scholarly journals Xiphactinus audax Leidy 1870 from the Puskwaskau Formation (Santonian to Campanian) of northwestern Alberta, Canada and the distribution of Xiphactinus in North America

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 89 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Vavrek ◽  
Alison M. Murray ◽  
Phil R. Bell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Cross Section ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Teleost Fish ◽  
Species Level ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Western Interior Basin ◽  
Northern Portion

Xiphactinus is one of the largest teleost fish known from the Late Cretaceous of North America, and has been found across much of the Western Interior Basin. Despite extensive Late Cretaceous marine deposits occurring in Alberta, there has previously been only two possible records of Xiphactinus from the province, neither of which has been diagnosable to the species level. We describe here a portion of the lower jaws, including teeth, of Xiphactinus audax from northeast of Grande Prairie, Alberta. The fossil has large, thecodont teeth that are circular in cross section and lack any carinae, and are highly variable in their overall size. This fossil is the first diagnostic material of X. audax from Alberta, and extends the range of the species by over a thousand kilometres. During the Late Cretaceous, the area the fossil was found in was near the Arctic Circle, and represents an important datapoint within the poorly known, northern portion of the Western Interior Basin.

Late Santonian megaspore floras from the Gulf Coastal Plain (Georgia, USA)

2011 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Lupia
Keyword(s):  
New Species ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Coastal Plain ◽  
Eastern North America ◽  
Gulf Coastal Plain ◽  
Two New Species ◽  
Western Interior Basin ◽  
Heterosporous Ferns

Fossil megaspore floras from the Late Cretaceous of North America have been studied extensively, but primarily from the Western Interior Basin. Two new megaspore floras are described from eastern North America along the Gulf Coastal Plain. Cumulatively, 10 genera and 16 species of megaspores are recognized from Allon, Georgia and along Upatoi Creek, Georgia (both late Santonian in age, ~84 Ma). Megaspores identified have affinities to both heterosporous lycopsids, e.g., Erlansonisporites, Minerisporites, and Paxillitriletes, and to heterosporous ferns, e.g., Ariadnaesporites, and Molaspora. Lycopsid megaspores are more diverse than fern megaspores in the Allon and the Upatoi Creek floras. Two new species—Erlansonisporites confundus n. sp. and Erlansonisporites potens n. sp.—are proposed.

scholarly journals The first Peruvian record of Enchodus (Actinopterygii, Aulopiformes, Enchodontidae) in the Upper Cretaceous Vivian Formation

2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Soledad Gouiric-Cavalli ◽  
Alberto L. Cione ◽  
David E. Tineo ◽  
Leandro M. Pérez ◽  
Martín Iribarne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cross Section ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Andean Region ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Low Salinity ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Taxonomic Assignments

We describe isolated teleostean teeth found in no association with the jaw bone. The specimens have been recovered in Late Cretaceous marine deposits of the Vivian Formation in the Peruvian Sub-Andean Region. The deposition sequence from where the teeth come is interpreted as a shallowing-upward sequence of low salinity. The fish material is identified as Enchodus aff. E. gladiolus based on the presence of a small but well-developed post-apical barb, an anterior cutting edge, the crown is symmetrical in cross-section, have a sigmoidal profile, and bears strong ridges (=striations). The Peruvian material differs from the typical E. gladiolus teeth in having a faintly serrated anterior cutting edge which is absent in most specimens referred to E. gladiolus. We also highlight that taxonomic assignments made based on isolated teeth must be taken with care. Despite scarce, the material recovered denotes that the marine units of Peru can give valuable information about the Pacific fish fauna during the Late Cretaceous.

Notes on Two Archaeological Discoveries in Northern Alaska, 1950

1951 ◽  
Vol 17 (1Part1) ◽  
pp. 55-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ralph S. Solecki
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Geological Survey ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Brooks Range ◽  
Arctic Circle ◽  
Northern Side ◽  
The University ◽  
Northern Alaska ◽  
Mountain Province ◽  
The U.S

Several significant pre-Eskimo finds related to early aboriginal occupations in North America were made north of the Arctic Circle during the 1950 season in Alaska. These discoveries were made within and just bordering the northern side of the Brooks Range mountain province. Two of the more important finds were made by Milton C. Lachenbruch and Robert J. Hackman of the U.S. Geological Survey. Another important find was made by Irving, a student at the University of Alaska (Giddings, 1950, p. 20). Lachenbruch's and Hackman's specimens were submitted to the writer for study and are described summarily in this paper. It is reported that Irving found lithic cultural remains similar to those found by Hackman not far from the latter's station near Anaktuvuk Pass.

