Euselachian diversity through the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Garfield County, Montana, USA, with implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in freshwater environments

Wynd, Brenen M.; DeMar, David G.; Wilson, Gregory P.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2020.104483

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…4 ), there is reason to believe that these animals were not so strongly affected by the sudden extinction event and its subsequent effects on survivors ( 79 – 82 ). The extinction of several taxa of freshwater sharks and rays indicates that the bolide impact caused some degree of disruption at high trophic levels in these ecosystems at the very end of the Cretaceous ( 83 ). However, we document no meaningful changes in long-term trajectories in ecospace occupancy patterns for most of these amphibious and aquatic communities well before and after the K/Pg boundary (during the recovery phase).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

et al. 2022

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It has long been debated why groups such as non-avian dinosaurs became extinct whereas mammals and other lineages survived the Cretaceous/Paleogene mass extinction 66 million years ago. We used Markov networks, ecological niche partitioning, and Earth System models to reconstruct North American food webs and simulate ecospace occupancy before and after the extinction event. We find a shift in latest Cretaceous dinosaur faunas, as medium-sized species counterbalanced a loss of megaherbivores, but dinosaur niches were otherwise stable and static, potentially contributing to their demise. Smaller vertebrates, including mammals, followed a consistent trajectory of increasing trophic impact and relaxation of niche limits beginning in the latest Cretaceous and continuing after the mass extinction. Mammals did not simply proliferate after the extinction event; rather, their earlier ecological diversification might have helped them survive.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

et al. 2022

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“…If the tooth should be found to represent the genus Carcharhinus, it means that FMNH PF 15982 pushes the oldest known occurrence of this genus into the upper Maastrichtian. At least two published instances document the discovery of marine shark teeth in Maastrichtian fluvial environments of western North America (Wroblewski, 2004;Wynd et al, 2018 Diagnosis.-Same as for type species by monotypy.…”

Section: Systematic Paleontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

New sharks and other chondrichthyans from the latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of North America

2019

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Cretaceous aquatic ecosystems were amazingly diverse, containing most clades of extant aquatic vertebrates as well as an array of sharks and rays not present today. Here we report on the chondrichthyan fauna from the late Maastrichtian site that yielded the Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton FMNH PF 2081 (“SUE”). Significant among the recovered fauna is an unidentified species of carcharhinid shark that adds to the fossil record of this family in the Cretaceous, aligning with estimates from molecular evidence of clade originations. Additionally, a new orectolobiform shark, here named Galagadon nordquistae n. gen. n. sp., is diagnosed on the basis on several autapomorphies from over two-dozen teeth. Common chondrichthyan species found at the “SUE” locality include Lonchidion selachos and Myledaphus pustulosus. Two phylogenetic analyses (Maximum Parsimony and Bayesian Inference) based on twelve original dental character traits combined with 136 morphological traits from a prior study of 28 fossil and extant taxa, posited Galagadon n. gen. in two distinct positions: as part of a clade inclusive of the fossil species Cretorectolobus olsoni and Cederstroemia triangulata plus extant orectolobids from the Maximum Parsimony analysis; and as the sister taxon to all extant hemiscyllids from the Bayesian Inference. Model-based biogeographical reconstructions based on both optimal trees suggest rapid island hopping-style dispersal from the Western Pacific to the Western Interior Seaway of North America where Galagadon n. gen. lived. Alternatively, the next preferred model posits a broader, near-global distribution of Orectolobiformes with Galagadon n. gen. dispersing into its geographic position from this large ancestral range.UUID: http://zoobank.org/61e32ffc-4f87-4ff7-820d-0bb33a80f0a0

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A systematic reappraisal and quantitative study of the nonmarine teleost fishes from the late Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of North America: evidence from vertebrate microfossil localities¹

et al. 2021

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The diversity and distribution of non-marine teleost fishes in the Western Interior of North America during the late Maastrichtian is documented based on isolated elements from vertebrate microfossil localities in the Hell Creek Formation of Montana, the Lance Formation of Wyoming, and the Scollard Formation of Alberta. A minimum of 20 taxa are recognized based on >1900 abdominal centra and tooth-bearing elements. These include two elopomorphs, six osteoglossomorphs, three ostariophysans, one esocid, six acanthomorphs, and two taxa of unknown relationships. These assemblages differ from late Campanian assemblages in the absence of the Clupeomorpha and the presence of the Perciformes. Within the Hell Creek Formation, we record patterns in the relative abundances of the most abundant taxa leading up to the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary. Most notably, acanthomorphs increased in abundance up-section whereas a group of osteoglossomorphs represented by Coriops and/or Lopadichthys concurrently decreased in abundance. Conversely, some teleosts exhibited more stable or slightly fluctuating relative abundances through the formation (Wilsonichthyidae, Esocidae). These late Maastrichtian teleost assemblages are of higher diversity than an early Eocene assemblage from Wyoming that is preserved under similar taphonomic conditions. This pattern either suggests that lower Cenozoic deposits in the Western Interior are insufficiently sampled or that the K/Pg mass extinction event adversely affected non-marine teleosts.

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Euselachian diversity through the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Garfield County, Montana, USA, with implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in freshwater environments

Cited by 5 publications

References 60 publications

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

New sharks and other chondrichthyans from the latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of North America

A systematic reappraisal and quantitative study of the nonmarine teleost fishes from the late Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of North America: evidence from vertebrate microfossil localities¹

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Euselachian diversity through the uppermost Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation of Garfield County, Montana, USA, with implications for the Cretaceous-Paleogene mass extinction in freshwater environments

Cited by 5 publications

References 60 publications

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

Shifts in food webs and niche stability shaped survivorship and extinction at the end-Cretaceous

New sharks and other chondrichthyans from the latest Maastrichtian (Late Cretaceous) of North America

A systematic reappraisal and quantitative study of the nonmarine teleost fishes from the late Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of North America: evidence from vertebrate microfossil localities1

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A systematic reappraisal and quantitative study of the nonmarine teleost fishes from the late Maastrichtian of the Western Interior of North America: evidence from vertebrate microfossil localities¹