16003).

|A varanid.

|

Swainiguanoides

|S. milleri

|Swain Quarry, Carbon County, Wyoming.

|

|Jaw elements.

|An iguanid.

|

==Testudines==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Testudines reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Atoposemys

|A. entopteros

|Montana.{{Citation |last=Hutchison |first=J. Howard |title=New Turtles from the Paleogene of North America |date=2013 |url=https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_26 |work=Morphology and Evolution of Turtles |series=Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology |pages=477–497 |editor-last=Brinkman |editor-first=Donald B. |place=Dordrecht |publisher=Springer Netherlands |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_26 |isbn=978-94-007-4309-0 |access-date=2022-11-19 |editor2-last=Holroyd |editor2-first=Patricia A. |editor3-last=Gardner |editor3-first=James D.|url-access=subscription }}

|Tullock Member.

|

|A softshell turtle.

|

Axestemys

|A. montinsana

|PTRM Site V02017, Slope County, North Dakota.{{Cite journal |last=Vitek |first=Natasha S. |date=2012-03-11 |title=Giant fossil soft-shelled turtles of North America |url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2012-issue-1-articles/210-giant-soft-shelled-turtles |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica |language=English |volume=15 |issue=16 |pages=1–43 |doi=10.26879/299 |issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free }}

|

|Numerous skull, limb & shell fragments.

|A softshell turtle also found in the Melville & Denver formations.

|

Cardiochelyon

|C. rogerwoodi

|Reis Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=Joyce |first1=Walter G. |last2=Claude |first2=Julien |date=2020-01-15 |title=An alternative interpretation of the Paleogene turtle Cardichelyon rogerwoodi as a hinged kinosternoid |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=557–567 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2019.92 |bibcode=2020JPal...94..557J |s2cid=210976208 |issn=0022-3360|doi-access=free }}

|

|Partial skeleton (YPM PU14671).

|A kinosternoid formerly thought to be a platysternid.

|

Cedrobaena

|C. putorius

|Cedar Point Quarry, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=Lyson |first1=Tyler R. |last2=Joyce |first2=Walter G. |date=November 2009 |title=A revision of Plesiobaena (Testudines: Baenidae) and an assessment of baenid ecology across the K/T boundary |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228491454 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |language=en |volume=83 |issue=6 |pages=833–853 |doi=10.1666/09-035.1 |s2cid=85964417 |issn=0022-3360}}

|

|Shell & skull elements.

|A baenid turtle also found in the Hell Creek Formation.

|File:Cedrobaena putorius.jpg

rowspan="3" |Hutchemys

|H. arctochelys

|Burns Mine, Washoe Area, Carbon County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Joyce |first1=Walter G. |last2=Revan |first2=Ariel |last3=Lyson |first3=Tyler R. |last4=Danilov |first4=Igor G. |date=2009 |title=Two New Plastomenine Softshell Turtles from the Paleocene of Montana and Wyoming |url=https://www.academia.edu/en/2380203/Two_new_plastomenine_softshell_turtles_from_the_Paleocene_of_Montana_and_Wyoming |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=50 |issue=2 |pages=307 |doi=10.3374/014.050.0202 |bibcode=2009BPMNH..50..307J |s2cid=85505337 |issn=0079-032X}}

|Tongue River Member.

|Multiple shell elements.

|A softshell turtle.

|

H. rememdium

|Fallon County, Montana.

|Ekalaka Member.

|A near complete postcranial skeleton (YPM PU 16795) & shell elements.

|A softshell turtle.

|

H. sp.

|Duffy's Ranch, Sweet Grass County, Montana.

|

|YPM PU 11566.

|A softshell turtle.

|

Ptychogaster

|P. sp.

| Princeton Quarry & Reiss Locality, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|PU 17794 (fragments of the skull & shell), 14671 & 16443 (shells).

| A turtle.

|

Tullochelys

|T. montanus

|Montana.

|Tullock Member.

|

|A chelydrid turtle also known from the Hell Creek Formation.

|

=Amphibians=

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Amphibians reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Amphiuma

|A. jepseni

|Park County, Wyoming.

|

|PU 14666 (partial vertebral column), 14668 (partial skull) & 16788 (dislocated vertebrae).

|An aquatic salamander.

|

Anura

|Incertae sedis

|Park County, Wyoming.

