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Lance Formation

{{Short description|Geological formation in the United States}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Lance Formation

| image = Lance Fm.jpg

| caption = Badlands in the Lance Formation along Cow Creek near the type locality, Niobrara County, Wyoming

| type = Sedimentary

| age = Maastrichtian
~{{fossil range|69|66}}

| period = Maastrichtian

| prilithology = Sandstone, siltstone, shale

| otherlithology =

| namedfor = Lance Creek, Wyoming

| namedby =

| region = Wyoming

| country = United States

| coordinates =

| unitof =

| subunits =

| underlies = Fort Union Formation

| overlies = Meeteetse Formation

| thickness = up to {{convert|600|m|ft|-1}}

| extent =

| area =

| map =

| map_caption =

}}

File:Coal Stratigraphy Powder River Basin.png

The Lance (Creek) Formation is a division of Late Cretaceous (dating to about 69–66 Ma) rocks in the western United States. Named after Lance Creek, Wyoming, the microvertebrate fossils and dinosaurs represent important components of the latest Mesozoic vertebrate faunas. The Lance Formation is Late Maastrichtian in age (Lancian land mammal age), and shares much fauna with the Hell Creek Formation of Montana and North Dakota, the Frenchman Formation of southwest Saskatchewan, and the lower part of the Scollard Formation of Alberta.

The Lance Formation occurs above the Baculites clinolobatus ammonite marine zone in Wyoming, the top of which has been dated to about 69 million years ago, and extends to the K-Pg boundary, 66 million years ago. However, the characteristic land vertebrate fauna of the Lancian age (which take its name from this formation) is only found in the upper strata of the Lance, roughly corresponding to the thinner equivalent formations such as the Hell Creek Formation, the base of which has been estimated at 66.8 million years old.Lehman, T. M., Mcdowell, F. W., & Connelly, J. N. (2006). First isotopic (U-Pb) age for the Late Cretaceous Alamosaurus vertebrate fauna of West Texas, and its significance as a link between two faunal provinces. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 26(4), 922–928.

Description

The formation is described by W.G. Pierce as thick-bedded, buff-colored sandstone, and drab to green shale. It is Upper Cretaceous in age.Pierce, W.G., 1997, Geologic map of the Cody 1 degree x 2 degrees quadrangle, northwestern Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey, Miscellaneous Geologic Investigations Map I-2500, scale 1:250000.

The formation varies in thickness from about 90 m (300 ft.) in North Dakota, to almost 600 m (2,000 ft.) in parts of Wyoming.

= Depositional environment =

The Lance Formation was laid down by streams, on a coastal plain along the edge of the Western Interior Seaway. The climate was subtropical; there was no cold season and probably ample precipitation.

Paleontology

At least tens of thousands of Late Cretaceous vertebrate remains have been recovered from the Lance Formation. Fossils ranging from microscopic elements to extensive bonebeds, with nearly complete, sometimes articulated dinosaur skeletons, have been found.Silver, Mark (August 2, 2014) [http://www.amerisurv.com/content/view/12917/153/ "The Dinosaur Surveyors"] The American Surveyor Frederick Maryland Most other animals known from the formation are freshwater animals, and some are exclusively freshwater forms (for instance, frogs and salamanders). However, marine fossils are also found in the formation, suggesting that the sea was nearby. The bird fauna is mainly composed of orders still existing today.

= Coelurosaurs =

{{paleobiota-key-compact}}

== Birds ==

class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
colspan="7" align="center" |Birds reported from the Lance Formation
Genus

! Species

! Location

! Stratigraphic Position

! Material

! Notes

! Images

style="background:#f3e9f3;" |

Apatornis

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

A. retusus

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

Reclassified as Palintropus retusus

|rowspan =99|

Ceramornis

|

C. major

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53959 (holotype), a partial coracoid

|

A possible charadriiform bird

rowspan=4|

Cimolopteryx

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

C. petra

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

Reclassified as Lamarqueavis minima

C. rara

|

|

|

  • YPM 1805 (holotype), a partial coracoid

|

A charadriiform

style="background:#fbdddb;" |

C. retusa

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

Reclassified as Palintropus retusus

style="background:#fbdddb;" |

C. minima

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

|style="background:#fbdddb;" |

Reclassified as Lamarqueavis minima{{cite journal |author=Federico L. Agnolin |year=2010 |title=An avian coracoid from the Upper Cretaceous of Patagonia, Argentina |journal=Stvdia Geologica Salmanticensia |volume=46 |issue=2 |pages=99–119 |url=http://campus.usal.es/~revistas_trabajo/index.php/0211-8327/article/view/7642/8861|issn=0211-8327|s2cid=54675909}}

