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Teleostean otoliths reveal diverse Plio-Pleistocene fish assemblages in coastal Georgia (Glynn County)
Abstract
Extensive bulk sampling at seven Plio-Pleistocene sites spanning approximately 4.5 Ma to 120,000 years ago in age near Brunswick, Glynn County, Georgia, produced 1,803 teleostean otoliths. The otolith assemblage was relatively diverse with 50 taxa (representing 18 families) of Plio-Pleistocene teleosts. The otoliths represented mainly shallow-marine fishes, which were all extant except for four species. The assemblage was dominated by 16 sciaenid taxa that represented 65.8% of the total number of otoliths. The Plio-Pleistocene otoliths indicated fishes that are almost identical to the marine fishes from present-day coastal Georgia. The teleostean otoliths are considered especially important for several reasons. This study represents the first description of fish otoliths from the Plio-Pleistocene of coastal Georgia and describes the bony fishes present from approximately 4.5 Ma (Raysor Marl equivalent) to 120,000 years ago (late Pleistocene). This time interval includes the late Neogene climatic changes as well as the glacial-interglacial climatic cycles in North America. Also, the preservation of aragonitic otoliths is rare in coastal Georgia given the very high water table and the intense and rapid weathering. Furthermore, there is a paucity of Plio-Pleistocene fossils, especially bony fishes, in coastal Georgia related to various geological constraints such as highly erosive transgressive sequences. The Plio-Pleistocene otolith assemblage from coastal Georgia contains 13 families representing 28 taxa not recognized by skeletal fossils in Georgia. Although the Ariidae and Sciaenidae were previously recognized based on skeletal fossil material in Georgia, there are 14 newly reported taxa based on otoliths in these families (1 and 13 respectively) including Protosciaena kirbyorum n. sp., the first fossil species of this genus in the U.S. Otolith data also verified fishes previously indicated by skeletal remains and provided greater specificity in several cases.
... As indicated by numerous studies (Nolf 2013, Nolf and Stringer 2003, Schwarzhans et al. 2018, Stringer and Bell 2018, otoliths often provide data on taxa that are not represented by skeletal remains. This is due primarily to different diagenetic processes related to the contrasting composition of bone (fluorapatite) and otoliths (aragonite), as indicated by studies, such as Aguilera et al. (2020) and references therein. ...
... Studies of the Atlantic Coastal Plain Pliocene otoliths consist of only four studies: Fitch and Lavenberg (1983), Müller (1999), Stringer and Bell (2018), and Stringer and Shannon . There is only one published study of Pliocene otoliths from the Gulf Coastal Plain (Stringer et al. 2020a). ...
... There is only one published study of Pliocene otoliths from the Gulf Coastal Plain (Stringer et al. 2020a). Stringer and Bell (2018) reported on the Plio-Pleistocene otoliths (n = 1803; 50 taxa) from coastal Georgia. Five of the sites were primarily early Pliocene in age. ...
Abstract - Two new outcrops from the Late Pliocene Yorktown Formation in North Carolina, USA,
at the Bell Bridge and Dixon localities produced 29 and 13 species, respectively, based on 672 teleostean
otoliths. Otoliths are closely related to extant species along the present-day eastern U.S. coast
with ophidiids, paralichthyids, and haemulids most abundant. Percentage similarity analysis indicates
that the localities are markedly different. Based on the fossil fish assemblage, the paleoenvironment
is interpreted as marine, deep inner–middle shelf, normal salinity, and tropical–temperate. The new
Pliocene fish otolith assemblages were analyzed to understand the relationship to the coeval Yorktown
Formation fish assemblage from the Lee Creek Mine. The new assemblages are significant, considering
the limited number of North American Pliocene otolith studies and provide insight into northwestern
Atlantic Coast Pliocene paleoenvironments. The relationship of the new Pliocene fish otoliths to
known Pliocene otolith assemblages from North America is established.
... These studies are of minimal value for the investigation of Pleistocene otoliths of coastal Georgia. The only Pleistocene otolith studies for the entire Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains are Stringer (1992); Stringer et al. (2017); Stringer and Bell (2018), which is the only published study of Georgia Pleistocene otolith assemblages; and Stringer and Shannon (2019). ...
... All of the taxa identified from the Jones Girls Site, with the exception of a few, were recently described in Stringer and Bell (2018). Therefore, only those not described by Stringer and Bell (2018) or those requiring further comment are discussed below. ...
... All of the taxa identified from the Jones Girls Site, with the exception of a few, were recently described in Stringer and Bell (2018). Therefore, only those not described by Stringer and Bell (2018) or those requiring further comment are discussed below. Taxa present in the Jones Girls Site that are not reported in Stringer and Bell (2018) ...
Investigation of teleostean otoliths (n = 418) recovered from the late Pleistocene (Rancholabrean) Jones Girls Site, Chatham County, Georgia, represents just the second study of Pleistocene otoliths in Georgia and only the fifth study of Pleistocene otoliths for the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains. Geochronologic analysis suggests an age from 80 Ka to 130 Ka for the site. Otoliths indicate 18 extant taxa (10 families) with sciaenids
dominant. Otoliths provide seven additional fish taxa (six families) for the Georgia late Pleistocene. Otoliths point to a neritic coastal environment (< 20 m) with strong evidence for soft bottom, estuarine creeks, and bays with no large freshwater input. The fish represented by otoliths indicate temperatures and conditions similar to present-day coastal Georgia.
... Pliocene and Pleistocene otoliths have received detailed worldwide attention for many years (for references, see Stringer and Bell 2018), but this has not been the case in the United States. In fact, studies are limited, especially in the Gulf Coastal Plain. ...
... There are a few investigations conducted in the Gulf of Mexico and U.S. Atlantic coastal plains that are relevant to the Pliocene otolith assemblage of Alabama, and these include Fitch and Lavenberg (1983) on the Yorktown Formation (Pliocene) otoliths in North Carolina, Stringer (1992) on the Pleistocene-early Holocene teleostean otoliths in Louisiana, and Müller (1999) on the Palaeogene and Neogene elasmobranchs and teleosts (including otoliths) of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain. More recent studies meaningful to the Pliocene otoliths of Alabama include Stringer et al. (2017) on the Caloosahatchee Formation (lower Pleistocene) otoliths in Florida, Stringer and Bell (2018) on seven Plio-Pleistocene sites in coastal Georgia, and Stringer and Shannon (2019) on Pliocene otoliths from southern North Carolina. The study of Stringer and Bell (2018) identified an otolith assemblage of 50 taxa present in the Plio-Pleistocene of Georgia; many of these same taxa are also present in the Dauphin Island otolith assemblage. ...
