Taphonomy of large marine vertebrates in the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah

McKean, Rebecca L. Schmeisser; Gillette, David D.

doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2015.05.009

Cited by 8 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…[ 41 ]) 2.8 1.4 0.2 0.0 0.8 0.0 1.0 average inter-unit articulation (F, P, D) a F F D D P D F weathering stage (modified from Cook [ 100 ], Fiorillo [ 21 ], Prassack [ 101 ], Ryan et al . [ 102 ] and Behrensmeyer [ 103 ]) Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 abrasion stage (modified from Fiorillo [ 21 ] and Cook & Trueman [ 14 ]) Stage 0 Stage 0 Stage 0 Stage 0 Stage 0 Stage 0 Stage 0 fracture stage [ 106 ] Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 0 Stage 1 Stage 1 Stage 1 fracture types (modified from Cook & Trueman [ 14 ], Haynes [ 104 ], Karr & Outram [ 105 ] and Schmeisser McKean & Gillette [ 106 ]) transverse transverse transverse nil transverse/ diagonal di...…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Heavily abraded extremely rounded: bones often show a high degree of sphericity. Extremely abraded fracture stage (modified from Cook & Trueman [ 14 ], Haynes [ 104 ], Karr & Outram [ 105 ] and Schmeisser McKean & Gillette [ 106 ]) bone/tooth is not broken bone/tooth is broken in one or two places, not pervasive bone/tooth is broken in many places, still recognizable bone/tooth is highly fractured and may be unidentifiable compression stage [ 106 ] bone/tooth is not compressed bone/tooth is slightly compressed. Open cavities are slightly distorted.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fracture patterns were also noted, where helical fractures indicated fresh bone, and fractures parallel or perpendicular to the bone shaft indicated fracture post-mineralization (following Cook & Trueman [ 14 ], Haynes [ 104 ] and Karr & Outram [ 105 ]). We also determined the degree of brittle or plastic compression of skeletal elements using a scheme developed by Schmeisser McKean & Gillette [ 106 ]. These are outlined in table 2 .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taphonomy ofIsisfordia duncanispecimens from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) portion of the Winton Formation, Isisford, central-west Queensland

Syme¹,

Salisbury²

2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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Taphonomic analysis of fossil material can benefit from including the results of actualistic decay experiments. This is crucial in determining the autochthony or allochthony of fossils of juvenile and adult Isisfordia duncani, a basal eusuchian from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) distal-fluvial-deltaic lower Winton Formation near Isisford. The taphonomic characteristics of the I. duncani fossils were documented using a combination of traditional taphonomic analysis alongside already published actualistic decay data from juvenile Crocodylus porosus carcasses. We found that the I. duncani holotype, paratypes and referred specimens show little signs of weathering and no signs of abrasion. Disarticulated skeletal elements are often found in close proximity to the rest of the otherwise articulated skeleton. The isolated and disarticulated skeletal elements identified, commonly cranial, maxillary and mandibular elements, are typical of lag deposits. The holotype QM F36211 and paratype QM F34642 were classified as autochthonous, and the remaining I. duncani paratypes and referred specimens are parautochthonous. We propose that I. duncani inhabited upper and lower delta plains near the Eromanga Sea in life. Their carcasses were buried in sediment-laden floodwaters in delta plain overbank and distributary channel deposits. Future studies should refer to I. duncani as a brackish water tolerant species.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Taphonomy ofIsisfordia duncanispecimens from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) portion of the Winton Formation, Isisford, central-west Queensland

Syme¹,

Salisbury²

2018

R. Soc. open sci.

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“…We also reconstruct the paleoenvironmental context and review data on a part of the marine ecosystem through the paleoecology of fossil invertebrates on a regional basis, following a stratigraphic paleobiological approach that can be applied to both the recent and the distant geological past (Patzkowsky and Holland, 2012). Published studies that have taken this direction are still not many, examples concerning Jurassic ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs and pliosaurs (McMullen et al, 2014), Cretaceous turtles, plesiosaurs, bony fish and sharks (Schmeisser McKean and Gillette, 2015), Eocene archaeocetes, sea cows and sharks (Peters et al, 2009), and Neogene marine mammals and sharks . All of these papers record the cooccurrence of shelly faunas, only one undertaking quantitative studies of the distribution of fossil invertebrates (Jurassic of the Sundance Formation: McMullen et al, 2014, see also Danise and Holland, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pliocene stratigraphic paleobiology in Tuscany and the fossil record of marine megafauna

