scholarly journals The Dakoticancridae (Decapoda, Brachyura) from the Late Cretaceous of North America and Mexico

1998 ◽  
Vol 67 (4) ◽  
pp. 237-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
G.A. Bishop ◽  
R.M. Feldmann ◽  
F. Vega
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Functional Morphology ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Family

The podotrematous crab family Dakoticancridae includes four genera: Dakoticancer Rathbun, Tetracarcinus Weller, Avitelmessus Rathbun, and Seorsus Bishop, all known solely from the Late Cretaceous of North America. Lathelicocarcinus Bishop, originally referred to the family, must be reassigned. Fine details of anatomy, preserved on specimens of D. overanus Rathbun and A. grapsoideus Rathbun, permit description of genital openings and interpretation of functional morphology of appendages. Although one species, D. australis Rathbun, has been found associated with burrow structures, all were probably vagrant epifaunal animals on fine- to medium-grained siliciclastic substrata. Food was probably obtained by generalized low-level predation and scavenging. Results of a cladistic analysis are consistent with the stratigraphic data suggesting that T. subquadrata Weller is nearest the rootstock of the family and that other taxa within the family are derived from it.

The halloporid trepostome bryozoans from the Ordovician Simpson Group of Oklahoma

1991 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 200-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus M. Key
Keyword(s):  
Discriminant Analysis ◽  
North America ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Middle Ordovician ◽  
Bryozoan Species ◽  
The Family ◽  
Distinct Lineage

The Bromide Formation of the Middle Ordovician Simpson Group of Oklahoma contains one of the oldest diverse bryozoan faunas in North America. The early divergence of many trepostome clades is revealed in these rocks. Three trepostome bryozoan species belonging to family Halloporidae are described from this fauna. Discriminant analysis is used to define the following halloporid species: Diplotrypa schindeli n. sp., Tarphophragma karklinsi n. sp., and Tarphophragma macrostoma (Loeblich). Preliminary cladistic analysis indicates that the family Halloporidae was already a distinct lineage by the Middle Ordovician. This suggests that by this time, many of the major trepostome clades were already established.

?Tethyaster albertensis, a Late Cretaceous (Turonian) sea star from the Cardium Formation, Alberta, Canada

1990 ◽  
Vol 64 (6) ◽  
pp. 1045-1049 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell L. Hall ◽  
Suzan Moore
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Sea Star ◽  
Sea Stars ◽  
Peace River ◽  
The North ◽  
The Family ◽  
Cardium Formation ◽  
Northern Alberta ◽  
Limited Change

Although many of the surviving lineages of sea stars appeared during an early Mesozoic radiation of the class and have undergone limited change since then, they have left a very poor fossil record, particularly in the Mesozoic of North America (Blake, 1981). This record from the Late Cretaceous of Alberta is made more significant by the fact that it is apparently only the second occurrence of a member of the family Astropectinidae in the Cretaceous of North America; Lophidiaster silentiensis was described by McLearn (1944) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Hasler Formation, from a now-submerged locality on the Peace River in northern Alberta. All previously recorded fossil sea stars from the North American Cretaceous are representatives of the family Goniasteridae.

scholarly journals A new Late Cretaceous iguanomorph from North America and the origin of New World Pleurodonta (Squamata, Iguania)

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1847) ◽  
pp. 20161902 ◽  
Author(s):  
David G. DeMar ◽  
Jack L. Conrad ◽  
Jason J. Head ◽  
David J. Varricchio ◽  
Gregory P. Wilson
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Fossil Record ◽  
New World ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Arid Environment ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Low Latitude ◽  
Anatomical Features ◽  
Parietal Foramen

Iguanomorpha (stem + crown Iguania) is a diverse squamate clade with members that predominate many modern American lizard ecosystems. However, the temporal and palaeobiogeographic origins of its constituent crown clades (e.g. Pleurodonta (basilisks, iguanas, and their relatives)) are poorly constrained, mainly due to a meagre Mesozoic-age fossil record. Here, we report on two nearly complete skeletons from the Late Cretaceous (Campanian) of North America that represent a new and relatively large-bodied and possibly herbivorous iguanomorph that inhabited a semi-arid environment. The new taxon exhibits a mosaic of anatomical features traditionally used in diagnosing Iguania and non-iguanian squamates (i.e. Scleroglossa; e.g. parietal foramen at the frontoparietal suture, astragalocalcaneal notch in the tibia, respectively). Our cladistic analysis of Squamata revealed a phylogenetic link between Campanian-age North American and East Asian stem iguanomorphs (i.e. the new taxon + Temujiniidae). These results and our evaluation of the squamate fossil record suggest that crown pleurodontans were restricted to the low-latitude Neotropics prior to their early Palaeogene first appearances in the mid-latitudes of North America.