"Cimolopteryx"

|

"C." maxima

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53973 (holotype), a partial coracoid

|

A charadriiform bird, not necessarily closely related to Cimolopteryx.{{Cite journal|author=Nicholas R. Longrich |year=2011 |title=Titanoceratops ouranous, a giant horned dinosaur from the Late Campanian of New Mexico |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=32 |issue= 3|pages= 264–276|doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2010.12.007}}

Graculavus

|

G. augustus

|

|

|

  • AMNH 25223, a partial humerus

|

A possible charadriiform

rowspan=2|

Lamarqueavis

|

L. minima

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53976 (holotype), a partial coracoid

|

A charadriiform

L. petra

|

|

|

  • AMNH 21911 (holotype), a partial coracoid

|

A charadriiform

Lonchodytes

|

L. estesi

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53954 (holotype), a partial tarsometatarsus

|

A possible procellariiform

"Lonchodytes"

|

"L." pterygius

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53961 (holotype), a partial carpometacarpus

|

A possible charadriiform

"Palaeotringa"

|

"P." vetus

|

|

|

  • ANSP 13361 (holotype), a partial tibiotarsus
  • AMNH 25221, a partial tibiotarsus

|

A bird similar to gruids, idiornithids and presbyornithids.

Palintropus

|

P. retusus

|

|

|

  • YPM 513 (holotype), a partial coracoidLongrich, N. 2009. An ornithurine-dominated avifauna from the Belly River Group (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) of Alberta, Canada. Cretaceous Research, 30(1): 161–177.

|

A basal ornithuromorph belonging to Ambiortiformes.

Potamornis

|

P. skutchi

|

|

|

  • UCMP 73103 (holotype), a quadrateElzanowski, Paul and Stidham, 2001. An avian quadrate from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20(4): 712–719.
  • tarsometatarsus?"Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 215.

|

A hesperornithiform possibly also present in the Hell Creek Formation.

Torotix

|

T. clemensi

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53958, a partial humerusOlson, S.L. and Feduccia, A. 1980. Presbyornis and the origin of the Anseriformes (Aves: Charadriomorphae). Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology no. 323.

|

A possible pelecaniform

Unnamed presbyornithid

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • AMNH 21929, a partial scapula
  • AMNH 22603, a partial scapula
  • YPM 868, a partial scapula
  • AMNH 22602, a partial sternum

|

A presbyornithid{{cite book|author=Hope, S.|editor1=Chiappe, L.M.|editor2=Witmer, L.W.|year=2002|chapter=The Mesozoic radiation of Neornithes|title=Mesozoic Birds: Above the Heads of Dinosaurs|pages=339–388|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0520200944}}

Unnamed enantiornithean

|

Unnamed

|

|

|

  • USNM 2909, a partial metatarsal and pedal phalanges

|

An enantiornithean, previously referred to "Ornithomimus" minutus{{cite book|author1=Chiappe, L.M.|author2=Walker, C.A.|year=2002|chapter=Skeletal morphology and systematics of the Cretaceous Euenantiornithes (Ornithothoraces: Enantiornithes)|title=Mesozoic Birds, above the heads of Dinosaurs|pages=240–267|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley|isbn=978-0520200944}}

Unnamed avian

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53960, two partial neck vertebrae

|

An indeterminate avian

Unnamed phalacrocoracid

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • AMNH 25272, a femur

|

A possible phalacrocoracid

Unnamed galloanserine

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53969, a quadrate{{cite journal|first1=A.|last1=Elzanowski|first2=T.A.|last2=Stidham|year=2011|title=A Galloanserine Quadrate from the Late Cretaceous Lance Formation of Wyoming|journal=The Auk|volume=128|issue=1|pages=138–145|doi=10.1525/auk.2011.10113}}
  • YPM VP 59473, a partial skeleton consisting of skull, vertebrae and limb material{{Cite journal|last=Brownstein |first=C. D. |year=2024 |title=A juvenile bird with possible crown-group affinities from a dinosaur-rich Cretaceous ecosystem in North America |journal=BMC Ecology and Evolution |volume=24 |issue=1 |at=20 |doi=10.1186/s12862-024-02210-9 |pmid=38336630 |pmc=10858573 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2024BMCEE..24...20B }}

|

A possible galloanserine

"Unnamed ornithurine A"

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53962, a partial coracoid
  • UCMP 53963, a partial coracoid
  • AMNH uncatalogued, a partial coracoid

|

Originally thought to belong to Cimolopteryx rara, but probably a new species. Also present in the Frenchman Formation.

