Longusorbis cuniculosus: A New Genus and Species of Upper Cretaceous Crab; with Comments on Spray Formation at Shelter Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia

1975 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 1850-1863 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry C. Richards

Eighty-three fossil crabs, belonging to a new genus and species, and interpreted to be mainly exuviae, were collected from concretions within the Spray Formation at Shelter Point, Vancouver Island, British Columbia. They are assigned to the family Carcineretidae and named Longusorbis cuniculosus. The excellent preservation of the fossil crabs is a consequence of being buried in their own dwelling burrows in the intertidal zone, and subsequent formation of concretions around the specimens very early during diagenesis. Several species of mollusc occur with the crabs, and the faunal assemblage is assigned to the Pachydiscus suciaensis Zone of late Campanian to early Maestrichtian age. The small part of the Spray Formation exposed at Shelter Point contains six units of detrital sediment deposited in environments inferred to range from shallow neritic to supratidal.


PeerJ ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. e8008
Author(s):  
Ben Thuy ◽  
Andy Gale ◽  
Lea Numberger-Thuy

The genus Astrophiura, which ranks among the most extraordinary of modern brittle stars, is the type genus of the recently resurrected family Astrophiuridae within the order Ophiurida. On account of its absurdly enlarged and strongly modified lateral arm plates, Astrophiura bears a closer resemblance to a pentagonal starfish than to a typical ophiuroid. Although molecular evidence suggests an ancient origin of the Astrophiuridae, dating back at least to the Early Jurassic, not a single fossil astrophiurid has been reported so far. Here, we describe dissociated lateral arm plates from the Campanian of Cringleford near Norwich, UK, and the Maastrichtian of Rügen, Germany (both Upper Cretaceous) with unambiguous astrophiurid affinities and assign these to a new species, Astrophiura markbeneckei. This represents the first fossil record of the family. In addition, the Rügen material included lateral arm plates that superficially resemble those of A. markbeneckei sp. nov. but differ in having spine articulations that are typical of the ophionereidoid family Amphilimnidae. We assign these plates to a new genus and species, Astrosombra rammsteinensis, an extinct amphilimnid with morphological modifications similar to those of Astrophiura, and thus representing a remarkable case of parallel evolution amongst brittle stars looking like starfish.



2002 ◽  
Vol 76 (6) ◽  
pp. 1007-1013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel B. Blake ◽  
Barry S. Kues

Codellaster keepersae new genus and species, from the Upper Cretaceous Codell Sandstone Member of the Carlile Shale of Colorado (U.S.A.), is assigned to the asteroid (Echinodermata) family Goniasteridae. Although clearly a goniasterid, the flattened body form and details of morphology of C. keepersae are remarkably similar to corresponding features of the modern astropectinid Astropecten regalis and also of the luidiid Luidia (Platasterias) latiradiata. The discovery facies of C. keepersae includes low-angle crossbeds and asymmetrical ripple marks that are suggestive of a very shallow marine environment. Both the modern species occur in shallow, turbulent settings, and homeomorphy beween ancient and modern asteroids suggests similar selective pressures and evolutionary responses. Limited evidence suggests goniasterids might have been more common in shallower waters during the Cretaceous than they are today, and absence of modern Codellaster-like goniasterids indicates that the family abandoned these habitats, although the fundamental morphological response to such settings remained viable for asteroid organization.



1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 114-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard C. Fox

Eutherian mammals from the Upper Cretaceous Oldman Formation, Alberta, are described. These include the leptictid proteutherian Gypsonictops lewisi Sahni, which has five lower premolars and was probably the direct lineal ancestor of G. hypoconus Simpson of Lancian age; a new genus and species of primitive and generalized erinaceoid insectivore, which is the most adequate dental ancestor known for all Lipotyphla, Tupaiidae, Primates, Dermoptera, Chiroptera, and all of the ungulate mammals; and the first pre-Lancian occurrence in North America of the Family Palaeoryctidae.



1968 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 929-933 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loris S. Russell

Chonecetus sookensis, new genus and species, is based on an incomplete skull and parts of four vertebrae. It has a relatively elongate, tapering brain case, and a semicircular, depressed supraoccipital shield. It appears to be intermediate between archaeocetes and primitive odontocetes, but is tentatively placed in the Archaeoceti without reference to family.