|

|PU 14662 (distal end of right radioulna), 14663 (proximal end of left radioulna), 14669 (phalanx), 13372 (right maxilla).

|A frog.

|

Discoglossidae

|Undescribed genus & species

|Park County, Wyoming.

|

|Distal end of right humerus (PU 14670).

|A frog similar to undescribed discoglossid remains from the Hell Creek Formation.

|

Eorhinophrynus

|E. sp.

|Princeton & Fritz quarries, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|Humeri & vertebrae.

|A burrowing toad.

|

Opisthotriton

|O. kayi

|Princeton Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|Multiple specimens.

|A salamander.

|

Scapherpeton

|S. tectum

| Princeton & Schaff quarries, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|PU 20583 (3 broken vertebrae, an atlas, an ilium & a rib) & PU 19500 (a humerus).

| A salamander.

|File:Scapherpeton.jpg

=Fish=

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Fish reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
rowspan=2|Acipenseridae

|Morphotype A

| Eagle Mine near Bear Creek, Carbon County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last=Brownstein |first=Chase Doran |date=November 2022 |title=Evidence of large sturgeons in the Paleocene of North America |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=97 |language=en |pages=218–222 |doi=10.1017/jpa.2022.87 |s2cid=253653018 |issn=0022-3360|doi-access=free }}

|

|A complete lateral scute (YPM VPPU 17066).

| A large sturgeon.

|

Morphotype B

|Highway Blowout Site, Fallon County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|A complete lateral scute (YPM VPPU 16646).

|A large sturgeon.

|

Amia

|A. basiloides

|Burns Mine and Eagle Mine near Bear Creek, Carbon County, Montana{{Cite journal |last1=Brownstein |first1=Chase D. |last2=Near |first2=Thomas J. |date=2024 |title=A giant bowfin from a Paleocene hothouse ecosystem in North America |url=https://academic.oup.com/zoolinnean/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae042/7659736 |access-date=2024-04-30 |journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society |volume=202 |issue=4 |doi=10.1093/zoolinnean/zlae042|url-access=subscription }}

|

|A near complete skull and partial skeleton, isolated vertebra

|A large bowfin.

|

Atractosteus

|A. grandei

|Bowman County, North Dakota.{{Cite journal |last1=Brownstein |first1=Chase Doran |last2=Lyson |first2=Tyler R. |title=Giant gar from directly above the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary suggests healthy freshwater ecosystems existed within thousands of years of the asteroid impact |journal=Biology Letters |year=2022 |volume=18 |issue=6 |pages=20220118 |doi=10.1098/rsbl.2022.0118 |pmc=9198771 |pmid=35702983}}

|Lowest Danian strata.

|

|A large gar.

|

Cyclurus

|C. fragosus

|Schaff Quarry, Park County, Wyoming.

|

|3 vertebral centra (PU 21174).

|A bowfin.

|

Engdahlichthys

|E. milviaegis

|Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Murray |first1=Alison M. |last2=Brinkman |first2=Donald B. |last3=DeMar |first3=David G. |last4=Wilson |first4=Gregory P. |date=2020-03-03 |title=Paddlefish and sturgeon (Chondrostei: Acipenseriformes: Polyodontidae and Acipenseridae) from lower Paleocene deposits of Montana, U.S.A. |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.2020.1775091 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=40 |issue=2 |pages=e1775091 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2020.1775091 |bibcode=2020JVPal..40E5091M |s2cid=222213273 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}

|Tullock Member.

|

|A fairly small sturgeon.

|

Polyodon

|P. tuberculata

|Montana.

|Tullock Member.

|3 specimens.

|A paddlefish.

|

=Invertebrates=

==Bivalves==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Bivalves reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
rowspan=2|Pisidium

|P. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.{{Cite journal |last1=Hanley |first1=John H. |last2=Flores |first2=Romeo M. |date=1987 |title=Taphonomy and Paleoecology of Nonmarine Mollusca: Indicators of Alluvial Plain Lacustrine Sedimentation, Upper Part of the Tongue River Member, Fort Union Formation (Paleocene), Northern Powder River Basin, Wyoming and Montana |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3514619 |journal=PALAIOS |volume=2 |issue=5 |pages=479–496 |doi=10.2307/3514619 |jstor=3514619 |bibcode=1987Palai...2..479H |issn=0883-1351|url-access=subscription }}

|Tongue River Member.

