Aztec Sandstone

The Aztec Sandstone is a Lower Jurassic geological formation of primarily eolian sand from which fossil pterosaur tracks have been recovered. The formation is exposed in the Mojave Desert of Arizona, California and Nevada.

Aztec Sandstone Stratigraphic range: Early Jurassic
Outcrop of the Aztec Sandstone (Lower Jurassic) at Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area near Las Vegas, Nevada.
Type	Sedimentary
Underlies	Willow Tank Formation[1]
Overlies	Chinle Formation
Area	Nevada,[2] Arizona, California[3]
Thickness	2100 feet in Goodsprings quadrangle,[2] 2500 feet in Muddy Mountain area[1]
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Location
Region	Mojave Desert
Type section
Named by	D. F. Hewett, 1931[2]

Vertebrate 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.

Vertebrates of the Aztec Sandstone
Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Anchisauripus[4]						Grallator
Grallator[5]
Pteraichnus[6]

See also

• List of fossil sites

Footnotes

1. Longwell, C.R., 1949, Structure of the northern Muddy Mountain area, Nevada: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 60, no. 5, p. 923-967.
2. Hewett, D.F., 1931, Geology and ore deposits of the Goodsprings quadrangle, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper, 162, 172 p., (incl. geologic map, scale 1:62,500)
3. Jennings, C.W., 1961, Geologic map of California; Kingman sheet: California Division of Mines and Geology, scale 1:250,000
4. Listed as "cf. Anchisauripus" in "Appendix: Summary of the Mesozoic Reptilian Fossils of California," Hilton (2003) p. 265
5. Listed as "cf. Grallator" in "Appendix: Summary of the Mesozoic Reptilian Fossils of California," in Hilton (2003) p. 265
6. Lockley, et al. (2008)

References

• Hilton, Richard P. 2003. Dinosaurs and Other Mesozoic Reptiles of California. Berkeley: University of California Press. 318 pp.
• Lockley, M.; Harris, J.D.; and Mitchell, L. 2008. "A global overview of pterosaur ichnology: tracksite distribution in space and time." Zitteliana. B28. p. 187-198. ISSN 1612-4138.
• Porter, M.L., 2006. Sedimentology of an ancient erg margin: the Lower Jurassic Aztec Sandstone, southern Nevada and southern California. Sedimentology 34:661-680.