... More recent studies meaningful to the Pliocene otoliths of Alabama include Stringer et al. (2017) on the Caloosahatchee Formation (lower Pleistocene) otoliths in Florida, Stringer and Bell (2018) on seven Plio-Pleistocene sites in coastal Georgia, and Stringer and Shannon (2019) on Pliocene otoliths from southern North Carolina. The study of Stringer and Bell (2018) identified an otolith assemblage of 50 taxa present in the Plio-Pleistocene of Georgia; many of these same taxa are also present in the Dauphin Island otolith assemblage. There are also several investigations of Pliocene otoliths from the eastern Caribbean that are relevant to the Dauphin Island otoliths, including Nolf (1976) on Neogene otoliths from Trinidad that described Pliocene forms, Nolf and Stringer (1992) on Mio-Pliocene otoliths from the Dominican Republic, and Stringer (1998) on late Pliocene otoliths of Jamaica. ...
The first Pliocene teleostean otoliths from the Gulf Coastal Plain are described from Dauphin Island, Mobile County, Alabama, USA. The 250 otolith specimens, mainly sagittae, were obtained from shell hash dredged from an offshore Pliocene unit deposited onshore as part of recent beach nourishment. Analysis of the otoliths revealed 22 species from 11 teleostean families. Sciaenid fishes dominate the assemblage and account for 79.6% of the total specimens, while the other 10 families (including indeterminates) comprise approximately 20% of the total. Comparison to modern biological and ecological requirements for the fishes represented by the otoliths suggest a shallow (0–20 m) neritic environment with some brackish and rare deep-water influence. Several of the most abundant taxa indicate shallow, soft bottom estuarine habitat with upstream oligohaline creeks (0.5 to 5.0 ppt salinity) serving as primary nursery area. However, the percentage of marine-only species may indicate more interaction with open estuary and shallow coastal areas and subtropical waters. The lack of invertebrate settlement on the otoliths likely indicates limited surface residence-time. All 22 taxa recovered from the Dauphin Island site are highly significant since they represent the first Pliocene occurrences of these taxa within the Gulf Coastal Plain of North America.
... Gaemers and Schwarzhans 1973;Nolf 1978Nolf , 1985Nolf and Marques da Silva 1997;Girone 2003;Fulgosi et al. 2009;Nolf 2013). Likewise, investigations of Pliocene otoliths in the Caribbean and Central America are well documented (Stringer and Bell 2018). However, the examination of Pliocene otoliths in the United States, especially the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, is extremely limited. ...
... However, the examination of Pliocene otoliths in the United States, especially the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, is extremely limited. Atlantic and Gulf coast studies of Pliocene otoliths consist of only five studies: Fitch and Lavenberg (1983), Stringer (1992), Müller (1999), Stringer et al. (2017), Stringer and Bell (2018). Of these, only two major investigations involving Pliocene otoliths in North Carolina have been conducted (Fitch and Lavenberg 1983;Müller 1999). ...
... All of the taxa identified from the site, with the exception of a few, were described and illustrated in Stringer and Bell (2018). Therefore, only those not found or those requiring further comment are described and figured. ...
Bulk sampling of Pliocene (2.5–3.1 Ma, Piacenzian) beds at the Elizabethtown locality (Bladen County, North Carolina) produced 745 teleostean otoliths (17 taxa, representing extant fish off the U.S. Atlantic coast). Sciaenids dominate the assemblage (8 taxa; 44.4% of the total) and account for an extremely large percentage of total specimens (93.2%). The number of species (richness) at Elizabethtown is relatively small, and percentage abundance indicates a very large unevenness with Micropogonias undulatus and Leiostomus aff. L. xanthurus (91.4% of the specimens). Otolith assemblages from Elizabethtown and Lee Creek Mine, one of the most extensively studied North Carolina Pliocene sites, were compared. Assemblages were extremely dissimilar (percentage similarity measurement of 3.3%). Modern distributions of M.undulatus and L. aff. L.xanthurus are very strong indicators of shallow, soft bottom estuarine creeks and bays. The preponderance of juvenile M.undulatus (99.5% represent 1-year-old or less) is a strong indicator for a primary nursery area. This specialised habitat explains the dominance of juvenile Atlantic croakers and spots, the high percentage of fishes distributed in freshwater, brackish, and marine environments, and the paucity of marine-only species. The specialised habitat indicated at Elizabethtown would also account for the pronounced difference between the Elizabethtown and Lee Creek otolith assemblages.
... Numerous studies, including Huddleston and Savoie (1983), Nolf (1985Nolf ( , 2003Nolf ( , 2013, Stringer (1992Stringer ( , 1998, Schwarzhans (1993Schwarzhans ( , 1996Schwarzhans ( , 2003Schwarzhans ( , 2010, Nolf and Brzobohaty (1994), Nolf and Stringer (1996), Lin (2016), Lin *Author for correspondence PaleoBios 40(3) 2023PaleoBios 40(3) et al. (2016, Stringer et al. (2016, Schwarzhans et al. (2018a, b), Stringer and Bell (2018), and Stringer and Shannon (2019), as well as many other references contained in the aforementioned publications, have corroborated the value of otoliths in determining and interpreting bony fish fossil assemblages. In their long-term study of the upper Eocene Yazoo Clay in Louisiana, Breard and Stringer (1995) recovered 12 actinopterygians based on skeletal remains (primarily teeth). ...
... The occurrence of fish indicative of such diverse climatic ranges is very unusual in otolith assemblages in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains, especially in the Gulf Coastal Plain (Fitch and Lavenberg 1983, Huddleston and Savoie 1983, Schwarzhans et al. 2018b, Stringer and Bell 2018, Ebersole et al. 2019, Stringer and Shannon 2019). This occurrence would seem to signify atypical and different parameters than what normally occurs in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains. ...
The fortuitous discovery of Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) teleostean otoliths in boring samples (17–31 m below ground level) from the Arkadelphia Formation near Cabot, Arkansas, USA, has consequential and overarching ramifications. The otolith assemblage, which is relatively large with 2,109 specimens, represents the first Mesozoic otolith assemblage described from Arkansas and one of the largest Cretaceous assemblages from a single USA site. The diversity of the assemblage is fairly large with a richness of 19 species with three additional taxa in open nomenclature and one unknown lapillus, which more than doubles the known actinopterygians from the Arkadelphia Formation. The otolith assemblage is extremely uneven in its diversity with one species, a putative siluriform Vorhisia vulpes Frizzell (1965b), accounting for approximately 73% of the total. The most unique feature of the otolith assemblage is the presence of cool-water gadiforms, which represent approximately 7.6% of the total assemblage. The presence of the gadiforms is related to the effects of the Western Interior Seaway and paleogeography during the Late Cretaceous in the western Gulf Coastal Plain. The gadiforms may represent relicts of a greater population and distribution in the early Maastrichtian. Percentage similarity measurements of the otolith assemblage indicate that the Arkadelphia Formation is more closely related to the Severn Formation in eastern Maryland (57.86%) and the Kemp Clay Formation in northeast Texas (35.77%) than to the Ripley Formation in northeastern Mississippi (5.34%). The similarity measurements and other factors indicate that the Arkadelphia Formation otolith assemblage belongs to the Western Interior Seaway community (bioprovince). The Arkadelphia Formation otolith assemblage also contains several taxa that become extinct, such as the ubiquitous V. vulpes, at the K-Pg extinction event. The otoliths point to a very shallow marine environment (possibly inner shelf; less than 20 m in depth) with estuarine and freshwater input nearby and may be utilized for refinement of paleoshorelines for the southern reaches of the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous.