|8 specimens.

|A sphaeriid.

|

P.? sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|3 specimens.

|A sphaeriid.

|

rowspan="5" |Plesielliptio

|P. priscus

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A unionid.

|

cf. P. priscus

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Several specimens.

|A unionid.

|

P. silberlingi

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A unionid.

|

cf. P. silberlingi

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|6 specimens.

|A unionid.

|

P. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|2 specimens.

|A unionid.

|

Sphaeriidae

|Gen. & sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A sphaeriid.

|

rowspan="2" |Sphaerium

|S. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A sphaeriid.

|

S.? sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Several specimens.

|A sphaeriid.

|

Unionidae

|Gen. & sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|11 specimens.

|A unionid.

|

==Gastropods==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Gastropods reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
rowspan=2|Acroloxus

|A.? minutus

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|2 specimens.

|A river limpet.

|

A. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A river limpet.

|

rowspan="4" |Clenchiella

|C. n. sp. A

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A clenchiellid.

|

C. n. sp. A?

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A clenchiellid.

|

C. cf. C. n. sp. A

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|10 specimens.

|A clenchiellid.

|

C. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|30 specimens.

|A clenchiellid.

|

rowspan="7" |Hydrobia

|H. anthonyi

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|2 specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H. sp. A

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H. cf. H. sp. A

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|2 specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H. sp. B?

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Multiple specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H. sp. C?

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Multiple specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

H.? sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|2 specimens.

|A hydrobiid.

|

rowspan="6" |Lioplacodes

|L. multistriata

| Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

| A viviparid.

|

L. tenuicarinata

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

L. tenuicarinata?

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|11 specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

L. limneaformis

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

L. sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

L.? sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A viviparid.

|

Valvata?

|V.? sp. indet.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A valvatid.

|

rowspan="4" |Viviparus

|V. raynoldsanus

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Numerous specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

V. raynoldsanus?

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|1 specimen.

|A viviparid.

|

V. cf. V. raynoldsanus

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|17 specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

V. sp.

|Powder River Basin.

|Tongue River Member.

|Multiple specimens.

|A viviparid.

|

=Plants=

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="7" align="center" | Plants reported from the Fort Union Formation
GenusSpeciesLocality

!Stratigraphic member

!Material

NotesImages
Aesculus

|A. hickeyi

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Manchester |first1=Steven R. |last2=Foster |first2=Alyssa |last3=Lott |first3=Terry A. |date=2023-05-12 |title=The Paleocene Horse Creek florule, Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation, southeastern Montana, USA |url=https://acpa.botany.pl/The-Paleocene-Horse-Creek-florule-Tongue-River-Member-of-the-Fort-Union-Formation,162170,0,2.html |journal=Acta Palaeobotanica |volume=63 |issue=1 |language=english |pages=32–53 |doi=10.35535/acpa-2023-0003 |issn=0001-6594|doi-access=free }}

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|A horse chestnut.

|

Amersinia

|A. obtrullata

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Fruits.

|A nyssaceaen, may be produced by the same plant as Beringiaphyllum cupanioides.

|

Beringiaphyllum

|B. cupanioides

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaf (UF 18969-60464).

|A nyssaceaen, may be produced by the same plant as Amersinia obtrullata.

|

Browniea

|B. serrata

|Mexican Hat locality & Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Lebo Member & Tongue River Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|A nyssaceaen.

|

Cercidiphyllum

|C. genetrix

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.{{Cite journal |last1=Donovan |first1=Michael P. |last2=Wilf |first2=Peter |last3=Labandeira |first3=Conrad C. |last4=Johnson |first4=Kirk R. |last5=Peppe |first5=Daniel J. |date=2014-07-24 |title=Novel Insect Leaf-Mining after the End-Cretaceous Extinction and the Demise of Cretaceous Leaf Miners, Great Plains, USA |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=9 |issue=7 |pages=e103542 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0103542 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4110055 |pmid=25058404|bibcode=2014PLoSO...9j3542D |doi-access=free }}

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|A katsura tree.

|

Cornus

|C. swingii

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|A dogwood.

|

Davidia

|D. antiqua

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves & fruits.

