STRATIGRAPHY, DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS, AND FOSSIL VERTEBRATE TAPHONOMY OF THE MAIN BODY OF THE WASATCH FORMATION, THE PINNACLES, WYOMING

Lago Posadas is located at the foot of the Southern Patagonian Andes, in southwestern Argentina, where the early Miocene Santa Cruz Formation (SCF) shows thick and laterally continuous exposures. This region has been scarcely explored for fossil vertebrates since the first efforts by J.B. Hatcher in 1898-99. In this contribution, we performed sedimentologic and paleontological studies in order to reconstruct depositional environments and the associated fossil vertebrate fauna. Sedimentologic data suggest that the sedimentary record begins with restricted marine-estuarine deposits grading upward to fluvial floodplains and fluvial channels. Extensive floodplains, occasionally interrupted by low-sinuosity, sand-dominated channels, show dominant reddish coloration, moderate to low paleosol development, abundant crevasse splay sandstones and lack of vegetal remains, suggesting deposition in a low gradient, oxygenated setting under elevated sedimentation rates. Vertical stratigraphic trends are subtle, suggesting little paleoenvironmental changes during deposition of the whole SCF in this region. Paleocurrent directions, sandstone composition and paleogeographic reconstructions all indicate that deposition of the SCF was strongly associated to the contemporaneous uplift of the Andes. Fossil vertebrates analyzed are the result of our collecting effort and revision of museum collections. The faunal assemblage includes 31 taxa: 28 mammals and three birds. Mammals belong to the main groups recorded in other areas of the SCF (metatherians, xenarthrans, notoungulates, litopterns, astrapotheres and rodents). The assemblage allows a Santacrucian Age sensu lato assignment for the fauna at Lago Posadas. Taxonomic revisions of several taxa are necessary to further adjust the biostratigraphic significance of this association. The combined record of arboreal, browser and frugivores, on one side, and grazer mammals and rheas, on the other, suggest the presence of both trees and open environments. Frugivores, among primary consumers, and the secondary consumers guild are under-represented due to sample and fossil remain size biases. The sedimentologic and paleontological record of the SCF in Lago Posadas suggests that the uplift of the Southern Patagonian Andes acted as a primary control on basin subsidence and sediment supply, providing a special signature for sub-andean localities. However, previously registered climatic changes are poorly recorded in this study.

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VERTEBRATE TAPHONOMY, PALEONTOLOGY, SEDIMENTOLOGY, AND PALYNOLOGY OF A FOSSILIFEROUS LATE DEVONIAN FLUVIAL SUCCESSION, CATSKILL FORMATION, NORTH-CENTRAL PENNSYLVANIA, USA

Palaios ◽

10.2110/palo.2020.005 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 35 (11) ◽

pp. 470-494

Author(s):

DAVID R. BROUSSARD ◽

CAYLA J. TREASTER ◽

JEFFREY M. TROP ◽

EDWARD B. DAESCHLER ◽

PIERRE A. ZIPPI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depositional Environments ◽

Late Devonian ◽

North Central ◽

Central Pennsylvania ◽

Bone Fragments ◽

Bivalve Shell ◽

Floodplain Deposits ◽

Stratigraphic Succession ◽

Channel Bar ◽

Vertebrate Taphonomy

ABSTRACT The fluvial facies of the Catskill Formation record important ecological events that occurred during Late Devonian time. A well-exposed section between the towns of Blossburg and Covington, in north-central Pennsylvania, contains abundant macrofossils and sedimentary features, making it well-suited for linking Upper Devonian fossil occurrences with depositional environments and sedimentary processes. Strata consist of two distinct fluvial facies: floodplain lithofacies consist of mudrocks, with evidence of pedogenic overprinting and sharp-based sandstones interpreted as crevasse splays; channel-bar lithofacies consist of single- and multi-storied cross-stratified lenticular sandstone bodies interpreted as fluvial channel-bar complexes. Macrofossils occur in 22 discrete horizons spanning > 240 m of stratigraphic succession that include Archanodon bivalve shell impressions, two genera of “placoderms” (Bothriolepis, Phyllolepis), an unidentified acanthodian, and several taxa of sarcopterygian fishes, including lungfish (Dipnoi indet.), Holoptychius, Langlieria, and Sauripterus. Most vertebrate macrofossils are preserved as disarticulated, abraded plates, scales, and bone fragments in sandstone channel-bar deposits. Articulated, unabraded remains are preserved in proximal floodplain deposits. Miospores recovered from Catskill Formation fossil sites in the Blossburg-Covington section belong to the COR subzone of the VCo (Diducites versabilis-Grandispora cornuta) palynological zone, indicating deposition ca. 362 to 361.8 Ma during the late Famennian stage of the Late Devonian. Catskill Formation fluvial strata exposed tens of kilometers to the south and west yield latest Famennian palynomorphs. These broadly contemporaneous continental depositional environments supported Late Devonian vertebrate evolution, including the fin-to-limb transition in tetrapodomorphs, and the possible euryhalinity of vertebrates occupying marine-to-nonmarine transitional habitats.