... Yet, these were the only studies of the prolific otolith specimens present at the site. It is also unfortunate since otoliths often provide insight into the actinopterygian fauna often not discernible by skeletal remains (Schwarzhans et al., 2018;Stringer & Bell, 2018;Ebersole et al., 2019;Stringer & Hulbert, 2020). Other marine vertebrate groups such as sharks, rays, bony fishes (skeletal remains), reptiles (marine snakes and turtles), marine mammals (whales) (Riley & Westgate, 1999;Westgate, 2001;Parmley & Cicimurri, 2003;Parmley & Holman, 2003;Parmley & Cicimurri, 2005;Parmley & DeVore, 2005;Parmley et al., 2006;Cicimurri et al., 2020) and even terrestrial remains of reptiles (freshwater turtles and colubrid snakes), birds (auk), and mammals (five taxa) (Westgate, 2001;Parmley & Holman, 2003;Chandler & Parmley, 2003;Parmley & Cicimurri, 2005;Parmley et al., 2006) have been described from the locality. ...
... The order Siluriformes is one of the exceptions in which the lapillus is large, especially in the family Ariidae or sea catfishes (Nolf, 2013). Ariid lapilli tend to be uncommon in many of the Paleogene and Neogene formations in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains (Nolf & Dockery, 1993;Stringer & Bell, 2018;Ebersole et al., 2019;Stringer et al., 2020a). Ariids were very rare in the upper Eocene Yazoo Clay in Louisiana with only two lapilli from the 5599 otoliths recovered (Nolf & Stringer, 2003). ...
... Due to their unremarkable morphology, lapilli are generally not utilized in the study of fossil otoliths. However, there are exceptions, including taxa within families like Ariidae (sea catfishes) and Sciaenidae (drums and croakers) (Nolf 2013;Schwarzhans et al. 2018;Stringer and Bell 2018;Schwarzhans and Stringer 2020). Although the lapilli for many species of Ariidae and Sciaenidae are known (Chao 1978;Aguilera et al. 2020), the Glendon Limestone lapilli do not appear to conform to any of these taxa. ...
... The families of fishes represented by otoliths were utilized to ascertain the general paleoenvironmental parameters represented by the Glendon Limestone Member assemblage, following methods that have been effectively applied to similar assemblages in both the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains (Stringer and Bell 2018;Ebersole et al. 2019;Stringer and Shannon 2019;Stringer and Hulbert 2020;Stringer et al. 2020b). This was accomplished by comparing the ecological ranges of extant families of fishes represented by the fossil otoliths (Cohen et al. 1990;Hoese and Moore 1998;Nelson et al. 2016;Snyder and Burgess 2016;Froese and Pauly 2019). ...
The Oligocene (Rupelian) Byram Formation (Vicksburg Group) in Alabama, USA, is divided into three members, including (in ascending order) the Glendon Limestone, unnamed marl, and the Bucatunna Clay. The Oligocene marine units in Alabama have been historically under-investigated, but bulk samples re-cently obtained from Glendon Limestone Member exposures at site AWa-9 in Washington County yielded 20 unequivocal elasmobranch and teleost taxa. This surprisingly diverse paleofauna, based on isolated teeth, bones and otoliths, includes the new taxon, Gobiosoma? axsmithi sp. nov., as well as “Aetomylaeus” sp., Albula sp., Aplodinotus gemma Koken, 1888, Ariosoma nonsector Nolf and Stringer, 2003, Balistidae indet., Citharichthys sp., Myliobatoidei indet., Diretmus? sp., Hemipristis sp., Negaprion aff. N. gilmorei (Leriche, 1942), Pachyscyllium sp., Paralbula sp., Physogaleus sp., Preophidion meyeri (Koken, 1888), Sciaena pseu-doradians (Dante and Frizzell in Frizzell and Dante, 1965), Sciaenops? sp., Sparus? elegantulus Koken, 1888, Sphyraena sp., and Syacium sp. Additional remains were recovered but could not be identified beyond unde-termined Elasmobranchii or Teleostei. All these taxa represent first occurrences within the Glendon Limestone Member in Alabama, and the “Aetomylaeus” sp., Pachyscyllium sp., Paralbula sp., and Sciaenops? sp. spec-imens represent the first occurrences of each in the Oligocene of the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA. Wealso report the first record of Oligocene Paralbula Blake, 1940 teeth, and the first occurrence of an Oligocene member of the Balistidae in the Western Hemisphere. This marine vertebrate assemblage indicates that the Glendon Limestone Member at site AWa-9 represented a subtropical to temperate, middle shelf paleoenviron-ment with a paleowater depth interpreted as 30–100 m.
... Numerous studies in North America (Nolf & Stringer 1992;Stringer & Bell 2018;Stringer & Hulbert 2020;Stringer et al. 2020a; have demonstrated that Neogene otoliths can produce very precise paleoenvironmental determination based upon specific fish taxa with detailed fisheries data on their range, habitat preference and distribution, life mode, abundance, and age distribution (based upon the size of the sagittae). The vast majority of otoliths from Neogene strata may be assigned to extant species and increase their value in producing very accurate insight into paleoenvironmental conditions. ...
Large and diverse Eocene otolith assemblages have been described from the US Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains, various basins in Europe, and New Zealand. Here we described a highly diverse otolith association from the middle Eocene (Lutetian and Bartonian) strata of southern California, San Diego County, which was retrieved
from the heritage of John E. Fitch (1918-1982) in the archives of the Ichthyology Department of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, Los Angeles, Califronia. The collection represents the first Eocene otolith assemblage described from the Northeastern Pacific and stems from two localities: the Ardath Shale at Black’s Beach in the Torrey Pines Park just south of Black’s Canyon Road and north of the Salk Fault on the Pacific shore face, and the MissionValley Formation from the west-facing graded hill just east of the Miramar Water Treatment Plant
near the southern shore of Miramar Reservoir. The Ardath Shale was deposited on the deep shelf and continental slope while the Mission Valley Formation represent an inland, nearshore environment during times of the maximum transgression.