scholarly journals The first record of a trionychid turtle (Testudines: Trionychidae) from the Cretaceous of the Pacific Coast of North America

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Vavrek ◽  
Donald B. Brinkman
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Rocky Mountains ◽  
Pacific Coast ◽  
First Record ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Western Interior Basin ◽  
Cretaceous Deposits

Trionychid turtles were widespread throughout much of the Western Interior Basin of North America during the Cretaceous, represented by a wide variety of taxa. Despite their widespread abundance east of the Rocky Mountains, they have not previously been reported from Cretaceous deposits along the Pacific Coast of North America. We report here on an isolated trionychid costal from Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The fossil was recovered from the Late Cretaceous (Turonian to Maastrichtian) Nanaimo Group, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. While the fossil is generically indeterminate, its presence adds an important datapoint in the biogeographic distribution of Trionychidae.  

Angiosperm wood from the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) of British Columbia, Canada

IAWA Journal ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 141-161 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan A. Jud ◽  
Elisabeth A. Wheeler ◽  
Gar W. Rothwell ◽  
Ruth A. Stockey
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Upper Cretaceous ◽  
Vancouver Island ◽  
Growth Rings ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Dry Wood ◽  
Cretaceous Deposits

Fossil angiosperm wood was collected from shallow marine deposits in the Upper Cretaceous (Coniacian) Comox Formation on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The largest specimen is a log at least 2 m long and 38 cm in diameter. Thin sections from a sample of this log reveal diffuseporous wood with indistinct growth rings and anatomy similar toParaphyllanthoxylon. Occasional idioblasts with dark contents in the rays distinguish this wood from previously knownParaphyllanthoxylonspecies and suggest affinity with Lauraceae. The log also includes galleries filled with dry-wood termite coprolites. This trunk reveals the presence of tree-sized angiosperms in what is now British Columbia, and the association of dry-wood termites with angiosperm woods by the Coniacian (89 Ma). To understand the significance of this discovery, we reviewed the record of Cretaceous woods from North America. Our analysis of the distribution of fossil wood occurrences from Cretaceous deposits supports the conclusion that there was a strong latitudinal gradient in both the size and distribution of angiosperm trees during the Late Cretaceous, with no reports of Cretaceous angiosperm trees north of 50°N paleo-latitude in North America. The rarity of angiosperm wood in the Cretaceous has long been used to support the idea that flowering plants were generally of low-stature for much of the Cretaceous; however, large-stature trees withParaphyllanthoxylon-like wood anatomy were widespread at lower–middle paleo-latitudes at least in North America during the Late Cretaceous. Thus, the presence of a largeParaphyllanthoxylonlog in the Comox Formation suggests that Vancouver Island has moved significantly northward since the Coniacian as indicated by other geological and paleobotanical studies.

Earliest North American occurrence of Polycotylidae (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauria) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Clearwater Formation, Alberta, Canada

2009 ◽  
Vol 83 (6) ◽  
pp. 981-989 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick S. Druckenmiller ◽  
Anthony P. Russell
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Early Cretaceous ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
North American ◽  
Lower Cretaceous ◽  
Marine Deposits ◽  
Clearwater Formation ◽  
New Material

The polycotylidae is a family of short-necked (pliosauromorph) plesiosaurs, with examples known from epicontinental marine deposits of every major landmass except Antarctica. Our knowledge of its diversity and distribution has increased tremendously in the last decade, with new material described from North America (Sato, 2005; Albright et al., 2007; Schumacher, 2007; Schmeisser, 2008), South America (Gasparini and de la Fuente, 2000; Salgado et al., 2007), Africa (Bardet et al., 2003; Buchy et al., 2005), and Asia (Sato and Storrs, 2000; Arkhangel'skii et al., 2007). Polycotylid diversity is greatest in the Late Cretaceous, and particularly so in the Turonian; however, knowledge of the group's initial history in the Early Cretaceous is limited to a handful of specimens from North America (Storrs, 1981; Druckenmiller, 2002) and Australia (Kear 2003, 2005).

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