Tensleep Formation Stratigraphic range: Late Pennsylvanian to very Early Permian |
|
---|---|
Type | Geological formation |
Underlies | Phosphoria Formation or Chugwater Formation |
Overlies | Sacajewea Formation or Amsden Formation |
Thickness | up to 535 feet (160 m) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone |
Other | Limestone |
Location | |
Region | Wyoming |
Country | USA |
Type section | |
Named for | Ten Sleep, Wyoming |
Named by | N.H. Darton, 1904 |
The Tensleep Sandstone is a geological formation of Pennsylvanian to very early Permian age in Wyoming.
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.