A total of more than15,000 otoliths were found representing 96 species of which 53 are described as new and 12 remain in open nomenclature. The fauna of the Ardath Shale is distinctly richer containing 88 species while the one from the Miramar Reservoir site yielded 38 species. The low diversity at the Miramar Reservoir site is thought to be related to the shallow-water environment in which it was deposited whereas the high diversity at Black’s Beach reflects a mixture of shelf and bathyal fishes. In addition, 24 new otolith-based genera are established, four of which are in the category “incertae sedis”. Furthermore, five new species are described from a comparative otolith collection from the US Gulf Coast Eocene and one new species from a comparative collection from the Lutetian of Balegem in Belgium.
The Eocene otolith-based fish fauna from California is assessed for its paleoecological, paleobiogeographic and evolutionary significance. Particular emphasis is directed towards the elucidation of the evolution of the early
Ophidiiformes, which during the early Paleogene were predominantly adapted to warm, clastic shallow-water environments and there were competing in abundance and diversity with other percomorphs (e.g., perciforms s.l.). A warm Eocene paleobioprovince is proposed for the Californian fish fauna which is not related to today’s endemic Northwest Pacific fish fauna along the regime of the cold-water California Current.
... Also, teeth of possible sciaenid origin have been reported from the Ypresian strata of Mississippi, South Carolina, and Virginia (Case 1994, as Albula eppsi;Cicimurri & Knight 2009), although the taxonomic assignment of these teeth is admittedly very problematic (Cicimurri & Knight 2009). In Neogene strata, sciaenid otoliths are very common worldwide (e.g., Schwarzhans 1993;Nolf & Aguilera 1998;Aguilera et al. 2014Aguilera et al. , 2016Lin et al. 2021;Lin & Chien 2022), as well as in the Atlantic and Gulf coastal plains (Stringer & Bell 2018;Stringer & Shannon 2019;Stringer & Starnes 2020;Stringer et al. , 2021. However, skeletal records of this family are scarce. ...
The fossil otoliths of the southern USA have been known for more than 130 years and are
among the richest assemblages worldwide. However, previous studies are often scattered and employed outdated systematic scheme. A collection of over 25000 otoliths ranging in age from the Lutetian to the Priabonian from 47 sites in five states in the eastern and southern USA is analysed here. Combined with the earlier described material, at least 101 otolith-based taxa are documented, of which 83 are identified at species level. Fourteen of these are introduced as new species: Elopothrissus bernardlemorti sp. nov., “Muraenesox” barrytownensis sp. nov., Pseudophichthys texanus sp. nov., Paraconger wechesensis sp. nov., Neoopisthopterus weltoni sp. nov., “aff. Glyptophidium” stringeri sp. nov., Symmetrosulcus dockeryi sp. nov., Mene garviei sp. nov., “Citharus” varians sp. nov., Waitakia beelzebub sp. nov., Astroscopus compactus sp. nov., Parascombrops yanceyi sp. nov., Anisotremus rambo sp. nov., and Pagellus pamunkeyensis sp. nov. The assemblages are distinct from contemporary European faunas by the complete lack of mesopelagic fish otoliths, and by the presence of sciaenids. Dominant taxa in the American Eocene are the Ophidiidae, Sciaenidae, Lactariidae, and Congridae. They indicate shallow water environments for all the sampled sites. The notable abundance of those taxa suggests that they could have had a higher turnover rate, and provided fundamental nutrition in the local Paleogene marine ecosystem. Further analyses of the species in the stratigraphic succession revealed that a faunal turnover between the Claiborne and Jackson seas was evident in teleosts, and it might be more widespread in other marine organisms in the region.
... Based on this investigation, there is evidence indicating the following: (1) there are no extinct forms of fossil Aplodinotus before the Oligocene in the marine environment (Stringer 1977(Stringer , 1986(Stringer , 2011(Stringer , 2016Müller 1999;Green 2002;Nolf 2003Nolf , 2013Nolf and Stringer 2003;Ebersole et al. 2019); (2) there are numerous occurrences of putative extinct Aplodinotus in shallow marine waters (mainly inner shelf), primarily during the Oligocene and extending to the early Miocene (Müller 1999;Miller 2000;Stringer et al. 2001;Stringer and Worley 2003;Worley 2004;Worley and Stringer 2004;Nolf 2013;Ebersole et al. 2021) in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains of the USA; and (3) there is no evidence of Aplodinotus (sensu stricto) in the marine environment after the early Miocene (Stringer 1992;Müller 1999;Stringer and Bell 2018;Stringer and Shannon 2019;Stringer and Hulbert 2020) in the Gulf and Atlantic coastal plains of the U.S.A. However, there is a caveat to these findings in South America. ...
Aplodinotus grunniens represents one of the most common, widespread, and unique freshwater fishes in North America. Understanding the evolutionary history of this sciaenid is challenging though as published palaeontological records are lacking. Existing literature documenting skeletal remains and otoliths is summarised herein to better understand divergence and biogeography of the extant A. grunniens and extinct Aplodinotus species. Fossil evidence indicates that in addition to A. grunniens, three putative, extinct, marine species in North America and two in South America existed. The North American fossil Aplodinotus range from Oligocene to early Miocene, while the genus extends to the middle Miocene in South America. All described extinct fossil Aplodinotus have been recovered from shallow marine sediments with the oldest from the U.S.A. Gulf Coastal Plain. All sites with extant A. grunniens are from freshwater deposits ranging from middle to late Miocene to Holocene in age which very closely approximate the modern geographic distribution and include a variety of preserved skeletal elements and otoliths. The disappearance of the fossil marine Aplodinotus in the early Miocene in the Gulf is interpreted to represent the genus’ transition to brackish and eventually freshwater habitats and development of the extant species by the late Miocene.
... The anterior and ventral margins are much thinner than the dorsal and posterior margins and are more susceptible to erosion. The species is known from the Pliocene of North Carolina (Fitch and Lavenberg, 1983;Müller, 1999), the Plio-Pleistocene of coastal Georgia (Stringer and Bell, 2018), and the late Pleistocene-early Holocene of Louisiana (Stringer, 1992). ...
