PALEOECOLOGY OF A LOWER PERMIAN LOCALITY IN NORTHERN OKLAHOMA

The depositional environment of the Billings Channel Site of Noble County, Oklahoma has been uncertain. Though the site's sediments were deposited during the Early Permian, when the region was at or near the edge of an epicontinental sea, sedimentary evidence for the paleoenvironment of this particular locality is ambiguous. Previous studies have examined the geology and general biota of the site, its ichnofossils, and its paleobotany. In this study, the vertebrate fauna was examined. This data was then combined with paleontological and sedimentary data from the previous studies to determine the depositional environment. The combined data of indicate a mostly-terrestrial environment subject to both long-period and short-period cycles of dryness and inundation. The site also appears to boast a high level of biodiversity.