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Facies interpretation and geochronology of diverse Eocene floras and faunas, northwest Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina

Geological Society of America Bulletin ◽

10.1130/b35611.1 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 133 (3-4) ◽

pp. 740-752

Author(s):

Justin Gosses ◽

Alan R. Carroll ◽

Benjamin T. Bruck ◽

Brad S. Singer ◽

Brian R. Jicha ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depositional Environments ◽

Fossil Insects ◽

South American ◽

Mammalian Fauna ◽

Early Eocene Climatic Optimum ◽

Minimum Age ◽

Basin Floor ◽

Fossil Vertebrate ◽

Age Range ◽

Age Constraints

Abstract The Eocene Huitrera Formation of northwestern Patagonia, Argentina, is renowned for its diverse, informative, and outstandingly preserved fossil biotas. In northwest Chubut Province, at the Laguna del Hunco locality, this unit includes one of the most diverse fossil floras known from the Eocene, as well as significant fossil insects and vertebrates. It also includes rich fossil vertebrate faunas at the Laguna Fría and La Barda localities. Previous studies of these important occurrences have provided relatively little sedimentological detail, and radioisotopic age constraints are relatively sparse and in some cases obsolete. Here, we describe five fossiliferous lithofacies deposited in four terrestrial depositional environments: lacustrine basin floor, subaerial pyroclastic plain, vegetated, waterlogged pyroclastic lake margin, and extracaldera incised valley. We also report several new 40Ar/39Ar age determinations. Among these, the uppermost unit of the caldera-forming Ignimbrita Barda Colorada yielded a 40Ar/39Ar age of 52.54 ± 0.17 Ma, ∼6 m.y. younger than previous estimates, which demonstrates that deposition of overlying fossiliferous lacustrine strata (previously constrained to older than 52.22 ± 0.22 Ma) must have begun almost immediately on the subsiding ignimbrite surface. A minimum age for Laguna del Hunco fossils is established by an overlying ignimbrite with an age of 49.19 ± 0.24 Ma, confirming that deposition took place during the early Eocene climatic optimum. The Laguna Fría mammalian fauna is younger, constrained between a valley-filling ignimbrite and a capping basalt with 40Ar/39Ar ages of 49.26 ± 0.30 Ma and 43.50 ± 1.14 Ma, respectively. The latter age is ∼4 m.y. younger than previously reported. These new ages more precisely define the age range of the Laguna Fría and La Barda faunas, allowing greatly improved understanding of their positions with respect to South American mammal evolution, climate change, and geographic isolation.

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VERTEBRATE TAPHONOMY OF TWO UPPER MIOCENE BONEBEDS IN WESTERN PROTO-AMAZONIA (SOLIMÕES FORMATION, BRAZIL): INSIGHTS FROM MACROVERTEBRATE AND MICROVERTEBRATE FOSSILS

Palaios ◽

10.2110/palo.2021.020 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 36 (8) ◽

pp. 269-282

Author(s):

FELLIPE P. MUNIZ ◽

MARCOS CÉSAR BISSARO-JÚNIOR ◽

EDSON GUILHERME ◽

JONAS PEREIRA DE SOUZA FILHO ◽

FRANCISCO RICARDO NEGRI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Aquatic Environment ◽

