Timothy S Myers

• Doctor of Philosophy
• Professor (Associate) at Temple University

We present the first description of Jurassic vertebrate fossils from Texas. The vertebrate specimens were collected from the Upper Jurassic Malone Formation in the Malone Mountains of western Texas. The specimens are fragmentary and not particularly diagnostic, but probably represent elements of plesiosaurians. One specimen is similar to the caudal...

The chemical compositions of paleosols are frequently used to reconstruct paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental conditions using proxy relationships derived from modern soils. However, through time, some of the proxy relationships have been applied to paleosol types that were not part of the original training data sets or they have analyzed followin...

The Whitehorse Group and Quartermaster Formation are extensive red-bed terrestrial sequences representing the final episode of sedimentation in the Palo Duro Basin in north-central Texas, U.S.A. Regionally, these strata record the culmination of a long-term regression sequence beginning in the middle to late Permian. The Whitehorse Group includes b...

Pedogenic carbonate samples collected from three Lower Cretaceous (Aptian–Albian) fossil localities in Texas and Oklahoma were analyzed to develop paleoatmospheric pCO2 estimates by measuring the stable carbon isotopes of pedogenic calcite and their co-existing occluded organic matter. Calcite δ13C values ranged from −10.9‰ to −4.4‰ while occluded...

Paleosols are an important component of the terrestrial stratigraphic record and are increasingly utilized in stratigraphic analyses and paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate reconstructions. This chapter is designed to be accessible to students and researchers who are new to the study of paleosols. The topics discussed here are particularly relevant...

A new stem cheloniid turtle, Cabindachelys landanensis, gen. et sp. nov., is represented by a nearly complete skull and partial hyoid collected in lower Paleocene shallow marine deposits, equivalent to the offshore Landana Formation, near the town of Landana in Cabinda, Angola. A partial chelonioid carapace previously reported from this locality is...

Large glacial–interglacial fluctuations occurred during the late Palaeozoic. Geochemical and fossil data show these cycles were marked by coincident shifts in the carbon cycle and terrestrial biosphere.

We report a new chelonioid turtle on the basis of a nearly complete skull collected in lower Paleocene, shallow marine deposits, equivalent to the offshore Landana Formation, near the town of Landana in Cabinda Province, Angola. Chelonioid material previously reported from this locality is likely referable to this new taxon. The well-preserved skul...

Carbon isotope analysis of paleosol carbonates is one of the most widely used methods for producing quantitative estimates of CO2 levels in the ancient atmosphere, and is increasingly used to estimate soil pCO2 as a proxy for primary productivity. Recent efforts to improve the carbonate CO 2 paleobarometer by refining input parameters (e.g., soil t...

A new pterosaur species, Cimoliopterus dunni, sp. nov., is described based on a partial rostrum from the upper Cenomanian Britton Formation in the Eagle Ford Group of north-central Texas. The holotype preserves alveoli for a minimum of 26 upper teeth and bears a thin premaxillary crest that begins above the fourth pair of alveoli. The rostrum, char...

Approximately 1000 m of strata in the Upper Paleozoic Lukuga Formation in the Dekese core in the central Congo Basin provide lithostratigraphic, mineralogical, and isotopic evidence for substantial climatic variation within a long-lived lacustrine basin. Lithostratigraphic indicators of cold climate include polymictic strata (dropstone deposits) an...

Paleosols are ancient soils that have been incorporated into the geological record. Soils form in response to interactions among the lithosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, and atmosphere, so paleosols potentially record physical, biological, and chemical information about past conditions near Earth's surface. As a result, paleosols are an important r...

Elemental analyses of paleosol B horizons in the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of the western United States provide estimates of mean annual precipitation (MAP) and allow determination of humidity regimes. Samples were collected from the lower Morrison Formation in New Mexico and the upper Morrison Formation in Wyoming and Montana. The chemical...

The Bench 19 Bonebed at Bentiaba, Angola, is a unique concentration of marine vertebrates preserving six species of mosasaurs in sediments best correlated by magnetostratigraphy to chron C32n.1n between 71.4 and 71.64 Ma. The bonebed formed at a paleolatitude near 24°S, with an Atlantic width at that latitude approximating 2700 km, roughly half tha...

Fourteen soil profiles from California were collected in order to measure the d 13 C of coexisting soil calcite and organic matter. Thirteen of the profiles contained a measurable amount of calcite ranging from 0.04 to 54.6 wt %. Soil calcite d 13 C PDB (d 13 C value vs. the calcite standard Peedee Belemnite) values range from À14.4 to 1.3ø, wherea...

Outcrops of Late Cretaceous Gulf Series strata (Woodbine, Eagle Ford, and Austin) in the Dallas area expose middle Cenomanian to the early Campanian (96 to ~83 Ma) rocks, which are well known in the subsurface of the oil-rich East Texas Basin. Together with the underlying Comanche Series and overlying younger Gulf Series, this set of strata provide...

Investigation of the palaeoclimatic conditions associated with Upper Jurassic strata in Portugal and comparison with published palaeoclimate reconstructions of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in western North America provide important insights into the conditions that allowed two of the richest terrestrial faunas of this period to flourish. G...

The state of Texas has one of the greatest records of pterosaurs in the world, surpassing all other US states and most countries in the number of occurrences. Uniquely, this record extends over the entire 150+ million history of the Pterosauria. A review of this pterosaur record confirms at least 30 pterosaurs known from 13 occurrences, including f...

In this paper we present a method for estimating soil pCO₂ in ancient environments using the measured carbon-isotope values of pedogenic carbonates and plant-derived organic matter. The validity of soil pCO₂ estimates proves to be highly dependent on the organic δ¹³C values used in the calculations. Organic matter should be sourced from the same pa...

2010.15 Africa is the only continent that now straddles arid zones located beneath the descending limbs of both the northern and southern Hadley cells, and it has done so since it became a distinct continent in the Early Cretaceous. Since that time, Africa has drifted tectonically some 12 degrees north and rotated approximately 45 degrees countercl...

Upper Permian and Lower Triassic palaeosols from northeastern Tethyan localities exposed within the Bogda Mountains, NW China, provide a wealth of information regarding long-term palaeoclimatic and palaeoenvironmental variations. Wuchiapingian palaeosols are characterized by intense redoximorphy, accumulation of vascular plant matter, accumulation...

Remains of a pteranodontid pterosaur are recorded in the basal Austin Group of North Texas. The specimen described here comprises a partial left wing and strongly resembles Pteranodon although diagnostic features of that genus are lacking. With an estimated early Coniacian age, this specimen represents the earliest occurrence of the Pteranodontidae...

Remains of a pteranodontid pterosaur are recorded in the basal Austin Group of North Texas. The specimen described here comprises a partial left wing and strongly resembles Pteranodon although diagnostic features of that genus are lacking. With an estimated early Coniacian age, this specimen represents the earliest occurrence of the Pteranodontidae...

Both body fossil and ichnofossil evidence for gregarious behavior in sauropod dinosaurs is examined. Some localities suggest that herds were partitioned on the basis of age, whereas other sites reveal groups consisting of both adult and juvenile/subadult individuals. Two skeletal accumulations showing evidence of age segregation are examined in det...

The Mother's Day Quarry, in the lower part of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation of south-central Montana, contains a low- diversity assemblage dominated by immature diplodocoid sauropods. The sauropod bones lie within a 3-m-thick, massive, sandy siltstone containing scattered pebbles and carbonate nodules. Clay rip-up clasts indicate a high-ene...