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Prince Creek Formation
Stratigraphic range: Early Maastrichtian
70.6–69.1Ma
Nanuqsaurus distribution map.png
General location of the Prince Creek Formation, in red
Type Geological formation
Unit of Colville Group
Sub-units Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry, Kogosukruk Tongue, Ocean Point, Coleville River Bluff
Underlies Sagavanirktok Formation
Overlies Schrader Bluff Formation
Lithology
Primary Sandstone, mudstone
Other siltstone, carbonaceous shale, ash-fall
Location
Coordinates 70°00′N 151°30′W / 70.0°N 151.5°W / 70.0; -151.5
Approximate paleocoordinates 83°12′N 115°54′W / 83.2°N 115.9°W / 83.2; -115.9
Region  Alaska
Country  USA

The Prince Creek Formation is a geological formation in Alaska with strata dating to the Early Maastrichtian. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

Age

The Prince Creek Formation aged from 80 to 61.7 million years ago. The Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry, where almost all of the dinosaur fossil are from, is located near the middle of the formation, and is about 70.6 to 69.1 million years ago. A lower section, the Kogosukruk Tongue, ages from 72 to 71 million years ago, in the latest Campanian. The youngest part of the formation is Ocean Point, which extends into the Paleogene, at the end of the Danian, based on the age of ostracods and mollusks. In the middle of the formation is the Coleville River Bluff, which extends from the Late Campanian to the Middle/Late Maastrichtian, in which pollen spores are common. However, a recent study dated all of the Prince Creek to the Early Maastrichtian.

Habitat

Liscomb Bonebed hadrosaurids
Hadrosaurids of the Liscomb Bonebed in their habitat

During the time when the Prince Creek Formation was deposited, Earth was going through a greenhouse phase. The rocks in it are alluvial, and were, at the time of burial, on a muddy coastal plain. Leafy plants, roots and pollen are known from the formation, and they show that trampling by dinosaurs was common. It can be proven that during the Maastrichtian the Prince Creek Formation bordered a large body of water by the presence of gypsum and pyrite in nearby rock. Large amounts of plants material are represented by peridonoid dinocysts, algae, fungal hyphae, fern and moss spores, projectates, Wodehouseia edmontonicola, hinterland bisaccate pollen, and pollen from trees, shrubs, and herbs. Concluded on the large amounts of dinosaurs and flora, the Prince Creek Formation was likely a polar woodland lacking ground ice with dinosaurs dominating and angiosperms towering above them. The mean temperature was 5 to 6 °C (41 to 43 °F), with the mean temperature during the cold months being 2 to 4 °C (36 to 39 °F) and the mean temperature during the warm months being 10 to 12 °C (50 to 54 °F). Mean annual precipitation was 500 to 1,500 millimetres (20 to 59 in)/year.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Dinosaurs

Theropods

Indeterminate tyrannosaurid remains are present, mostly in the form of teeth. The teeth are from the Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry, Liscomb Quarry, and Byers Bed, totaling 8 teeth.

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.
Theropods
Genus Species Location Abundance Notes Images

Dromaeosaurus

D. cf albertensis

Liscomb Quarry

Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry

Byers Bed

Fossilized teeth

A dromaeosaur.

Dromaeosaurus Restoration.png

Gruipeda

G. vegrandiunis

Denali Park

Footprints from a small bird.

Ornithomimosauria indet. Indeterminate Old Bone Beach Distal metatarsal IV Possibly an ornithomimid.

Saurornitholestinae indet.

Indeterminate

Pediomys Point - Liscomb Quarry

Small dentary tip from a juvenile.

A new species of dromaeosaurid closely related to Saurornitholestes.

Prince Creek Formation fauna.png

Nanuqsaurus

N. hoglundi

Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry

One partial skull including a bone near the front of the maxilla and the front of the lower jaw.

Nanuqsaurus is a dwarf tyrannosaurid closely related to Lythronax, Tyrannosaurus, and Tarbosaurus.

Nanuqsaurus.png

Saurornitholestes

S. cf. langstoni

Old Bone Beach

Teeth

A dromaeosaur.

Saurornitholestes digging Burrows wahweap.jpg

Troodon

T. sp

Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry

Liscomb Quarry

Byers Bed

Magical Mystery Bar

Dental remains, including teeth. Braincases have also been found.

Remains of T. sp. are approximately 50% larger than specimens from Alberta and Montana. Remains were previously assigned to T. formosus. The most abundant theropod. As of 2011, a dubious genus.

Alaskan troodont.jpg

Ornithischians

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.
Ornithischians of the Prince Creek Formation
Genus Species Location Abundance Notes Images

Alaskacephale

A. gangloffi

Kogosukruk Tongue

A squamosal, and the back of the dome.

The first pachycephalosaurine from Alaska discovered.

Alaskacephale gangloffi copia.jpg

Pachyrhinosaurus

P. perotorum

Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry

An abundance of skeletal remains, including an immature juvenile.

