Bibliography of Paleontology of the Grand Canyon Region

SPECIAL ADDITION TO THE GRAND CANON ONLINE

Bibliography of Paleontology of the Grand Canyon Region and in the Stratigraphic Continuity of Grand Canyon Formations

The original version of this publication was posted online in May 2019, commemorating the centennial anniversary of Grand Canyon National Park and the celebration of National Fossil Day 2019

Current edition:  5th Edition—Completely Revised  (April 2026)

The paleontological record of the Grand Canyon and vicinity is temporally long and taxonomically diverse, reaching from early Mesoproterozoic time (>1200 Ma) virtually to the present, uncovering invertebrates, vertebrates, plants, trace fossils, and interesting, less-conventional organisms; with occasional, puzzling dubious forms and pseudofossils bringing up the learning curve. An especially rich late Pleistocene and early Holocene fauna and flora is found in caves and sequestered middens. The rim rock of the canyon is Permian in age, thus although occurrences of Mesozoic and Cenozoic fossils in the vicinity are less relatable to this bibliography, Triassic-age fossils can be found even within the boundary of Grand Canyon National Park, at Cedar Mountain on the east. To the north of the canyon, fossiliferous Mesozoic strata are found in other federally administrated jurisdictions in the Vermilion Cliffs area. Numerous, sometimes very lengthy, gaps of time are skipped over where the lithological record does not exist in this region, but the paleontologically pro-ductive span of time remains an impressive one.

Geographically, this bibliography covers the physiographical Grand Canyon as well as the region directly around it. In so doing, it embraces the Arizona Strip (that part of the state of Arizona north of the Colorado River), the westernmost Navajo Nation, and a streamer of country just to the south of the canyon. On the west a less arbitrary boundary is demarcated by the Grand Wash Cliffs, which comprise strata of the Colorado Plateau geological province, where the (hidden) Grand Wash fault—a displacement of more than 3300 m (10,800 ft)—separates them from the Basin and Range province to the west. In terms of political units, the entirety of Grand Canyon National Park is covered, as well as the adjacent Grand Canyon–Parashant National Monument off the northwestern boundary of the park. Minor portions of other federally- and indigenously-administered lands nearby will also be noted in some citations.

This bibliography is a historical record. It documents paleontological field work in, and studies of specimens collected in, the Grand Canyon and vicinity beginning in 1858 and as published since 1861. It does not comprise a discussion of Grand Canyon stratigraphy, lithologies, or evolutionary perspectives, although the user will discern aspects of these subjects in the publications cited throughout. Whereas previous editions of this bibliography were contiguously arranged by author names alone, this completely revised fifth edition, further updated, subdivides citations according to principal taxonomic groups and ages, with additional sections on a variety of topical perspectives.

Introduction
1: Proterozoic Paleontology
2: Paleozoic Invertebrate Paleontology
3: Paleozoic Vertebrate Paleontology
4: Paleozoic Paleobotany
5: Paleozoic Ichnology
6: Paleozoic Paleoecology and Surveys of Paleoenvironments
7: Mesozoic Paleontology (Grand Canyon Vicinity)
8: Cenozoic Paleontology (Grand Canyon Vicinity: Excluding Quaternary)
9: Quaternary Paleontology
10: Stratigraphically or Geographically Comprehensive Publications
11: Publications with Educational Perspectives, Resources Management Applications, and Historical Subjects
12: Publications with Creationist Perspectives
13: Cryptopaleontology