A Rangia johnsoni bed in the late Miocene Pascagoula Formation was encountered in three test holes drilled during the 2016-2017 United States Geological Survey STATEMAP geologic mapping project field work in Stone and George counties in southeastern Mississippi. Teleostean otoliths were recovered from drill samples in a R. johnsoni shell bed in a dark, carbonaceous clay at a depth of 103.6-106.7 m below land surface in Stone County (Test D-0057; 30.836452N, 088.915771W). The otoliths are well preserved and were identified as Micropogonias undulatus (Atlantic croaker) based on comparisons to Recent Gulf of Mexico otoliths. All otoliths were less than 5.54 mm in length and represented fish less than 90 mm in length. Since modern one-year-old M. undulatus are generally greater than 201 mm length, the otoliths represented juvenile fish (< 1 year). Modern juvenile M. undulatus reside for several months in oligohaline primary nursery areas, which consist of shallow upstream, organic-rich, soft-bottom estuarine creeks and bays. Analysis of the fossil otoliths is highly significant as it represents the first Miocene otoliths described from Mississippi and the central Gulf Coast and is the oldest occurrence of Micropogonias undulatus. The otoliths from the drill sample also provide valuable insight into the highly debated depositional environment of the R. johnsoni beds of the Pascagoula Formation in southeastern Mississippi. Additionally , otoliths from cores and well cuttings are essentially undescribed in the Gulf Coast and warrant study.
... Likewise, Nolf and Stringer (2003) recovered only 2 berycid specimens from over 5500 otoliths from the upper Eocene Yazoo Clay in Louisiana. Stringer and Bell (2018) reported no berycids from 1803 otolith specimens from seven Plio-Pleistocene sites in coastal Georgia. ...
The Upper Cretaceous teleost assemblage represented by otoliths from the Severn Formation (Maastrichtian) of Maryland (USA) is identified, and evaluated in the context of Upper Cretaceous otolith assemblages from the USA. Otoliths were analyzed from five localities and the species diversity (richness and evenness) was assessed for all sites combined and individual. Examination of 2,296 otoliths resulted in 32 taxa identified to at least the genus level. This represents one of the most diversified otolith assemblages known for the Cretaceous. The Severn Formation has a unique occurrence of Siluriformes (54.10% of total) and Beryciformes (25.95%), and possible factors for this preponderance are investigated. The Severn Formation also produced a small number of otoliths of the Gadiformes, which represents the earliest in the Atlantic Coastal Plain. Percentage similarity measurements calculated for each of the sites varied from 65.68% to 4.30%. The variance of the similarity values are believed to be related to changes in the shallow marine environment including estuaries, deltas, freshwater input, and nutrient shifts. The beryciforms are thought to have been highly adapted to specialized environments, much like the perciforms of the Cenozoic, and the variances at different sites (from no specimens to 31.28%) may have been related to localized changes in the paleoenvironment. The percentage of beryciforms and siluriforms was also examined at eight other localities in the USA and pointed to an inverse relationship in their abundance. The Severn Formation otolith assemblage is a member of the Appalachian Community bioprovince. One new taxon is described as a putative polymixiiform: Severnichthys bourdoni n. gen., n. sp.
... For example, the posteroventral portion of the ostium extends beneath the cauda in the juvenile specimen, just as it does in the adult specimen (Fig. 4). In addition, the near evenly smooth surface and semicircular-shape of the cauda is very distinct in E. silverdalensis, and the cauda has no horizonal portions as is the case with many sciaenids (Schwarzhans 1993, Nolf 2013, Aguilera et al. 2016, Stringer and Bell 2018. Finally, the cauda extends above the dorsal margin of the ostium, which is also an uncommon and peculiar feature for sciaenid otoliths (Chao 1978, Schwarzhans 1993, Nolf 2013. ...
The fossil otolith-based sciaenid genus Equetulus is known almost exclusively from South America, the Caribbean, and Central America, with the various species ranging in age from the late Oligocene to late Miocene. The only exception to this geographical distribution is the isolated occurrence of Equetulus silverdalensis n. comb. in the Belgrade Formation (latest Oligocene–early Miocene) in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the USA (North Carolina) and a mention of its occurrence in the Chickasawhay Limestone (late Oligocene) in the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA (Mississippi). However, sampling of the Paynes Hammock Sand (late Oligocene, Chattian) near Millry, Alabama, USA, resulted in the discovery of an otolith representing the first occurrence of E. silverdalensis in Alabama and the first systematic description of the species from the Gulf Coastal Plain of the USA. These occurrences suggest a potential distribution of this fossil species from Atlantic Coastal Plain of North Carolina to the central Gulf Coastal Plain of Alabama and possibly Mississippi.
Isolated elasmobranch and teleost teeth, jaws, otoliths, scales, vertebrae, and fin spines were recovered from the upper Oligocene (Chattian) Catahoula Formation in Wayne County, Mississippi, USA. A total of 13 551 specimens were examined and 12 340 of these were identified at least to the ordinal level. These remains represent 49 unequivocal fish taxa, viz. 29 elasmobranchs and 20 teleosts. The 3614 elasmobranch remains indicate that Carcharhiniformes is the most diverse group of Elasmobranchii, with 12 taxa belonging to five families. Orectolobiformes and Lamniformes are represented by far fewer taxa (three and four, respectively). Carcharhinus acuarius (Probst, 1879) constitutes 49% of the total number of shark teeth in our sample. Ten batoids have been identified within Myliobatiformes (seven taxa) and Rhinopristiformes (three taxa). Partial teeth of durophagous myliobatids (three genera) are the most abundant batoid remains, constituting 41% of the total number of ray fossils. However, teeth of Dasyatidae and Rhynchobatus cf. pristinus (Probst, 1877) are abundant and represent 36.5% and 15.4%, respectively, of the specimens identified. Herein, we erect five new elasmobranch taxa, including Galeocerdo platycuspidatum sp. nov., Hemipristis intermedia sp. nov., Hypanus? heterodontus sp. nov., “Sphyrna” gracile sp. nov., and “Sphyrna” robustum sp. nov. The Catahoula Formation sample includes over 9935 teleost fossils, which constitutes 73% of the total fish sample. Nine bony fish taxa are represented solely by teeth, jaw elements, or fin spines. Although otoliths are much less common than the other identifiable remains (409 versus roughly 8430, respectively), they allowed us to identify four taxa not known from other skeletal remains. Albulidae, Sciaenidae, and Sparidae are represented by isolated teeth, jaw elements, and otoliths, but we could not ascertain whether the various teeth and jaw elements are conspecific with the otolith-based species we identified. The remains of Sciaenidae (teeth, jaw elements, otoliths) dominate the Catahoula Formation bony fish assemblage, constituting 70% of the teleost specimens identified at least to the ordinal level. Our sample includes the first Oligocene occurrence of Tetraodontidae in the Western Hemisphere. The vertebrate assemblage within the Catahoula Formation at the study site indicates an estuarine depositional environment, which is consistent with previous interpretations based on lithology. At the study site the Catahoula Formation disconformably overlies the Paynes Hammock Limestone, and we believe the disconformable contact locally represents the Rupelian (early Oligocene)/Chattian (late Oligocene) boundary. The fish fauna described herein is therefore of Chattian age.
