Wapiti Formation

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The Wapiti Formation is a geological formation of the Western Canada Sedimentary Basin in northwestern Alberta, and northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Its deposition spanned the time interval from the upper Campanian through to the lower Maastrichtian, between approximately 80 and 68 Ma.[1][2] It was named by G.M. Dawson in 1881,[3] presumably for exposures along the lower part of the Wapiti River and downstream along the Smoky River in Alberta.[4]

Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Cretaceous portion of the formation.[5][6] The Wapiti Formation does not produce many fossils due to its limited surface exposure and accessibility, although two Pachyrhinosaurus bone beds have been productive.[7] Plant fossils and trace fossils have been unearthed here too.[8][9][10]

Lithology

The Wapiti Formation consists of interbedded sandstones, siltstones, shales and mudstones, with thin conglomerates, coal seams and bentonite beds. The sandstones are typically thick, pale grey, crossbedded and bentonitic. The middle part contains less sandstones, more mudstones, and fewer and thinner coals. The upper part contains thicker lenticular sandstones and more coals.[4]

Depositional environment

The Wapiti Formation was deposited in inland fluvial and floodplain environments, with local areas of lacustrine sediments.[11] The sandstones were deposited mainly in fluvial channel environments, with siltstones, carbonaceous shales and coals accumulating in overbank settings.

Thickness and Distribution

The Wapiti Formation rests conformably on the marine shales of the Smoky Group. It is more than Script error: No such module "convert". thick in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies in the west,[11] and it thins eastward to its erosional edge.[12] It is correlative with the entire sequence of the Belly River Group, Bearpaw Formation, Edmonton Group and Scollard Formation in south-central Alberta.[11] In most areas it is unconformably overlain by glacial and post-glacial sediments of Quaternary age, or exposed at surface. In a few upland areas it is unconformably overlain by Paleogene gravel deposits.[4]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Template:Paleobiota-key-compact Indeterminate ankylosaurids, albertosaurines, pachycephalosaurids, ornithomimids, and saurolophines are known from Alberta.[13][14] Corythosaurus is also known from the formation.[15] A caenagnathid is in the process of being described.

Dinosaurs of the Wapiti Formation
Genus Species Location Member Material Notes Images

cf. Albertosaurus[16]

Indeterminate

  • British Columbia
 Teeth

cf. Gorgosaurus[17]

Indeterminate

  • Alberta
 Teeth

Bellatoripes

B. fredlundi

  • Alberta
  • Unit 4

Three trackways and an isolated print.

Footprints of large tyrannosaurids.

cf. Haenamichnus[18]

cf. H. isp.

  • Alberta
  • Unit 4

An isolated track.

Footprint of large azhdarchid pterosaur.

Boreonykus[19]

B. certekorum

  • Alberta
  • Unit 3
File:Boreonykus LM.jpg
Boreonykus certekorum

Troodon[20]

Indeterminate

  • Alberta

Teeth; probable troodontid footprints are also known[21]

Edmontosaurus[22]

Edmontosaurus regalis

  • Alberta
  • Unit 4
File:Edmontosaurus BW.jpg
Edmontosaurus regalis

Hadrosauridae nov. tax.[16]

sp. nov.

  • British Columbia
 A new taxon of hadrosaurid.

Pachyrhinosaurus[14]

P. lakustai

  • Alberta
File:Pachyrhinosaurus BW.jpg
Pachyrhinosaurus lakustai

Richardoestesia[13]

R. gilmorei

  • Alberta

Saurornitholestes[13]

S. sp.

  • Alberta

See also

References

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  1. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  4. ↑ a b c Glass, D.J. (editor) 1997. Lexicon of Canadian Stratigraphy, vol. 4, Western Canada including eastern British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and southern Manitoba. Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists, Calgary, 1423 p. on CD-ROM. Template:ISBN.
  5. ↑ Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. Template:ISBN.
  6. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  7. ↑ Ryan, M. J., and A. P. Russell, 2001, Dinosaurs of Alberta (exclusive of Aves), in: Mesozoic Vertebrate Life, edited by Tanke, D. H., and K. Carpenter, Indiana University Press, pp. 279–297 Template:ISBN
  8. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  13. ↑ a b c Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Template:Cbignore
  14. ↑ a b Currie, P.J., Langston, W., and Tanke, D.H. (2008). "A new species of Pachyrhinosaurus (Dinosauria, Ceratopsidae) from the Upper Cretaceous of Alberta, Canada." pp. 1-108. In: Currie, P.J., Langston, W., and Tanke, D.H. 2008. A New Horned Dinosaur from an Upper Cretaceous Bone Bed in Alberta. NRC Research Press, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 144 pp. Template:ISBN
  15. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
  16. ↑ a b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  20. ↑ F. Fanti and T. Miyashita. 2009. A high latitude vertebrate fossil assemblage from the Late Cretaceous of west-central Alberta, Canada: evidence for dinosaur nesting and vertebrate latitudinal gradient. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 275(1-4):37-53
  21. ↑ a b N. J. Enriquez, N. E. Campione, C. Sullivan, M. Vavrek, R. L. Sissons, M. A. White and P. R. Bell. 2020. Probable deinonychosaur tracks from the Upper Cretaceous Wapiti Formation (upper Campanian) of Alberta, Canada. Geological Magazine (in press). doi:10.1017/S0016756820001247
  22. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".Script error: No such module "Unsubst".Template:Cbignore

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