|A dove tree.

|

Cf. Dennstaedtia

|Cf. D. americana

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|A single specimen of sterile foliage (UF 18969-34532).

|A fern.

|

rowspan=2|Dicotylophyllum

|D. hansonium

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.{{Cite journal |last1=Peppe |first1=Daniel J. |last2=Hickey |first2=Leo J. |date=November 2014 |title=Fort Union Formation Fossil Leaves (Paleocene, Williston Basin, North Dakota, USA) Indicate Evolutionary Relationships Between Paleocene and Eocene Plant Species |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274312501 |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=55 |issue=2 |pages=171–189 |doi=10.3374/014.055.0209 |bibcode=2014BPMNH..55..171P |s2cid=129724520 |issn=0079-032X}}

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|A dicot.

|

D. horsecreekium

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.

|Ludlow Member.

|Leaves.

|A dicot.

|

Eostangeria

|E. pseudopteris

| Sweetwater County, Wyoming.{{Cite journal |last1=Kvaček |first1=Zlatko |last2=Manchester |first2=Steven R. |date=1999 |title=Eostangeria Barthel (Extinct Cycadales) from the Paleogene of Western North America and Europe |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240563782 |journal=International Journal of Plant Sciences |volume=160 |issue=3 |pages=621–629 |doi=10.1086/314152 |bibcode=1999IJPlS.160..621K |s2cid=83978433 |issn=1058-5893}}

|Upper part of the formation.

|Multiple specimens.

| A cycad.

|

Equisetum

|E. sp.

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|A single stem (UF 18969-60476A).

|A horsetail.

|

"Ficus"

|"F." artocarpoides

|Mexican Hat locality.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves with signs of hole feeding and insect mining.

|A fig-tree.

|

Glyptostrobus

|G. europaeus

|Mexican Hat locality.

|Lebo Member.

|Leafy branches.

|A conifer.

|

Juglandiphyllites

|J. glabra

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves with insect damage and probable lepidopteran leaf mines.

|A member of the walnut family.

|

rowspan=2|Lauraceae

|Species 1

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaf with piercing and sucking marks from insects.

|

|

Species 2

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|

|

Macginistemon

|M. mikanoides

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Stamen groups.

|A platanaceaen.

|

rowspan="2" |Macginitiea

|M. gracilis

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|A fragmentary leaf (UF 18969-38380).

|A platanaceaen.

|

M. nascens

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.

|Ludlow Member.

|Leaves.

|A platanaceaen.

|

rowspan="2" |Meliosma

|M. thriviensis

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.

|Ludlow Member.

|Leaves.

|A sabiaceaen.

|

M. vandaelium

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.

|Tongue River Member.

|Multiple leaves.

|A sabiaceaen.

|

Nordenskioeldia

|N. borealis

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Fruit.

|A trochodendrale.

|

Paleonelumbo

|P. macroloba

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves.

|A nelumbonaceaen.

|

Paranymphaea

|P. crassifolia

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves.

|A nymphaeaceaen.

|

Phyllites

|P. demoresii

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|

|

rowspan="2" |Platanus

|P. raynoldsii

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|A plane-tree.

|

P. sp.

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|A plane-tree.

|

Polyptera

|P. manningii

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Fruits.

|A member of the walnut family.

|

"Populus"

|"P". nebrascensis

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|A poplar.

|

Porosia

|P. verrucosa

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Fruits.

|A rutaceaen.

|

Taxodium

|T. olrikii

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|

|A cypress tree.

|

rowspan="2" |Ternstromites

|cf. T. aureavallis

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana.

|Lebo Member.

|Leaf with a gall at the intersection of primary and secondary veins.

|A theaceaen.

|

T. paucimissouriensis

|Williston Basin, North Dakota.

|Ludlow & Tongue River Members.

|Leaves.

|A theaceaen.

|

Trochodendroides

|T. genetrix

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|A few leaves.

|A saxifrage.

|

Ulmites

|U. microphylla

|Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Tongue River Member.

|Leaves.

|An ulmaceaen.

|

Zizyphoides

|Z. flabella

|Mexican Hat locality, Montana & Custer National Forest, Powder River County, Montana.

|Lebo Member & Tongue River Member.

|Leaves showing signs of insect damage.

|A trochodendrale.

|

See also

References