"Unnamed ornithurine C"

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • YPM PU 17020, a partial coracoid

|

Also present in the Hell Creek Formation.

"Unnamed ornithurine E"

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • USNM 181923, a partial coracoid
  • USNM 13011, a partial coracoid

|

Also present in the Hell Creek Formation.

"Unnamed ornithurine F"

|

Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • UCMP 53957, a partial coracoid
  • ACM 12359, a partial coracoid

|

Originally thought to belong to "Cimolopteryx" maxima, but probably a new species.

== Other coelurosaurs ==

An isolated tooth crown of an indeterminate coelurosaur is recovered from the formation.

class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
colspan="7" align="center" |Miscellaneous coelurosaurs of the Lance Formation
Genus

! Species

! Location

! Stratigraphic Position

! Material

! Notes

! Images

rowspan=2 style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

Aublysodon

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

A. amplus

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

Teeth, type specimen

|rowspan=2 style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

Dubious tyrannosaurids probably synonymous with Tyrannosaurus rex

| rowspan="100" |

File:"Ornithomimus" sp. by Tom Parker.png

File:Pectinodon.pngFile:Tyrannosaurus-rex-Profile-steveoc86 (coloured).png

style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

A. cristatus

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

Teeth, type specimen

"Ornithomimus"

|

"O." sedens

|

|

|

"Sacrum and fragmentary illium""Table 6.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 139. type specimen

|

An ornithomimid.

Paronychodon

|

P. caperatus

|

|

|

Teeth, type specimen

|

A troodontid

Pectinodon

|

P. bakkeri

|

|

|

Teeth, type specimen

|

A troodontid

Tyrannosaurus

|

T. rex

|

|

|

Several partial specimens and teeth

|

A tyrannosaurid originally identified from the Hell Creek Formation. Also found in the Denver, Ferris, Frenchman, Javelina, Livingston, McRae, North Horn, Scollard, and Willow Creek Formations. Synonyms with type specimens from this formation include Dynamosaurus imperiosus and Manospondylus gigas.{{cite journal |last1=Dalman |first1=Sebastian |title=New Examples of Tyrannosaurus rex from the Lance Formation of Wyoming, United States |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |date=October 2013 |volume=54 |issue=2 |pages=241–254 |doi=10.3374/014.054.0202 |s2cid=128608668 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269480295 |access-date=16 November 2020}}

Nanotyrannus

|N. lancensis

|

|

|

|Synonym of Tyrannosaurus.

Trierarchuncus

|cf. T. prairiensis

|

|

|

  • YPM VP 56916, complete manual ungual I
  • YPM VP 57236, complete pedal ungual
  • YPM VP 57402, partial pedal ungual

|An alvarezsaurid originally identified from the Hell Creek Formation.

Caenagnathidae{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/20583 | last1 = Dyke | first1 = G. J. | last2 = Mayr | first2 = G. | year = 1999 | title = Did parrots exist in the Cretaceous period? | journal = Nature | volume = 399 | issue = 6734| pages = 317–318 | bibcode = 1999Natur.399..317D | s2cid = 204993284 }}{{cite journal|last=Waterhouse|first=D. M.|title=Parrots in a nutshell: The fossil record of Psittaciformes (Aves)|doi=10.1080/08912960600641224|year=2006|journal=Historical Biology|volume=18|issue=2|pages=227–238|bibcode=2006HBio...18..227W |s2cid=83664072}}

|Indeterminate

|

|

|UCMP 143274

|Previously identified as a parrot{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/23841 | last1 = Stidham | first1 = T. | year = 1998 | title = A lower jaw from a Cretaceous parrot | journal = Nature | volume = 396 | issue = 6706| pages = 29–30 | bibcode = 1998Natur.396...29S | s2cid = 204995638 | url = http://doc.rero.ch/record/14902/files/PAL_E2044.pdf }}

Troodontinae

|Indeterminate

|

|

|YPM VP 004691

|Not referrable to Paronychodon or Pectinodon.

cf. Microraptoria

|Indeterminate

|

|

|

  • YPM VP 865, distal half of metatarsal III
  • YPM VP 57403, ?left pedal ungual II-3
  • YPM VP 57404, ?left pedal phalanx II-1
  • YPM VP 57237, distal caudal vertebra

|Potentially the youngest microraptorian specimens, but YPM VP 865 may belong to the Unenlagiinae or Halszkaraptorinae.