Huehuecanauhtlus tiquichensis, a new hadrosauroid dinosaur (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Santonian (Late Cretaceous) of Michoacán, Mexico

2012 ◽  
Vol 49 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-395 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angel Alejandro Ramírez-Velasco ◽  
Mouloud Benammi ◽  
Albert Prieto-Márquez ◽  
Jesús Alvarado Ortega ◽  
René Hernández-Rivera
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Common Ancestor ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
Lateral View ◽  
Occlusal Plane ◽  
Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Vicariant Event ◽  
Most Recent Common Ancestor ◽  
Caudal Vertebrae

Huehuecanauhtlus tiquichensis gen. et sp. nov. is the southernmost diagnostic basal hadrosauroid in the Americas. The holotype and referred material of this taxon came from Santonian strata in the Michoacán State, southwestern Mexico. Huehuecanauhtlus tiquichensis is diagnosed on the basis of a combination of dental, axial, and appendicular characters, including the following: at least two teeth exposed on the occlusal plane of the dentary and maxilla; seven sacral vertebrae; tall neural spines of caudal vertebrae; supraacetabular process long; and short and trapezoidal (in lateral view) postacetabular process. It differs from other hadrosauroids in having an ilium with extreme ventral deflection of the preacetabular process. Maximum parsimony cladistic analysis placed H. tiquichensis as a closely related outgroup to Hadrosauridae. The occurrence of H. tiquichensis in the Santonian of North America may be explained as a dispersal event from Asia to North America that occurred no later than the Albian or, alternatively, as a vicariant event of a most recent common ancestor widespread in both landmasses.

Giant Cretaceous sawfish (Onchosaurus) from Texas

1989 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 533-535 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas M. Lehman
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Marine Strata ◽  
The Family

Detached rostral teeth of fossil sawfishes of the family Sclerorhynchidae Cappetta (1974) are relatively common in Late Cretaceous marine strata of Texas. Most such teeth are referable to various species ofIschyrhizaandOnchopristis(Slaughter and Steiner, 1968). The extraordinarily large rostral teeth described herein are not referable to any sawfish presently known from North America. They belong toOnchosaurus pharao(Dames, 1887), which is known elsewhere from Egypt, Nigeria, Zaire, Angola, and Brazil (Arambourg, 1940; Tabaste, 1963; Cappetta, 1987). The specimens are the largest reported for any sawfish.

An early polycotylid plesiosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Cretaceous of Hokkaido, Japan

2000 ◽  
Vol 74 (5) ◽  
pp. 907-914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamaki Sato ◽  
Glenn W. Storrs
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
East Asia ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Pectoral Girdle ◽  
Adult Individual ◽  
Unique Character ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Right ◽  
Former Soviet Republics

A partial skeleton of a short-necked plesiosaur excavated from the Upper Cenomanian of the Middle Yezo Group of Hokkaido, Japan, includes disarticulated vertebrae, the right half of the pectoral girdle, fragments of the pelvic girdle, ribs, gastralia, and gastroliths. Gastroliths are unusual in short-necked plesiosaurs. Skeletal characters indicate that the specimen belongs to the Family Polycotylidae, well known from North America, the former Soviet Republics, and possibly from New Zealand. They are rare in East Asia and hitherto unknown from Japan. Extensive ossification indicates that this specimen is an adult individual, yet it is smaller than the adult specimens of other known polycotylids. The elongated epipodial bones are a unique character of the specimen but are probably plesiomorphic. The fossil is evidence of biogeographical diversification of the family at the beginning of the Late Cretaceous.