2002 ◽  
Vol 39 (11) ◽  
pp. 1591-1603 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L Nicholls ◽  
Dirk Meckert

A new fauna of fossil marine reptiles is described from the Late Cretaceous Nanaimo Group of Vancouver Island. The fossils are from the Haslam and Pender formations (upper Santonian) near Courtenay, British Columbia, and include elasmosaurid plesiosaurs, turtles, and mosasaurs. This is only the second fauna of Late Cretaceous marine reptiles known from the Pacific Coast, the other being from the Moreno Formation of California (Maastrichtian). The new Nanaimo Group fossils are some 15 million years older than those from the Moreno Formation. However, like the California fauna, there are no polycotylid plesiosaurs, and one of the mosasaurs is a new genus. This reinforces the provinciality of the Pacific faunas and their isolation from contemporaneous faunas in the Western Interior Seaway.



2013 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-141 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rodney M. Feldmann ◽  
Carrie E. Schweitzer ◽  
James W. Haggart

A single specimen of decapod crustacean, preserved in ventral view and compressed, represents a new genus and species of eryonid lobster, Wrangelleryon perates. The discovery in Lower Jurassic (Hettangian) sediments of the Sandilands Formation in British Columbia represents the first occurrence of Eryonidae in North America and reinforces a global distribution of the family in the Jurassic. The occurrence in British Columbia on the Wrangellia terrane supports the lower latitude setting in which the species lived.



2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria M. Arbour ◽  
Philip J. Currie

An unusual jaw found in a calcite nodule from Collishaw Point, Hornby Island, British Columbia (off the east coast of Vancouver Island) represents the first definitive pterosaur found in British Columbia, and the first istiodactylid from Canada. The nodule was derived from the Northumberland Formation (Nanaimo Group), a fossiliferous formation known for producing numerous plants, invertebrates, sharks, and mosasaurs. The pterosaur is represented by the anterior portion of the rostrum, including the anterior edge of the nasoantorbital fenestra, and numerous small, triangular teeth lacking denticles. These teeth are similar in overall morphology to the teeth of istiodactylids, but are smaller, more numerous, more tightly packed, and have proportionately smaller crowns. Although fragmentary, this specimen is diagnostic and represents a new genus of istiodactylid pterosaur. Its presence in the upper Campanian Northumberland Formation makes this the latest occurring istiodactylid and extends the stratigraphic and geographic range of this enigmatic group of pterosaurs.



2004 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 61-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Bruce Archibald ◽  
Vladimir N. Makarkin

AbstractMicroberotha macculloughigen. nov. and sp. nov. from Early Eocene Okanagan Highlands amber of Hat Creek, British Columbia, Canada, is described. This new genus and species represents one of the smallest members of the family Berothidae and the first occurrence of the family in the New World Tertiary. The systematic position of the genus Microberotha within the family is rather unclear, but the structure of the male genitalia indicates a close association with the subfamily Cyrenoberothinae. Stratigraphy and palaeoenvironment of the Hat Creek locality are briefly discussed.



2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-575 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcelo S. de la Fuente

The chelonian fauna of the Portezuelo Formation (Turonian-Coniacian), outcropping at Sierra del Portezuelo (Neuquén province, Argentina), is reported. Two new taxa of pleurodiran turtles are described. One of them is Prochelidella portezuelae new species, a short-necked chelid closely related to extinct species of the Lohan Cura (Albian), Candeleros (Cenomanian), and Bajo Barreal (Turonian) formations from northwestern and central Patagonia, and to the extant species of the genus Acanthochelys. The other is Portezueloemys patagonica new genus and species, a member of the epifamily Podocnemidoidea, and is considered the sister group of the family Podocnemididae. This discovery confirms the coexistence in northwestern Patagonia of a north gondwanan component (Pelomedusoides) and a south gondwanan element (Chelidae) during the Turonian-Coniacian.



1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 877-881 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Barr

A new genus and species of the Anisitsiellidae, collected from a seepage area in central British Columbia, is described. The genus is noteworthy because, like Bandakia, it has a complete, unsculptured dorsal shield and the fourth tarsi bear well-developed terminal claws, although the appearance of a gland opening in coxa I is unique. The possession of a simple palp in this mamersopsoid genus further serves to justify the inclusion of the genera formerly belonging to the family Mamersopsidae within the family Anisitsiellidae.



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