North Texas Central Cook County Antlers Sand Formation

[Creek - Don]

Nice weather here in Texas today.    Took a advantage of the warm weather (70's)  and went out fossil hunting near the Texas - Oklahoma border nearby Red River.  Area is a mixed Antlers and Goodland formation which sort of overlaps each other.  Sometimes you will see Antlers Sand formation above the Goodland formation, etc.,.    I came across what appears to be a impressive Antlers Sand formation sandstone cliff.  These deposits seems to be a fluvial deposits from early Cretaceous period. I could see the river pebble stones embedded in the cliffs.  Measured cliff height of about 120 feet.   I don't know much about the Antler formation deposits, but from what I read on the Internet dinosaur fossils were found there.  Can somebody substantiate that?  

[Creek - Don]

Here is also something interesting that I found on the cliff, but were too high to verify what that was.  Is this looks like bone or just a rock?   I did see some hard rock embedded on the cliff so I doubt that it's a bone though. 

 

 

[Creek - Don]

Close up.  Is this looks like a bone?    

[PaleoNoel]

I had heard of the antlers formation before, similar in fauna to the cloverly fm. in WY & MT and arundel fm. in MD. I don't know what the law states in texas about keeping vertebrate material found on riverside cliffs like those, but it would be very cool if you could find some early Cretaceous dinosaurs at those exposures.

[BigKen]

Unfortunately, I have no information to add. I am just also curious if, indeed, the Antlers Formation is fossiliferous.  Much of Southern Oklahoma is Antlers formation and I’ve long had some exposures mapped out that I’d move up on my priority list if there was a reasonable expectation of finding something.  

[BobWill]

The Antlers Sand formation is not where people usually look for fossils with all of the other great deposits in this part of the state. The sauropod neck vertebrae found there a few years ago were famous because of the size. The long neck they came from made it the tallest known even if it wasn't the biggest dinosaur. Nearby Twin Mountains formation has yielded some bones too but they are very rare.

[Oxytropidoceras]

On 12/26/2020 at 6:59 PM, Creek - Don said:

I don't know much about the Antler formation deposits, but from what I read on the Internet dinosaur fossils were found there.  Can somebody substantiate that?  

 

In no specific order, some online PDFs of papers about Antlers formation's vertebrate fossils are:

 

Cifelli, R.L., Gardner, J.D., Nydam, R.L. and Brinkman, D.L., 1997. 

Additions to the vertebrate fauna of the Antlers Formation (Lower 

Cretaceous), southeastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geology Notes, 57(4), 

pp.124-131.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258422762_Additions_to_the_vertebrate_fauna_of_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_southeastern_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Cifelli

 

Currie, P.J. and Carpenter, K., 2000. A new specimen of 

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the 

lower Cretaceous Antlers formation (lower Cretaceous, Aptian) 

of Oklahoma, USA. Geodiversitas, 22(2), pp.207-246.

https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2000n2a3.pdf

http://brantworks.com/resources/Acrocanthosaurus/Currie&Carpenter_2000_Acrocanthosaurus.pdf

 

Averianov, A.O., 2015. Taxonomic revision of tribosphenic 

mammals from the Lower Cretaceous Antlers Formation of 

Texas and Oklahoma, USA. Труды Зоологического института 

РАН, 319(2), pp.141-181.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281068754_Taxonomic_revision_of_tribosphenic_mammals_from_the_Lower_Cretaceous_Antlers_Formation_of_Texas_and_Oklahoma_USA

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexander_Averianov

 

Frederickson, J.A., Cohen, J.E. and Cifelli, R.L., 2016, July. 

A Second Ornithischian Dinosaur from the Antlers Formation 

(Lower Cretaceous) of Southeastern Oklahoma. In 

Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science (Vol. 95).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311324382_A_Second_Ornithischian_Dinosaur_from_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_of_Southeastern_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph_Frederickson2

 

Brinkman, D.L., Cifelli, R.L. and Czaplewski, N.J., 1998. First 

Occurrence of Deinonychus Antirrhopus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) 

from the Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian-Albian) 

of Oklahoma (Vol. 146). University of Oklahoma. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272152774_First_occurrence_of_Deinonychus_antirrhopus_Dinosauria_Theropoda_from_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_Aptian-Albian_of_Oklahoma

http://ogs.ou.edu/docs/bulletins/B146.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Brinkman3

 

Wedel, M.J., Cifelli, R.L. and Sanders, R.K., 2000. Sauroposeidon

proteles, a new sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Oklahoma. 