Eudromaeosauria

|Indeterminate

|

|

|YPM VPPU 20589

|

= Ornithischia =

== Ankylosaurs ==

class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
colspan="7" align="center" |Ankylosaurs of the Lance Formation
Genus

! Species

! Location

! Stratigraphic Position

! Material

! Notes

! Images

Ankylosaurus

|

A. magniventris The Dinosauria 2nd Edition (David B. Weishampel, Halszka Osmólska and Peter Dodson), p. 584, Dinosaur Distribution (DAVID B. WEISHAMPEL, PAUL M. BARRETT, RODOLFO A. CORIA, JEAN LE LOEUFF, XU XING, ZHAO XIJIN, ASHOK SAHNI, ELIZABETH M. P. GOMANI, CHRISTOPHER R. NOTO)

|

  • Wyoming

|

| More than 70 osteoderms and a tooth

|

An ankylosaurid, originally identified from the Hell Creek Formation.

| rowspan="14" |

File:Ankylosaurus magniventris reconstruction.png]]

File:Denversaurus in Houston Museum.jpg]]

File:Edmontonia dinosaur.png]]

Denversaurus

|D. schlessmani

|Wyoming

|

|FPDM-V9673,{{cite journal|author1=Sonoda, T.|author2=Noda, Y.|year=2016|title=Transfer of museum collection from the Hayashibara Museum of Natural Sciences to the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum|journal=Memoir of the Fukui Prefectural Dinosaur Museum|volume=15|pages=93-98|url=https://www.dinosaur.pref.fukui.jp/archive/memoir/memoir015-093.pdf}}{{cite tweet|last=Greenfield|first=T.|user=TylerGreenfieId|date=2021-07-22|title=This should be a helpful reference for anyone wanting to reconstruct Denversaurus, this is the cervical armor arrangement of "Tank" (FPDM-V9673).|number=1418317560462811139}} formerly BHI 127327{{cite journal | last1 = Carpenter | first1 = K. | last2 = DiCroce | first2 = T. | last3 = Kinneer | first3 = B. | last4 = Simon | first4 = R. | year = 2013 | title = Pelvis of Gargoyleosaurus (Dinosauria: Ankylosauria) and the Origin and Evolution of the Ankylosaur Pelvis | journal = PLOS ONE | volume = 8 | issue = 11| page = e79887 | doi = 10.1371/journal.pone.0079887 | pmid=24244573 | pmc=3828194| bibcode = 2013PLoSO...879887C | doi-access = free }}

|A nodosaurid, originally identified from the Hell Creek Formation.Bakker, R.T. (1988). Review of the Late Cretaceous nodosauroid Dinosauria: Denversaurus schlessmani, a new armor-plated dinosaur from the Latest Cretaceous of South Dakota, the last survivor of the nodosaurians, with comments on Stegosaur-Nodosaur relationships. Hunteria 1(3):1–23.(1988).

Edmontonia

|

E. sp.The Dinosauria 2nd Edition (David B. Weishampel, Halszka Osmólska and Peter Dodson), p. 585, Dinosaur Distribution (DAVID B. WEISHAMPEL, PAUL M. BARRETT, RODOLFO A. CORIA, JEAN LE LOEUFF, XU XING, ZHAO XIJIN, ASHOK SAHNI, ELIZABETH M. P. GOMANI, CHRISTOPHER R. NOTO)