The oldest-reported otoliths in North America are Late Cretaceous (Cenomanian) in age. However, an otolith assemblage from the Pawpaw Formation, northeastern Texas, USA, extends otolith occurrence to the Early Cretaceous (late Albian). The 729 otoliths from the Pawpaw Formation represent 10 taxa with 8 identified to species level including 2 new genera and 7 new species: Genartina princeps sp. nov., Elopothrissus pawpawensis sp. nov., Argentina? texana sp. nov., Ichthyotringa? cuneata sp. nov., Paraulopus wichitae sp. nov., Texoma cyclogaster gen. et sp. nov., Allocyclostoma alienus gen. et sp. nov. The diversity of the Pawpaw Formation assemblage is characterized by fairly low richness (10 species) and low evenness with Genartina princeps accounting for approximately 67% of the total specimens. The Pawpaw Formation otoliths are dominated by the “Genartina Group” (unknown taxonomic affinity), Albuliformes, and Aulopiformes. Although rare, two monospecific fossil otolith-based genera are postulated to be related to the Polymixiiformes, which moves the most recent common ancestor back approximately 8 Ma. Teleost evolution from an otolith perspective appears to confirm the rapid increase in diversity known in the late Albian and Cenomanian, which is postulated to be instrumental in crown teleost evolution. Comparison of the Pawpaw Formation otoliths with Albian skeletal remains is hindered with only one Albian fish known with in situ otoliths. Thus, otoliths are largely unknown from many of the large and extinct Albian teleostean groups known from skeletons. Selachian remains (8 taxa) were also obtained from the Pawpaw Formation and provided supplementary information regarding the paleoecology and paleogeography.
A matched pair of otoliths (right and left saccular otoliths) and associated skeletal remains (n = 107) of Apogon townsendi (belted cardinalfish) were obtained in unconsolidated sediment from inside the valves of an articulated scallop Carolinapecten eboreus. The scallop specimen was collected in Hendry County, Florida, from the lower Pleistocene Caloosahatchee Formation, approximately 1.7 to 2.1 Ma. The recovery of this vertebrate material is highly significant because no skeletal remains of bony fish with in situ or associated otoliths are known from the Gulf or Atlantic coasts of the United States. Furthermore, the specimen represents the first fossil record of the family Apogonidae and the genus Apogon from Florida and the first report of the species Apogon townsendi in the fossil record. The length of the fossil Apogon townsendi was determined to be 4.7 cm based on the linear relationship between fish length and otolith length and utilizing modern specimens of the species for comparison and analysis. The length of the fossil Apogon townsendi indicated that it was an adult fish upon death (> 2.1 cm). Although several taphonomic scenarios are considered, including commensalism, it is believed that the apogonid died in close proximity to the empty scallop shell, which was followed by fairly rapid washing in of sediment with the fish into the valves of the scallop (i.e., sediment trapping). This determination is based on several factors including the biology, distribution, and behavior of extant Apogon townsendi. The presence and preservation of the two matched saccular otoliths and the large number of associated, fragile skeletal remains in the scallop shell suggest that the apogonid was not ingested and excreted by a piscivorous predator.
Fossil otoliths of the family Sciaenidae are described from Neogene strata from a wide array of locations in tropical America ranging
from Ecuador to Panama, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Colombia, Venezuela, Trinidad and Brazil. A total of 85 species are
recognized by means of otoliths, 20 of which represent Recent species also recorded as fossil. Two otolith-based fossil genera and 30
otolith-based fossil species are described new to science. The new genera are: †Amazonasciaena n. gen., †Protonebris n. gen. The new
species are, in the sequence described: Callaus cubaguanus n. sp., Umbrina abbreviata n. sp., Umbrina bananensis n. sp., Umbrina
laxa n. sp., Umbrina opima n. sp., Umbrina sublima n. sp., Umbrina surda n. sp., Polycirrhus jaramilloi n. sp., Polycirrhus mustus n. sp.,
Larimus angosturae n. sp., Larimus humboldti n. sp., Larimus pandus n. sp., Nebris dioneae n. sp., Protonebris sanchezi n. sp., Cynoscion
latiostialis n. sp., Cynoscion prolixus n. sp., Cynoscion scitulus n. sp., Isopisthus acer n. sp., Plagioscion ultimus n. sp., Atractoscion odeai
n. sp., Ophioscion amphiamericanus n. sp., Ophioscion inflaticauda n. sp., Ophioscion transitivus n. sp., Stellifer abbreviatus n. sp.,
Stellifer acerbus n. sp., Stellifer bicornutus n. sp., Stellifer depressifrons n. sp., Stellifer onzole n. sp., Xenotolithus semiostialis n. sp. and
Xenotolithus sineostialis n. sp.
The otolith record shows that the northern shores of South America with their diverse paleoenvironmental setting and the large and
shifting river drainage systems of the paleo-Amazon and paleo-Orinoco offered favorable conditions for the evolution of the Sciaenidae,
a group with marked preference for estuarine and other near shore environments. Evidently, tropical America was an evolutionary
center of sciaenids since at least early Miocene times. The presence in the marine Neogene of several species belonging to genera that
nowadays are restricted to freshwater, i. e. Aplodinotus and Plagioscion, indicates that freshwater is a secondary habitat colonized late
in the evolution of sciaenids.
Diversification of otolith-based sciaenid lineages is high since early Miocene representing all relevant extant tribes and dominated
by genera indigenous to the Americas. We observed also, however, that certain lineages became extinct primarily in the Caribbean due
to either shifts and expansions of the large river discharge systems during the late Miocene or to a yet insufficiently understood extinction
event at the end of the late Pliocene, about 1.5 to 2 million years after the closure of the Isthmus of Panama at about 3.5 Ma.
The extinct lineages comprise five fossil otolith-based sciaenid genera, one of which, †Xenotolithus, represents an entire extinct group
thought to be related to the Stelliferinae with a highly specialized otolith morphology.
Finally, the presence, diversity and abundance of Neogene sciaenids from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama allowed us to study
the timing and effects of the forced allopatric speciation in this family, which was caused by the gradual emersion of the Isthmus. In
the Recent, there is not a single species of Sciaenidae recorded from both sides of the Isthmus of Panama. We found that the youngest
amphi-American species as well as the earliest occurrence of geminate species point to a separation of eastern Pacific and Caribbean lineages
in sciaenids predating the final closure of the Pacific-Atlantic seaway and the uplift of the Isthmus of Panama (~3.5 Ma) by 2 to 5 Ma.