The history of the family Onagraceae in Australia and its relevance to biogeography

2003 ◽  
Vol 51 (5) ◽  
pp. 585 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene A. Martin
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
North America ◽  
South America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Early Oligocene ◽  
The Family ◽  
History Of ◽  
Minor Part ◽  
Northern South America ◽  
Australian Flora

The family Onagraceae is a relatively minor part of the Australian flora but it has a long history in Australia: a probable Ludwigia dates from the Eocene; Fuchsia, not native to Australia today, is present from early Oligocene times; and Epilobium is found only in the Pleistocene. Onagraceae first appears in the Late Cretaceous in northern South America and southern North America, where it is thought to have originated, and Ludwigia dates from the Palaeocene. It is thought that Ludwigia migrated into Australia via a northern route. Fuchsia in Australia predates its first appearance in New Zealand, suggesting that New Zealand Fuchsia may have been derived from the Australian Fuchsia.

scholarly journals The most complete enantiornithine from North America and a phylogenetic analysis of the Avisauridae

PeerJ ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. e5910 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessie Atterholt ◽  
J. Howard Hutchison ◽  
Jingmai K. O’Connor
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
New Genus ◽  
Large Body ◽  
Cladistic Analysis ◽  
South American ◽  
New Taxon ◽  
Large Body Size ◽  
First Time ◽  
North And South

The most complete known North American enantiornithine was collected in 1992 but never formally described. The so-called “Kaiparowits avisaurid” remains one of the most exceptional Late Cretaceous enantiornithine fossils. We recognize this specimen as a new taxon, Mirarce eatoni (gen. et sp. nov.), and provide a complete anatomical description. We maintain that the specimen is referable to the Avisauridae, a clade previously only known in North America from isolated tarsometatarsi. Information from this specimen helps to clarify evolutionary trends within the Enantiornithes. Its large body size supports previously observed trends toward larger body mass in the Late Cretaceous. However, trends toward increased fusion of compound elements across the clade as a whole are weak compared to the Ornithuromorpha. The new specimen reveals for the first time the presence of remige papillae in the enantiornithines, indicating this feature was evolved in parallel to dromaeosaurids and derived ornithuromorphs. Although morphology of the pygostyle and (to a lesser degree) the coracoid and manus appear to remain fairly static during the 65 million years plus of enantiornithine evolution, by the end of the Mesozoic at least some enantiornithine birds had evolved several features convergent with the Neornithes including a deeply keeled sternum, a narrow furcula with a short hypocleidium, and ulnar quill knobs—all features that indicate refinement of the flight apparatus and increased aerial abilities. We conduct the first cladistic analysis to include all purported avisuarid enantiornithines, recovering an Avisauridae consisting of a dichotomy between North and South American taxa. Based on morphological observations and supported by cladistic analysis, we demonstrate Avisaurus to be paraphyletic and erect a new genus for “A. gloriae,” Gettyia gen. nov.

scholarly journals NEW AMBER DEPOSIT PROVIDES EVIDENCE OF EARLY PALEOGENE EXTINCTIONS, PALEOCLIMATES, AND PAST DISTRIBUTIONS

1999 ◽  
Vol 131 (2) ◽  
pp. 171-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
George Poinar ◽  
Bruce Archibald ◽  
Alex Brown
Keyword(s):  
British Columbia ◽  
North America ◽  
Chemical Analysis ◽  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Middle Eocene ◽  
Life Forms ◽  
Tropical Regions ◽  
Terrestrial Invertebrates ◽  
The Family ◽  
Early Paleogene

AbstractA large, previously unstudied amber deposit in British Columbia dating from the Early to Middle Eocene (50−55 Ma) provides a noteworthy new source of terrestrial invertebrates and other life forms. This deposit contains what are likely the earliest unequivocal ants (members of the family Formicidae), including extinct representatives of Technomyrmex Mayr 1872, Leptothorax Mayr 1855, and Dolichoderus Lund 1831. Discovering Technomyrmex and a corydiinid cockroach, both of which are currently restricted to tropical regions, confirms earlier evidence of warm paleoclimates and past biogeographic distributions in the early Paleogene. Chemical analysis of the amber indicates that the source tree was an araucarian belonging to or near the genus Agathis Salisbury 1807, and demonstrates that this genus survived into the Tertiary in the Northern Hemisphere, since previous records revealed Agathis as a component only of the Cretaceous forests in North America. Comparing the Hat Creek fossil assemblages in this deposit with those from the well-studied western Canadian Late Cretaceous amber deposits offers a unique opportunity to study extinction and speciation events on both sides of the Cretaceous–Tertiary boundary.

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