Local Community ◽

Depositional Environments ◽

Moderate Level ◽

Time Averaging ◽

Sedimentation Environment ◽

Collecting Methods ◽

Taphonomic Analysis ◽

Paleoecological Reconstructions ◽

Vertebrate Taphonomy

ABSTRACT The Niterói and Talismã sites comprise two of the most important fossiliferous deposits of the Neogene in Brazil. After 30 years of research, these sites have revealed rich assemblages of vertebrates and provided a glimpse of the Amazonian fauna and environment during the Miocene. Despite this, detailed studies that attempt to explain the genesis of these bonebeds are still scarce and hamper more robust paleoenvironmental and paleoecological reconstructions. Here we provide the first in-depth taphonomic analysis for both locations. Sedimentological and taphonomic evidence suggest that the depositional environments of Niterói and Talismã were similarly represented by shallow and calm waters in lacustrine/swampy contexts. We propose that the accumulation of bones and teeth is the result of attritional (day-to-day) mortality of organisms of the local community in a low sedimentation environment. The thanatocoenosis was exposed to biostratinomic processes for longer periods of time, which explains the high disarticulation, disassociation, fragmentation and loss of skeletal elements. The almost absence of weathering indicates that the aquatic environment slowed down the organic degradation of bioclasts, while the rarity of abrasion shows a limited influence of hydraulic flows in transporting and remobilizing bioclasts. Thus, both sites preserve mostly autochthonous to parautochthonous bioclasts, with a moderate level of time-averaging. Our results corroborate the hypothesis that lentic environments can present remarkable preservational conditions for the formation of attritional accumulations of vertebrate remains. Moreover, we show how the different collecting methods affect the description of preservational features and taphonomic interpretations of both fossil assemblages.

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Benthic foraminiferal zonation in deep-water carbonate platform margin environments, northern Little Bahama Bank

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1017/s0022336000058819 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 62 (01) ◽

pp. 1-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ronald E. Martin

Keyword(s):

Deep Water ◽

Benthic Foraminifera ◽

Carbonate Platform ◽

Sedimentary Facies ◽

Depositional Environments ◽

Near Surface ◽

Sediment Gravity Flows ◽

Gravity Flows ◽

Platform Margin ◽

Water Carbonate

The utility of benthic foraminifera in bathymetric interpretation of clastic depositional environments is well established. In contrast, bathymetric distribution of benthic foraminifera in deep-water carbonate environments has been largely neglected. Approximately 260 species and morphotypes of benthic foraminifera were identified from 12 piston core tops and grab samples collected along two traverses 25 km apart across the northern windward margin of Little Bahama Bank at depths of 275-1,135 m. Certain species and operational taxonomic groups of benthic foraminifera correspond to major near-surface sedimentary facies of the windward margin of Little Bahama Bank and serve as reliable depth indicators. Globocassidulina subglobosa, Cibicides rugosus, and Cibicides wuellerstorfi are all reliable depth indicators, being most abundant at depths >1,000 m, and are found in lower slope periplatform aprons, which are primarily comprised of sediment gravity flows. Reef-dwelling peneroplids and soritids (suborder Miliolina) and rotaliines (suborder Rotaliina) are most abundant at depths <300 m, reflecting downslope bottom transport in proximity to bank-margin reefs. Small miliolines, rosalinids, and discorbids are abundant in periplatform ooze at depths <300 m and are winnowed from the carbonate platform. Increased variation in assemblage diversity below 900 m reflects mixing of shallow- and deep-water species by sediment gravity flows.

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Actin filaments in two spermatozoa of crustacea decapoda

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100157899 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 48 (3) ◽

pp. 70-71

Author(s):

E. Dupré ◽

G. Schatten

Keyword(s):

Electron Microscopy ◽

Actin Filaments ◽

Low Voltage ◽

Active Role ◽

Main Body ◽

Robinson Crusoe ◽

Decapod Crustaceans ◽

Actual Participation ◽

Voltage Scanning ◽

Scanning Electron

Sperm of decapod crustaceans are formed by a round or cup-shaped body, a complex acrosome and one a few appendages emerging from the main body. Although this sperm does not have motility, it has some components of the cytoskeleton like microtubules, which are found inside the appendages. Actin filaments have been found in the spike of penaeidae sperms. The actual participation of the crustacean decapod sperm cytoskeleton during fertilization is not well understood. Actin is supposed to play an active role in drawing the penaeidae shrimp sperm closer to the egg after bending of the spike. The present study was aimed at the localization of actin filaments in sperm of the Robinson Crusoe island lobster, Jasus frontalis and in the crayfish Orconectes propincus, by fluorescent probes and low voltage scanning electron microscopy.

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