Our findings support the exchange of marine biota, represented here by the fish family Sciaenidae, between the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans in tropical America during the late Miocene Tortonian. We also conclude however that the marine biota were already separated,
possibly environmentally induced, to a degree during latest Miocene and early Pliocene that was sufficient to trigger a geminate speciation.
The otolith study reveals the presence of 61 taxa of teleosteans ijn the Early Miocene Cantaure Formation, among which five are new species: Aplodinotus longecaudata, A. hoffmani, Equetus davidandrewi, Larimus henrici and L. steurbauti. The associations reflect tropical near shore marine environments, with a water depth of less than 50 m. A compilation of all available data (Venezuela, Trinidad, Dominican Republic) shows that the Miocene Caribbean realm was inhabited by a teleost fauna whose overall picture was already very similar to that of the present day fauna of the area. at the generic level this similarity is very strong. However, looking at the species level, probably more than 50% of the Miocene taxa are extinct today. maong the 138 taxa recorded from the Caribbean Miocene, only four do not fit in the present day picture of Middle American biogeography: Diaphus aff. regani, Plotosus, Lactarius andMene. These taxa reflect ancient circumtropical Tethys distribution patterns.
The Pirabas Formation of Early Miocene age represents the final stage of the central western Atlantic carbonate platform in northeastern South America, predating the emplacement of the Amazon delta system. The otolith-based fossil fish fauna is represented by 38 species typical of a shallow marine environment. A total of 18 species are described new to science from the families Congridae, Batrachoididae, Bythitidae, Sciaenidae and Paralichthyidae. The fish fauna was associated with high benthic and planktic primary productivity including seagrass meadows, calcareous algae and suspension-feeders. The break of todays shallow marine bioprovince at the Amazonas delta mouth is not evident from the fish fauna of the Pirabas Fm., which shows good correlation with the Gatunian/proto-Caribbean bioprovince known from an only slightly younger time window in Trinidad and Venezuela. Differences observed to those Early Miocene faunal associations are interpreted to be mainly due to stratigraphic and geographic and not environmental differences. We postulate that the emergence of the Amazonas river mouth close to its present day location has terminated the carbonate cycle of the Pirabas Fm. and pushed back northwards a certain proportion of the fish fauna here described.
Otoliths of the family Myctophidae described from the Miocene and Pliocene of Central and northern South America comprise more than 5000 specimens representing 61 species. The study is based on newly collected material from Ecuador, Panama, Trinidad and Venezeula and includes a comprehensive review of previously described myctophid otoliths from the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Trinidad and Venezuela. 20 species are described as new to science, nine remain in open nomenclature and 21 represent extant species also recorded as fossils. The majority of the investigated otoliths stem from the genus Diaphus, namely over 4000 specimens representing 28 species including 12 new to science.
A paleobiogeographic analysis of the myctophid otoliths shows a gradual development of the separation of the Caribbean and East Pacific open marine bioprovinces over the Late Miocene to Middle Pliocene time interval and the development of the Early to Middle Pliocene Cubagua bioprovince along the Caribbean shores of South America in a paleo-upwelling setting. The evolution of the genus Diaphus exhibits a considerable increase of size and speciation during the Late Miocene and Early Pliocene, which coincides with the
“Biogenic Bloom” observed during the same time interval in the world oceans and pronounced mainly due to enhanced coccolithophorid productivity. The high diversity of Diaphus and also Myctophum species, the latter represented here by 7 species, can be used for biostratigraphic purposes and a first outline of myctophid biozonation is presented here.
Panturichthys fowleri (Ben-Tuvia, 1953) is redescribed on the basis of 27 specimens from the coasts of Israel, Lebanon, and Turkey. The species is recorded from Turkey for the first time. Morphological variation, especially in dentition and relative headtrunk length was found to be greater than previously recognized. The osteology is described from two cleared-and-stained specimens. A synopsis of the family Heterenchelyidae is presented, and a key to the known species is provided. © 2012 by the American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists.
Otoliths of 54 teleost species are reported from the Paleocene strata of Kressenberg in Bavaria and Kroisbach in Austria, representing 31 families: 33 new species are described, 7 remain in open nomenclature.
Until only 25 years ago, descriptions of Paleocene otolith assemblages were very scarce. The increase in knowledge since then has resulted in more than 100 valid otolith based species, with the fauna described here ranking as the largest and most diverse. While Kressenberg represents mainly a neritic shelf fauna, the Kroisbach association includes a number of truly open marine faunal elements, mostly Stomiiformes, and is the first of its kind from the Paleocene. The various Paleocene otolith based fish faunas show a remarkable degree of regional diversification. The data accumulated during the past 25 years from the U.S.A., Belgium, Denmark, Greenland and the Ukraine allow for a first paleobiogeographic evaluation of the Paleocene fish fauna as reconstructed from otoliths. This Paleocene collection is also remarkable for its transitional nature in the evolution of the Teleostei documenting forms that came after the K-T-boundary extinction event and before the rise of the modern Teleostei in the Eocene after the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event. Hence, there are only very few Paleocene species in common with either the Late Cretaceous, Maastrichtian, which was recently described from nearby outcrops in Bavaria, or the Eocene. The main difference from the older faunal assemblage of the Maastrichtian is the low level of extinct otolith morphologies in the Paleocene and the abundance of plesiomorphic morphologies, which represent modern groups for example of the Percoidei. Other common groups with plesiomorphic morphologies are the Congridae, the Ophidiiformes and the Stomiiformes (in Kroisbach). They are often difficult to associate with living genera and in some cases even families and give rise to the large percentage of taxa considered as ‘extinct plesiomorphic’ or ‘missing links’ in teleost phylogeny. Gadiformes, which play an important role in the Danish Paleocene are poorly represented. One of the most dominant groups of the Late Cretaceous, the Beryciformes, was still common and specious in the Paleocene of Bavaria, but mostly represented by genera or families persisting until Recent. A good proportion of those groups can be considered as ‘living fossils’ in the Recent. The phylo genetic analyses and interpretation for several higher taxa are presented in a chapter at the end of this study
Ariidae catfish are described from the early Miocene Pirabas Formation in northeastern Brazil, Cantaure and Castillo formations in northwestern Venezuela, and Castilletes Formation in North Colombia. A skull from the Pirabas Formation is described as Cathorops
goeldii, n. sp. and an otolith is identified as Cathorops sp. The otoliths from Cantaure, Castillo and Castilletes formations are described as Cantarius nolfi n. sp. and Bagre
protocaribbeanus n. sp. These coeval lithostratigraphic units reflect the Proto-Caribbean conditions and the shallow water tropical palaeoenvironment during the Miocene, particularly associated with marine coastal lagoon and estuarine influence.