|

  • Wyoming

|

|

Teeth

|

A nodosaurid. Fossils have been unearthed in the Hell Creek Formation, the Ferris Formation, the Dinosaur Park Formation, the Horseshoe Canyon Formation, and the Denver Formation.{{cite journal |last1=Lyson |first1=Tyler R. |last2=Longrich |first2=Nicholas R. |title=Spatial niche partitioning in dinosaurs from the latest cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of North America |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=22 April 2011 |volume=278 |issue=1709 |pages=1158–1164 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2010.1444 |pmid=20943689 |pmc=3049066 }}{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Kenneth |last2=Young |first2=D. Bruce |title=Late Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Denver Basin, Colorado |journal=Rocky Mountain Geology |date=1 January 2002 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=237–254 |doi=10.2113/11 |url=https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/uwyo/rmg/article-abstract/37/2/237/87953/Late-Cretaceous-dinosaurs-from-the-Denver-Basin?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=19 November 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Lillegraven |first1=Jason A. |last2=Eberle |first2=Jaelyn J. |title=Vertebrate faunal changes through Lancian and Puercan time in southern Wyoming |journal=Journal of Paleontology |date=July 1999 |volume=73 |issue=4 |pages=691–710 |doi=10.1017/S0022336000032510 |publisher=Cambridge University Press|s2cid=133072078 }}{{cite book |author1=Dale A. Russel |author2=Makoto Manabe |chapter=Synopsis of the Hell Creek (uppermost Cretaceous) dinosaur assemblage |editor1-last=Nichols |editor1-first=Douglas J. |editor2-last=Hartman |editor2-first=Joseph Herbert |editor3-last=Johnson |editor3-first=Kirk R. |title=The Hell Creek Formation and the Cretaceous-Tertiary Boundary in the Northern Great Plains: An Integrated Continental Record of the End of the Cretaceous · Issue 361 |date=2002 |publisher=Geological Society of America |page=170 |isbn=9780813723617 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cHvcIeh2f84C |access-date=19 November 2020}}{{cite journal |last1=Carpenter |first1=Kenneth |last2=Breithaupt |first2=Brent |title=Latest Cretaceous Occurrence of Nodosaurid Ankylosaurs (Dinosauria, Ornithischia) in Western North America and the Gradual Extinction of the Dinosaurs |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |date=September 2, 1986 |volume=6 |issue=3 |pages=251–257 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4523098 |access-date=24 April 2021 |publisher=Taylor & Francis, Ltd.|doi=10.1080/02724634.1986.10011619 |jstor=4523098 |url-access=subscription }}

"Palaeoscincus"

|

"P. latus"

|

  • Wyoming

|

|

Teeth

|

Probably a nodosaurid, but the teeth could also belong to the Pachycephalosauridae.

== Marginocephalians ==

class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
colspan="7" align="center" |Marginocephalians reported from the Lance Formation
Genus

! Species

! Location

! Stratigraphic Position

! Material

! Notes

! Images

style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

Agathaumas

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

A. sylvestris

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

"Partial sacrum and pelvis,""Table 23.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 496. type specimen.

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

A dubious ceratopsid probably synonymous with Triceratops horridus

|rowspan=99|

Image:Leptoceratops BW.jpg]]

Image:Nedoceratops BW.jpg]]

File:Pachycephalosaurus_Reconstruction.jpg]]

Image:Stygi.jpg]]

Image:Torosaurus BW.jpg]]

File:Triceratops_by_Tom_Patker.png]]

Leptoceratops{{Cite journal |last=Ostrom |first=John H. |date=1978 |title=Leptoceratops gracilis from the "Lance" Formation of Wyoming |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1303974 |journal=Journal of Paleontology |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=697–704 |issn=0022-3360}}

|

L. gracilis

|

|

|

|A ceratopsian

Nedoceratops

|

N. hatcheri

|

|

|

"[One] skull," type specimen.

|

A ceratopsid possibly synonymous with Triceratops horridus. Synonyms include Diceratops hatcheri and Diceratus hatcheri.

Pachycephalosaurus

|

P. wyomingensis

|

|

|

Fragmentary specimens including the type specimen.

|

A pachycephalosaur. Synonyms with type specimens from this formation include Troodon wyomingensis.

style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

"Palaeoscincus"

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

"P." latus

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

"Tooth.""Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 368.

|style="background:#E6E6E6;"|

A dubious pachycephalosaur, previously classified as the ankylosaur Palaeoscincus

Stygimoloch

|

S. spinifer

|

|

|

|

A pachycephalosaur possibly synonymous with Pachycephalosaurus wyomingensisHorner J.R. and Goodwin, M.B. (2009). "Extreme cranial ontogeny in the Upper Cretaceous Dinosaur Pachycephalosaurus." PLoS ONE, 4(10): e7626. [http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0007626 Online full text]

Torosaurus

|

T. latus

|

|

|

Several specimens including the type specimen.

|

A ceratopsid possibly synonymous with Triceratops horridus.Scannella, J. and Horner, J.R. (2010). "Torosaurus Marsh, 1891, is Triceratops Marsh, 1889 (Ceratopsidae: Chasmosaurinae): synonymy through ontogeny." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(4): 1157 – 1168. {{doi|10.1080/02724634.2010.483632}} Torosaurus gladius, with type specimen from this formation, is a synonym. Also present in the Frenchman and Hell Creek Formations.

rowspan="2" |

Triceratops

|

T. horridus

|

|

|

"Partial skull and skeleton," type specimen

|A ceratopsid, also found in the Evanston, Frenchman, Hell Creek, Laramie, and Scollard Formations. Synonyms with type specimens from this formation include T. ingens and T. sulcatus.