Dominici

Danise

Benvenuti

2018

Earth-Science Reviews

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Tuscany has a rich Pliocene record of marine megafauna (MM), including mysticetes, odontocetes, sirenians and seals among the mammals, and six orders of sharks among the elasmobranchs. This is reviewed with respect to paleogeography and sequence-stratigraphy in six different basins. Conditions at the ancient seafloor are explored by means of sedimentary facies analysis, taphonomy and multivariate techniques applied to a large quantitative dataset of benthic molluscs. MM is rare or absent in most basins during the Zanclean, except in one basin, and most abundant in Piacenzian deposits in all six basins. MM occurs preferentially in fine-grained, shelfal highstand-deposits of small-scale depositional sequences, or at condensed horizons of the maximum flooding interval. It is rare in shallow marine paleonvironments and nearly absent in bathyal paleosettings. Paleogeographic and paleoecological evidence and a comparison with modern patterns of marine upwelling suggest that a wedge of nutrient-rich waters sustained in the offshore during the Pliocene a high biomass of primary producers and a community of apex consumers and mesopredators, similarly to the modern northwestern Mediterranean Sea, with a species-richness higher than the modern and a more complex trophic structure. The highest MM diversity coincides with the mid-Piacenzian warm period, suggesting that facies control does not obscure a link between climate and diversity. We underline however that not all marine environments were suitable for marine mammal preservation. Buoyant carcasses were preferentially dismembered and destroyed in high-energy shallow waters, with the possible exception of delta front deposits, where sudden sediment input occasionally buried pristine carcasses. We hypothesise that carcasses sunken on the seafloor below the shelf break underwent destruction through the activity of a whale-fall biota of modern type, specialised in the consumption of decomposing tissues, both soft and mineralised. A taphonomic window was left between storm wave base and the shelf break. Here water pressure is high enough to prevent the formation of decomposing gases and the resurfacing of carcasses, while the lack of a specialised whale-fall biota slows down bone degradation with respect to deeper settings. Sedimentation rate was high enough to cover skeletal material before its complete destruction. An estimate of paleobathymetries based on multivariate techniques suggests that the preferential depth for the inclusion of MM in the fossil record was 30-300 m. The results are compared with major Mesozoic and Cenozoic MM records worldwide. Available evidence suggests that the late Neogene radiation of large whales, true ecosystem engineers, and their size increase, triggered the radiation of a bone-eating fauna that hampered, and hampers, MM preservation in the deep sea. Stratigraphic paleobiology and an ecosystem-level approach deliver useful insights to the nature of the fossil record.

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“…The Tropic Shale is dark gray, laminated shale to sandy mudstone. It consists primarily of calcareous mudstone and shale representing prodeltaic environments of the western margin of the Greenhorn Sea, and overlies the highly bioturbated marginal marine facies of the Dakota Formation (Leithold, 1993(Leithold, , 1994Elder et al, 1994;Leithold and Dean, 1998;Schmeisser McKean and Gillette, 2015 (Elder, 1987); additionally a variety of vertebrates such as plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, bony fish, sharks, and turtles were discovered in lower portions of the Tropic Shale (Titus et al, 2005;Albright et al, 2007;Schmeisser McKean and Gillette, 2015). The Greenhorn strata changes thickness over short distances, and have been interpreted as resulting from differential uplift and subsidence of basement blocks (Hattin, 1985(Hattin, , 1986Weimer, 1983; Barlow and Kauffman, 1985).…”

Section: Study Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Oceanic Anoxia Event 2 (~94 Ma) in the U.S. Western Interior Sea: High Resolution Foraminiferal Record of the Development of Anoxia in a Shallow Epicontinental Sea

Parker¹

2016

Geological Society of America Abstracts With Programs

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I would like to thank my advisor, Mark Leckie, for his thoughtful guidance and support throughout this project. Thanks are also due to my research group for stimulating discussions that helped refine the ideas presented in this thesis. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the members of my committee, Rob DeConto and Steven Petsch, for their helpful comments, suggestions, and constructive reviews during all stages of this project. I want to thank the National Science Foundation and the University of Massachusetts Amherst Department of Geosciences for funding and supporting this project and providing travel expenses during the writing of this manuscript. I wish to express my appreciation to all individuals who volunteered their participation with this project. I would like to acknowledge Matt Jones and Brad Sageman for their geochemical contributions to this research. Special thanks are given to Chris Lowery and Lindsey Victoria for their efforts in the field, and to Serena Dameron for her help with sample preparation. A special thank you to my family and Zachary Stromer for their support during the last few years. I would not have been able to complete this thesis without their continuous love and encouragement.

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Taphonomy of large marine vertebrates in the Upper Cretaceous (Cenomanian-Turonian) Tropic Shale of southern Utah

Cited by 8 publications

References 61 publications

Taphonomy ofIsisfordia duncanispecimens from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) portion of the Winton Formation, Isisford, central-west Queensland

Taphonomy ofIsisfordia duncanispecimens from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) portion of the Winton Formation, Isisford, central-west Queensland

Pliocene stratigraphic paleobiology in Tuscany and the fossil record of marine megafauna

Oceanic Anoxia Event 2 (~94 Ma) in the U.S. Western Interior Sea: High Resolution Foraminiferal Record of the Development of Anoxia in a Shallow Epicontinental Sea

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