The youngest of the Pachyrhinosaurus species, found in one of the highest latitudes of centrosaurine discoveries. A discovery in the Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry was identified in 2013 as a juvenile of Pachyrhinosaurus perotorum. This discovery shows that the crest started to develop in the front of the snout, then extending farther back until it reaches the eye.

Pachyrhinosaurus Perotorum Alaska copyright web.jpg

Thescelosaurinae indet.

Indeterminate

Teeth

Remains previously attributed to Thescelosaurus.

Parksosaurus Steveoc86.jpg

Edmontosaurus

E. sp

Liscomb Bonebed
Kikak-Tegoseak Quarry

Juvenile specimens

Originally identified under the genus Ugrunaaluk, recent studies have shown that disarticulated juvenile specimens, originally assigned to this genus has been found ontogenetically indistinguishable from Edmontosaurus.

Edmontosaurus Perot Museum.jpg

Lambeosaurinae indet. Indeterminate Liscomb Bonebed A supraoccipital The first confirmed lambeosaurine in the Prince Creek Formation.

Liscomb Bonebed Lambeosaurine.png

Ornithopoda indet.

Indeterminate

One tooth

A single "hypsilophodontid" cheek tooth not attributable to Parksosaurus or Thescelosaurus.

Mammals

Mammals of the Prince Creek Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images
Unnuakomys U. hutchisoni Pediomys Point Lower Maastrichtian Over 60 specimens A small metatherian.

Plants

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.
Plants of the Prince Creek Formation
Genus Species Location Abundance Notes Images

Parataxodium

P. wigginsii

Kogosukruk Tongue

A conifer, one of two from the region. It dominated the forest community of the Kogosukruk Tongue.

Hollickia

H. quercifolia

Kogosukruk Tongue

Leaves

An angiosperm, known from leaves.

Quereuxia

Q. angulata

Kogosukruk Tongue

An aquatic angiosperm.

Equisetites

E. sp.

Kogosukruk Tongue

A sphenophyte.

Pulcheripollenites

P. krempii

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

cf. Proteacidites

cf. P. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

cf. Polycingulatisporites

cf. P. reduncus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Podocarpidites

P. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Ovoidites

O.? sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

O. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

O. parvus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

O. arcticus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Osmundacidites

O. wellmanii

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Common in the Early Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Mantonisporites

M. sp. indet

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Mancicorpus

M. pseudosenonicus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Lycopodiacidites

L. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Lunatadinium

L. dissolutum

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Indeterminate

Indeterminate

Coleville River Bluff

Septate fungal hypha.

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Leosphaeridia

L. "stellata"

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Common in the Early Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Lairidordites

L. magnus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Laegivatosporites

L. spp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Indeterminate remains abundant in the Early Maastrichtian, and still numerous in the Late Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

L. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Kurtzipites

K. trispissatus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Integricorpus

I. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Ischyosporites

I. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Ischyosporites

I. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Inundatisporis

I. tappaniae

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Impardecispora

I. marylandensis

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Hannisporis

H. scollardensis

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

H. amplus

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Gleicheniidites

G. senonicus

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Foveosporites

F sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Foraminisporis

F. undulosus

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Fibulapollis

F. scabratus

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Expressipollis

cf. E. accuratus

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Erdtmannipollis

E. procumbentformis

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Dictyophyllidites

D. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Deltoidospora

D. spp.

Coleville River Bluff

Preserved pollen samples

Very abundant in the early Maastrichtian and Indeterminate level of the formation, becoming rarer until the Middle/Late Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Cycadopites

C. fragilis

Coleville River Bluff

Samples of distinct pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Crassispora?

cf. C. apisulacea

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen samples

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

cf. Converrucosisporites

cf. C. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Specimens of preserved pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Clavatisporites

C. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Preserved pollen samples

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Circulodinium

C. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen samples

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Cingutriletes

cf. C. congruens

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Cingulizonates

C. bialatus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen samples

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Cicatricosisporites

C. sp. 1

Coleville River Bluff

Distinct pollen remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

C. spp.

Coleville River Bluff

Preserved pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

cf. C. dorogensis

Coleville River Bluff

Fossilized pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Cibotiumspora

C. sp.

Coleville Bluff Formation

Pollen spores

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Camarozonosporites

C. ambigens

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen specimens

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Botryococcus

B. braunii

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Botryococcus braunii.jpg

Indeterminate

Indeterminate

Coleville River Bluff

Bissacate gymnosperm pollen

Common and abundant in the Early Maastrichtian, becoming rarer towards the Late Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Balmeisporites

B. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen spore remains

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Azonia

cf. A. cribrata

Coleville River Bluff

Carbonized pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Aquilapollenites

A. trialatus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

A. spp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

A. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

cf. A. dentatus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

A. amygdaloides

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Numerous in the Late Campanian, becoming abundant in the Maastrichtian. Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Annulispora

A. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Anacololsidites

A. sp. 1

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

A. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Alete

A. clavate

Coleville River Formation

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Aequitriradites

cf. A. spinulosus

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

Aequitriradite

A. sp.

Coleville River Bluff

Pollen

Also found in the Schrader Bluff Formation.

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