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

Occasionally updated.  Current revision:  1 May 2023

 

INTRODUCTION

The citations listed here have been extracted from Part 21 of THE GRAND CANON (“Geology and Paleontology of the Grand Canyon Region”).

         In this paleontology bibliography, and in THE GRAND CANON overall, earth-science citations embrace studies and remarks about Grand Canyon rock units and their stratigraphic continuity beyond the canyon-proper, as well as Mesozoic strata in the areas nearest the Grand Canyon. The extralimital references are important for their focus on correlative stratigraphic and paleoecological analyses that, in turn, reflect upon studies in the Grand Canyon. Studies embrace the time-stratigraphic range from Neoproterozoic to Pleistocene, and sub-fossil occurrences in the Holocene.

         Culling these paleontology citations from THE GRAND CANON was an opportunistic effort, not originally a part of the main bibliography. (A paleontological bibliography for material that limits itself only to, or includes data from, Grand Canyon National Park alone would be a labor-intensive effort requiring page-by-page examinations of many of the citations here, and more.) The publications listed here are those that have obvious reference to paleontology. There are many more citations that might have been added, particularly those that relate to broad stratigraphic, sedimentological, and paleogeological studies, which by implication should also contain references to fossils; and similarly, texts that embrace the general geology of the Grand Canyon that should include detailed or superficial commentaries on fossils. However, without a wholesale revisit to all of these publications it is not clear which among such titles do contain paleontological data. Part 21 of THE GRAND CANON does contain all citations that relate to the earth sciences for the greater Grand Canyon region.

         Each citation here includes an Item number (for example, 21.6265; the prefix “21.” indicates that it is from Part 21 of the much larger bibliography,THE GRAND CANON). They serve as serial numbers only, which uniquely identify citations throughout THE GRAND CANON. Numbers are assigned as citations are acquired for the bibliography, thus they do not follow in order. See https://ravensperch.org for everything pertaining to the complete bibliography.

            Publications that relate to creationist and young-earth perspectives of Grand Canyon geology are included here with the understanding that this is an ongoing, sometmes tempetuous, field of study that contrasts ideas of faith with the tenets and methodologies of empirical and falsifiable science. Accordingly, some users of this bibliog­raphy may object to including creationist research with the science-based works of geology. However, these are topically identical so they are not segregated. To assist researchers looking for contrasting perspectives, both for and against creationist-held views embracing the Grand Canyon, these citations are denoted in the bibliography with Item numbers in italics. Many more creationism-focused publications might have been listed but it is not clear without revisiting all of them which among them add discussions of fossils. Again, refer to Part 21 of THE GRAND CANON.