"66 million years ago, the Hell Creek Formation is centered at roughly 55N latitude. Due to continental drift, the rocks preserving Hell Creek are now several hundred kilometers southwest of their ancient location, at about 46N latitude. As the earth’s gravitation and axial tilt have not changed significantly in hundreds of millions of years, Hell Creek has the same seasonal light cycle as present-day Grande Prairie, Alberta. This means that daylight varies from less than 8 hours to over 17 hours of a roughly 24 hour cycle, depending on season."
Illustrated landscape of the formation, featuring a female Anzurunning and a Meniscoessusin the forest floor.
Hell Creek is the main setting of the video game Saurian. Geographically spanning Montana, Wyoming and the Dakotas, it yields fossils of some of the most famous dinosaurs, such as Triceratops, Ankylosaurus and Tyrannosaurus. In particular, Saurian takes place in a fossil site of the Hell Creek Formation referred to as Bone Butte, in South Dakota, the location where Dakotaraptor was discovered.[2]
Geological map of Bone Butte as shown in Saurian.
Concept art of flooding in the Hell Creek formation.
"The Hell Creek floodplain is sandwiched between a rising mountain range to the west (that will one day form the Rocky Mountains), and the remnants of the Western Interior Seaway to the east. This extensive basin in which the sea expands and recedes is usually referred to as the Sheridan Delta. This landscape is covered in a mosaic of woodlands and scrub; with horsetail fields and open scrub surrounding river channels, while cypress dominated flood basins and angiosperm forest populate drier terrain."
Hell Creek is the only location planned to be featured in Saurian, however, the developers have stated that the Two Medicine Formation with Gorgosaurus and Styracosaurus (Rubeosaurus if Styracosaurus ovatus is indeed not part of the Styracosaurus genus) as playable dinosaurs would have been made if their Kickstarter campaign reached $300K, however that goal wasn't met and it is expected not to be featured in the final game.[3] The Duluth News Tribute has also reported that if the base game retains a fervent audience, the game could hypothetically generate a legacy to the original premise of the game, with games possibly based on other fossil formations, such as the Morrison Formation.[4]
Hatchling and adult Triceratops alongside a Tyrannosaurus corpse... examples of Hell Creek fauna.
"This environment formed an ideal breeding habitat for the local fauna. The oxbow lake acted as a nursery for young turtles and crocodilians, while the isolated “Redwood Island” offered a relative safe haven for small herbivorous dinosaurs to lay their eggs."
Other animals from the Hell Creek Formation have been shown only in concept art designs, like in the official game's artbook, but their future presence in the game is unknown:
Other animals, not directly or dubiously known from the Hell Creek Formation, are also known just through concept art designs and mentions, but their real-life presence in the game is unknown:
Many other animals lived in the Hell Creek Formation but they are not known to be even considered for appearance in the game. Some marine invertebrates, like the ammonites are absent in the game, but were very common back in the Mesozoic seas. A huge variety of bony fish existed in Hell Creek, like sturgeons and the extinct Belonostomus, but currently there's only the gar Lepisosteus (other bony fish are known to be in the artbook). Cartilaginous fish like requiem sharks were also present, beyond the currently confirmed Lonchidion. Amphibians currently confirmed for the game are only the giant salamander Habrosaurus, as other small amphibians are left out (despite their inclusion in the artbook). Other dinosaurs from Hell Creek weren't included, possibly due to the fact that they were irrelevant for the gameplay, rare in Hell Creek or not present in the Bone Butte region. The caenagnathid Eoneophron was described far too recently to be included in the game, and Anzu already serves a similar role in the game. Sphaerotholuswas a small pachycephalosaur whose appearance would be innacurate due to living in Montana, not South Dakota, and instead Pachycephalosaurus is present. Platytholus would be a genus that was discovered too recently to be included in the game. Triceratops horridus does not appear due to the existence of Triceratops prorsus which was the only one properly present in the very end of the Maastrichtian of South Dakota, where Bone Butte is located. Thescelosaurus garbanii, despite being found in South Dakota, is often suggested as a synonym of Thescelosaurus neglectus, which appears in the game. A huge variety of turtles are known from Hell Creek, but the game leaves the ones that are more relevant, specially the ones which are big enough to be relevant in a dinosaur-centered game, like the 1-1,5 meter long Basilemys and Axestemys. Squamates variety on the game is significantly reduced to leave the most relevant members, therefore too small lizards and snakes are left out. A large variety of mammals in Hell Creek was diminute, so the game leaves us with significantly larger species of mammals, like Meniscoessus and Didelphodon.
Flora[]
A rendition of the Hell Creek sky, partially covered by Cretaceous flora.
A family of Triceratops surrounded by a myriad of Hell Creek flora
"While animals usually get all the attention, the Cretaceous world was also populated by diverse vegetation. During the time of Hell Creek, flowering plants had begun to take over from from classically Mesozoic vegetation such as cycads and ginkgo, giving this environment a unique composition unknown in the modern world."
