Guidebook of Palo Duro Canyon

Part 2

Chapter 2707 wordsPublic domain

More extensive Late Pliocene fossil beds are exposed south of the park in Cita Canyon. These beds are younger than the Ogallala and are stream and basin deposits. The fauna and flora found here suggest a broad, flat, grassy plain much like the present landscape (Figure 8). Remains of mastodons, large, elephant-like animals with long upper tusks that were used to dig up roots, are found here. Saber-tooth cats, also present, preyed upon the mastodons. The remains of these, as well as bones of camels, pony-sized horses, and sloths 10 feet high have been found in the vicinity of the canyon. Some of these animals are thought to have lived in the Panhandle a mere 10,000 years ago.

_Amebelodon_: shovel-tusked mastodon _Teleoceras_: short-legged rhinoceros _Synthetoceras_: snout-horned even-toed hoofed mammal _Cranioceras_: cranial-horned even-toed hoofed mammal _Merycodus_: extinct pronghorn antelope _Hypolagus_: extinct rabbit _Epigaulus_: burrowing horned rodent _Aphelops_: long-legged rhinoceros _Prosthennops_: extinct peccary _Osteoborus_: short-faced dog _Pseudaelurus_: extinct cat _Hemicyon_: bearlike dog _Procamelus_: llamalike camel _Megatylopus_: giant camel _Pliohippus_: ancestral one-toed horse _Neohipparion_: extinct three-toed horse

Due to limited outcrops in the Canyon proper, Pleistocene fossils are very rare. An excellent collection of fossils from Palo Duro Canyon and the Panhandle area is on display at the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum.

Diamond Shamrock

QUALITY ROCK SHOP

OVERNIGHT CAMPING LAPIDARY EQUIPMENT QUALITY AGATE & JADE, FOREIGN & DOMESTIC CUSTOM SILVER, GOLD AND TURQUOISE WORK

2 Miles West of Canyon on U.S. Highway 60 Route 1, Box 211, Canyon, Texas 79015

MAGGIE & WHITEY VOELM (806) 655-7631

_Search Drilling Co._

Rotary Drilling Contractors Oil & Gas Producers

SUITE 400 WELLINGTON SQUARE OFFICE PARK 1616 S. KENTUCKY AMARILLO, TEXAS 79102 (806) 359-7645

YUCCA PETROLEUM CO.

300 Diamond Shamrock Building P.O. BOX 2585 AMARILLO, TEXAS 79105 Telephone: (806) 376-5431

Argonaut Energy Corporation

GLEN S. SODERSTROM, President LORNE E. TJERNAGEL, Exec. Vice-President R. L. PATTERSON, Vice-President of Production

1209 West 7 St. Suite 200 Amarillo, Texas 79101 806/373-6885

W.M. QUACKENBUSH

Petroleum Geologist

2315 Harmony Amarillo, Texas 79106 806-355-2931

JACK G. JONES

CONSULTING PETROLEUM GEOLOGIST

Office: AC 806/352-6891 5500 Meadow Green Dr. Post Office Box 8145 Amarillo, Texas 79109

TUTHILL & BARBEE

PETROLEUM GEOLOGISTS

S. KEITH TUTHILL BILL J. BARBEE

300 Fisk Bldg.

Amarillo, Texas PH. 373-3023

CAMBRIDGE & NAIL

PETROLEUM EXPLORATION SERVICES

803 Bank of the Southwest Bldg. AMARILLO, TEXAS 79109 806 355-9297

Geologist: THOMAS R. CAMBRIDGE Landman: A. L. NAIL

PAGE PETROLEUM LTD.

901 BANK OF THE SOUTHWEST BUILDING AMARILLO, TEXAS 79109 806-366-9586

11TH FLOOR ROYAL BANK BLDG., 335-8TH AVE. S.W. CALGARY, ALBERTA T2P 1C9 403-269-8221

ALPAR RESOURCES, INC.

Box 1046 Perryton, Texas 79070

Panhandle Geological Society

Box 2473 Amarillo, Texas Petroleum Library 5th Floor Petroleum Bldg. Field trip Guidebooks, Cross-Sections and Other Publications GEOLOGY STUDENTS INVITED AND WELCOME

DUDLEY R. STANLEY

Consulting Geologist

5500 Meadowgreen Drive Box 7586 Amarillo, Texas 79109 355-8051

PARADOX PETROLEUM CO.

P.O. BOX 10025 AMARILLO, TEXAS 79106

George Dobervich Frank Rapstine Dan Taylor

PHONE (806) 355-5562

HAWK ENERGY CORPORATION

VERNON H. ROBINETT BOB CONLEY

Suite 230 / Wellington Square Amarillo, Texas 79102 806-359-7021

JAMES F. O’CONNELL

CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

355-8051 5772 Canyon E-way P. O. Box 7006 Amarillo. Texas 79109

Texas Panhandle Sample Log Service

Plotted and described Stratigraphic Sample Logs on current and old wildcat tests drilled in the Oklahoma and Texas Panhandles and Northeastern New Mexico

1011 W. 9th Amarillo, Texas 373-8522

CHARLES B. MORGAN

CONSULTING GEOLOGIST

355-8051 5772 Canyon E-way P. O. Box 7586 Amarillo, Texas 79109

IRWIN & ASSOCIATES

GEOLOGICAL MECHANICAL CIVIL ARCHITECTURAL “_COUNTY MAPS_” _Professional Drafting Service_

BILL E. IRWIN

502 Petroleum Bldg. P. O. Box 14032 Amarillo, Texas 79101 Bus. 806-373-4611 Res. 806-622-0789

Mesa Petroleum Co.

_With Compliments_ _Mesa Petroleum Co._ _One Mesa Square_ _Amarillo, Texas_

BAKER & TAYLOR DRILLING COMPANY

—Combining the finest in drilling equipment and skill to better serve the oil industry—

Offering summer employment to W.T.S.U. students this year—as in the last twenty-five years.

Discover the world around you at West Texas State University

When you look toward the future, include a good education in your plans. West Texas State University will help you learn about your world and prepare you for the future.

West Texas State University Canyon, Texas

Transcriber’s Notes

—Silently corrected several palpable typographical errors.

—Retained the list of corporate sponsors, but with simplified stylesheet.

—The original source had no date or copyright information. Based on external data, original publication of this (revised) edition was within a year or two of 1980.