Journal of vertebrate Paleontology, 20(1), pp.109-114.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249962210_Sauroposeidon_proteles_A_New_Sauropod_from_the_Early_Cretaceous_of_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mathew_Wedel/research

 

Also, search using "Antlers Formation" and "dinosaurs" at:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar

 

I hope that this helps.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

[Creek - Don]

36 minutes ago, Oxytropidoceras said:

 

In no specific order, some online PDFs of papers about Antlers formation's vertebrate fossils are:

 

Cifelli, R.L., Gardner, J.D., Nydam, R.L. and Brinkman, D.L., 1997. 

Additions to the vertebrate fauna of the Antlers Formation (Lower 

Cretaceous), southeastern Oklahoma. Oklahoma Geology Notes, 57(4), 

pp.124-131.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/258422762_Additions_to_the_vertebrate_fauna_of_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_southeastern_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard_Cifelli

 

Currie, P.J. and Carpenter, K., 2000. A new specimen of 

Acrocanthosaurus atokensis (Theropoda, Dinosauria) from the 

lower Cretaceous Antlers formation (lower Cretaceous, Aptian) 

of Oklahoma, USA. Geodiversitas, 22(2), pp.207-246.

https://sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/g2000n2a3.pdf

http://brantworks.com/resources/Acrocanthosaurus/Currie&Carpenter_2000_Acrocanthosaurus.pdf

 

Averianov, A.O., 2015. Taxonomic revision of tribosphenic 

mammals from the Lower Cretaceous Antlers Formation of 

Texas and Oklahoma, USA. Труды Зоологического института 

РАН, 319(2), pp.141-181.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/281068754_Taxonomic_revision_of_tribosphenic_mammals_from_the_Lower_Cretaceous_Antlers_Formation_of_Texas_and_Oklahoma_USA

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Alexander_Averianov

 

Frederickson, J.A., Cohen, J.E. and Cifelli, R.L., 2016, July. 

A Second Ornithischian Dinosaur from the Antlers Formation 

(Lower Cretaceous) of Southeastern Oklahoma. In 

Proceedings of the Oklahoma Academy of Science (Vol. 95).

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311324382_A_Second_Ornithischian_Dinosaur_from_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_of_Southeastern_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Joseph_Frederickson2

 

Brinkman, D.L., Cifelli, R.L. and Czaplewski, N.J., 1998. First 

Occurrence of Deinonychus Antirrhopus (Dinosauria: Theropoda) 

from the Antlers Formation (Lower Cretaceous, Aptian-Albian) 

of Oklahoma (Vol. 146). University of Oklahoma. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272152774_First_occurrence_of_Deinonychus_antirrhopus_Dinosauria_Theropoda_from_the_Antlers_Formation_Lower_Cretaceous_Aptian-Albian_of_Oklahoma

http://ogs.ou.edu/docs/bulletins/B146.pdf

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Daniel_Brinkman3

 

Wedel, M.J., Cifelli, R.L. and Sanders, R.K., 2000. Sauroposeidon

proteles, a new sauropod from the Early Cretaceous of Oklahoma. 

Journal of vertebrate Paleontology, 20(1), pp.109-114.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/249962210_Sauroposeidon_proteles_A_New_Sauropod_from_the_Early_Cretaceous_of_Oklahoma

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Mathew_Wedel/research

 

Also, search using "Antlers Formation" and "dinosaurs" at:

https://scholar.google.com/scholar

 

I hope that this helps.

 

Yours,

 

Paul H.

Thanks.  Nice.  It appears Early Cretaceous Sauropod, Antirrhopus, Acrocanthosaurus (  Texas and Oklahoma) were found in this formation.  One Acrocanthosaurus are at the SMU and another one is at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences.  One antirrophopus and one Acrocanthosaurus were found in the southern Oklahoma Antlers formation.