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Tensleep Sandstone facts for kids

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Tensleep Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Pennsylvanian-very Early Permian
~308–298Ma
Type Geological formation
Underlies Phosphoria & Chugwater Formations
Overlies Sacajewea & Amsden Formations
Thickness up to 535 feet (160 m)
Lithology
Primary Sandstone
Other Limestone
Location
Coordinates 42°36′N 108°12′W / 42.6°N 108.2°W / 42.6; -108.2
Approximate paleocoordinates 4°18′N 35°12′W / 4.3°N 35.2°W / 4.3; -35.2
Region  Wyoming
Country  USA
Type section
Named for Ten Sleep, Wyoming
Named by N.H. Darton
Year defined 1904

The Tensleep Sandstone is a geological formation of Pennsylvanian to very early Permian age in Wyoming.

Trace fossils

In 1932 Edward Branson and Maurice Mehl reported the discovery of a fossil trackway in the formation. A new ichnospecies, Steganoposaurus belli, was erected for these footprints. The tracks were probably made by a web-footed animal slightly less than three feet long. This creature was originally presumed to be an amphibian, but the toe prints it left behind were pointed like a reptile's rather than round like an amphibians. The actual trackmaker may have been similar to the genus Hylonomus. The ichnogenus Tridentichnus are similar footprints preserved in the Supai Formation of Arizona.

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