AnimaliaNot EvaluatedacceptedspeciesAccepted
Prodesmodon copei

Prodesmodon copei

Estes, 1964

GBIF:159397258

0year

ABOUT

Descriptions(1)

Prodesmodon copei is represented in the Judith River Formation by a number of dentaries and maxillae from Clambank Hollow. Although all the specimens are distinctly smaller than those from the Lance Formation figured by Estes (1964, pp. 90, 91), they are included in the same species. Morphology of the dentary and the form of the teeth is exceedingly similar in specimens from the two formations. As the present dentaries are incomplete, it is impossible to count the teeth on the lower jaw but the number appears to be less in the Campanian specimens. The teeth are pleurodont and vary considerably in size. The front teeth in AMNH 8479, except for the anteriormost two or three, are quite large (height 0.8 mm.) as compared with the teeth in the posterior part of the dentary. Enlargement of the anterior teeth is accompanied by a corresponding deepening of the jaw. A small foramen is present at the base of each tooth. Externally, the dentary is smooth and is strongly curved in dorsal view.
Sahni, Ashok (1972): The vertebrate Fauna of the Judith River formation, Montana. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 147 (6): 319-416, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3382461, Hdl: http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1099

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CLASSIFICATION

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Source Information

The vertebrate Fauna of the Judith River formation, Montana

checklist

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Sahni, Ashok (1972): The vertebrate Fauna of the Judith River formation, Montana. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 147 (6): 319-416, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.3382461, Hdl: http://hdl.handle.net/2246/1099

GEOLOGIC INVESTIGATION of the Late Cretaceous Judith River Formation in the area just north of the Judith River on the Missouri River in north-central Montana has resulted in the discovery of varied vertebrate forms. The beds are mainly freshwater continental deposits consisting of crossbedded channel sandstones, gray siltstones, and carbonaceous shales with occasional seams of lignitic coal. The stratigraphic sequence consists of the Marias River Shale overlain by the Eagle, Claggett, Judith River, and Bearpaw formations. The last four constitute the Montana Group. The Judith River Formation is Campanian in age as determined by its position between the fossiliferous marine Claggett and Bearpaw shales.

The fauna was obtained from the upper 50 feet of the formation. The bone concentration in the productive sandstone is the result of size sorting leading to underrepresentation of the larger dinosaurs. Three orders of mammals are represented, the Eutheria by a single genus, the Allotheria by five, and the Metatheria by at least three genera. Teiid and parasaniwid lizards are frequent. Only a fraction of the large number of described dinosaur genera, however, is represented in the collection by isolated teeth. Fish and amphibians form a sizable portion of the fauna.

Vertebrates from the Judith River Formation are more primitive than, but generally similar to, later Maestrichtian species. The mammals differ from their descendants in the Lance Formation at the species level. The community structure and the paleoecology of the fauna of the Judith River Formation resemble those of the Lance Formation. The greatest difference between the two communities is the greater variety of dinosaurs in the earlier formation.

Sahni A, plazi (1972). The vertebrate Fauna of the Judith River formation, Montana. Plazi.org taxonomic treatments database. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3382461 accessed via GBIF.org on 2026-06-15.

CC0Published 12/31/1972View dataset
GBIF Usage Key
159397258
Dataset Key
fd03f669-c046-46cd-861a-6bf56b7fc989
Origin
source
Backbone Key
4964846
Taxon ID
1A7187CFFFCA177CFB47F724E077595A.taxon
Last Crawled
6/10/2026
Last Interpreted
6/10/2026