== Ornithopods ==

Indeterminate lambeosaurinae fossils have been found in the Lance Formation.{{cite journal |last1=Wegweiser |first1=M. |last2=Breithaupt |first2=B. |last3=Badcock |first3=L. E. |last4=Skinner |first4=E. |last5=Scheffield |first5=J. |date=January 2003 |title=DINOSAUR SKIN FOSSILS FROM THIS SIDE OF HELL, WYOMING: PALEOENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS OF AN UPPER CRETACEOUS KONSERVAT-LAGERSTATTE IN THE LANCE FORMATION |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4524374 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=23 |page=108A}}

class="wikitable" align="center" width="100%"
colspan="7" align="center" |Ornithopods of the Lance Formation
Genus

! Species

! Location

! Stratigraphic Position

! Abundance

! Notes

! Images

Edmontosaurus

|

E. annectens

|

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Skull, skeletons, including the type specimen, "mummy", and a bone bed.{{Cite journal|last1=Snyder|first1=Keith|last2=McLain|first2=Matthew|last3=Wood|first3=Jared|last4=Chadwick|first4=Arthur|date=2020-05-21

|title=Over 13,000 elements from a single bonebed help elucidate disarticulation and transport of an Edmontosaurusthanatocoenosis|journal=PLOS ONE|volume=15|issue=5|pages=e0233182|doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0233182|pmid=32437394 |pmc=7241792 |bibcode=2020PLoSO..1533182S |issn=1932-6203|doi-access=free }}

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A hadrosaurid. Synonyms from this formation include Anatosaurus annectens and Claosaurus annectens. Also found in the Frenchman, Hell Creek, Laramie and Scollard Formations.

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Image:Anatotitan BW.jpg]]

Image:Thescelosaurus filamented.jpg]]

Thescelosaurus

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T. neglectus

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Well-preserved skeleton, type specimen

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A thescelosaurid.{{cite journal|doi=10.1671/039.029.0328|last=Boyd|first=Clint A.|author2=Brown, Caleb M. |author3=Scheetz, Rodney D. |author4= Clarke, Julia A. |year=2009|title=Taxonomic revision of the basal neornithischian taxa Thescelosaurus and Bugenasaura|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=29|issue=3|pages=758–770|s2cid=84273584}} Also found in the Frenchman, Hell Creek, Laramie and Scollard Formations.

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Thespesius

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T. occidentalis

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Teeth, vertebrae, toe bone (including type specimen)

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A dubious hadrosaurid possibly synonymous with E. annectens

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"Trachodon"

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"T." longiceps

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One partial jaw (YPM 616), type specimen

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A dubious hadrosaurid possibly synonymous with E. annectens

= Other vertebrates =

Other land vertebrates include pterosaurs (e.g. cf. Quetzalcoatlus),{{Cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=Henry N. |last2=Hone |first2=David W. E. |last3=Gomes |first3=Timothy |last4=Peterson |first4=Joseph E. |date=2025-02-28 |title=Infernodrakon hastacollis gen. et sp. nov., a new azhdarchid pterosaur from the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, and the pterosaur diversity of Maastrichtian North America |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |pages=e2442476 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2024.2442476 |issn=0272-4634}} crocodiles, champsosaurs, lizards, snakes, turtles, frogs and salamanders.

Remains of fishes and mammals (i.e. Nanocuris) have also been found in the Lance Formation.

See also

{{Portal|Earth sciences|Paleontology|Dinosaurs||}}

References

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

  • [https://web.archive.org/web/20061009041107/http://www2.nature.nps.gov/geology/paleontology/pub/fossil_conference_6/breithaupt_2.htm Passport-In-Time Microvertebrate Fossil Project]

{{Chronostratigraphy of Colorado|Mesozoic state=expanded}}

Category:Geology of the Rocky Mountains

Category:Cretaceous geology of Wyoming

Category:Geologic formations of North Dakota

Category:Natural history of Wyoming

Category:Natural history of North Dakota

Category:Maastrichtian Stage of North America

Category:Fluvial deposits

Category:Sandstone formations of the United States

Category:Shale formations of the United States

Category:Siltstone formations of the United States