An overview of upper pPliocene and pleistocene otolith assemblages is compiled on the basis of both literature data and newly collected material from several sections located mainly in southern Italy. One hundred and five taxa are listed. Additional comments are provided for taxa subject to discussion. The composition and affinities of the Mediterranean Pleistocene otolith associations (consisting mainly of deep sea fishes) is checked against the available data for Pre-Messinian, Pliocene, and Recent Mediterranean fishes. This analysis is based on the recorded nominal species, but some taxa that could be identified at the generic level only are also included when they are relevant from a biogeographic point of view. Some new data on Piacenzian (middle Pliocene) and Gelasian (upper Pliocene) otoliths are also provided because this time interval still constitutes a major gap in the knowledge of the stratigraphic range of Plio-Pleistocene fish taxa. The Pleistocene deepwater fish fauna of the Mediterranean shows a markedly more oceanic character than the present-day one, a tendency that was all ready observed from early Oligocene till Pliocene times. Starting from the late Piacenzian, an increasing number of Atlantic taxa progressively invaded the Mediterranean including several subpolar and temperate forms. This invasion became stronger in the Gelasian. From this period up to the middle and late Pleistocene, the Mediterranean deepwater fish fauna (mesopelagic and benthopelagic) is enriched by taxa which today are typical for the north Atlantic cold deep water. This faunal shift seems to be correlated with the evolution of the Plio-Pleistocene Mediterranean paleoceanographic setting as well as with the global climatic deterioration.
The lithostratigraphy of the Coastal Group (Neogene) in the southeastern part of the parish of St. Thomas, Jamaica, is formally described based on detailed geological mapping. Four formations and two members are recognised: August Town Formation (including the Leith Hall Member [new member]); Layton Formation (reintroduced name) (including the Bowden Member); Old Pera Formation (changed rank) and Port Morant Formation (formerly introduced). Type sections for each new and upgraded formation are described. The paper presents the revised lithostratigraphy of the formations, clarifies some previous misconceptions, and places the formations into a formal nomenclature as set out by the International Stratigraphic Commission.
Five gymnosomatous molluscan taxa were recently introduced applying 'open generic nomenclature' by using the indication 'Genus Clionidarum' instead of a formal genus name and therefore violating ICZN art. 11.9.3 of the Code. Herein those taxa are validated by placing them in the type genus of the family Clionidae, followed by a question mark indicating here that they might as well belong to any other of the known (or as yet unknown) genera in the family Clionidae .
Four new late Pleistocene faunas have been collected in Chatham County, Georgia, in the vicinity of Savannah. Together they have produced 103 vertebrate taxa (12 chondrichthyans, 25 actinopterygians, 7 amphibians, 20 reptiles, 4 birds, and 35 mammals), of which at least 14 are extinct. About 75 percent of these taxa are reported for the first time as fossils from coastal Georgia. The Isle of Hope, Mayfair, and Jones Girls sites are numerically dominated by neritic marine fossils, both vertebrate and invertebrate, implying that their original depositional environment was estuarine or nearshore marine. The less common, terrestrial component of these faunas was either brought in by fluvial and tidal current transport or introduced by reworking of underlying continental sediments. These sites apparently date to the last interglacial (oxygen isotope Stage 5), at a time when relative sea level was close to or slightly above current values. This age assignment is supported by the composition of the fauna and uranium-series and radiocarbon dating. The fourth new site, Porters Pit, is a fluvial channel lag deposit of coarse clastic sediments and a chronologically mixed assemblage of Miocene, Pliocene, and Pleistocene fossils. It dates to a period of fluvial down-cutting during an eustatic sea-level lowstand.The Isle of Hope Site contains the first rich vertebrate microfauna from coastal Georgia. The most significant aspects of this fauna are the presence of several extralimital taxa (e.g., Ambystoma maculatum, Blarina brevicauda, Microtus pennsylvanicus, Neofiber alleni), and the dominance among the small rodents by arvicolines rather than peromyscines and sigmodontines. An unlikely member of the fauna is the small felid Leopardus. Although represented by only a single element, a mandible, it differs morphologically from modern members of the genus and the late Pleistocene species Leopardus amnicola.
Between 8 and 6 million years ago, there was a global increase in the biomass of plants using C-4 photosynthesis as indicated by changes in the carbon isotope ratios of fossil tooth enamel in Asia, Africa, North America and South America. This abrupt and widespread increase in C-4 biomass may be related to a decrease in atmospheric CO2 concentrations below a threshold that favoured C-3-photosynthesizing plants. The change occurred earlier at lower latitudes, as the threshold for C-3 photosynthesis is higher at warmer temperatures.
The onset of major glaciations in the Northern Hemisphere about 2.7 million years ago was most probably induced by climate cooling during the late Pliocene epoch. These glaciations, during which the Northern Hemisphere ice sheets successively expanded and retreated, are superimposed on this long-term climate trend, and have been linked to variations in the Earth's orbital parameters. One intriguing problem associated with orbitally driven glacial cycles is the transition from 41,000-year to 100,000-year climatic cycles that occurred without an apparent change in insolation forcing. Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the transition, both including and excluding ice-sheet dynamics. Difficulties in finding a conclusive answer to this palaeoclimatic problem are related to the lack of sufficiently long records of ice-sheet volume or sea level. Here we use a comprehensive ice-sheet model and a simple ocean-temperature model to extract three-million-year mutually consistent records of surface air temperature, ice volume and sea level from marine benthic oxygen isotopes. Although these records and their relative phasings are subject to considerable uncertainty owing to limited availability of palaeoclimate constraints, the results suggest that the gradual emergence of the 100,000-year cycles can be attributed to the increased ability of the merged North American ice sheets to survive insolation maxima and reach continental-scale size. The oversized, wet-based ice sheet probably responded to the subsequent insolation maximum by rapid thinning through increased basal-sliding, thereby initiating a glacial termination. Based on our assessment of the temporal changes in air temperature and ice volume during individual glacials, we demonstrate the importance of ice dynamics and ice-climate interactions in establishing the 100,000-year glacial cycles, with enhanced North American ice-sheet growth and the subsequent merging of the ice sheets being key elements.
A deep-sea sediment core underlying the Benguela upwelling system off southwest Africa provides a continuous time series of sea surface temperature (SST) for the past 4.5 million years. Our results indicate that temperatures in the region have declined by about 10 degrees C since 3.2 million years ago. Records of paleoproductivity suggest that this cooling was associated with an increase in wind-driven upwelling tied to a shift from relatively stable global warmth during the mid-Pliocene to the high-amplitude glacial-interglacial cycles of the late Quaternary. These observations imply that Atlantic Ocean surface water circulation was radically different during the mid-Pliocene.
The Earth's climate has undergone a global transition over the past four million years, from warm conditions with global surface temperatures about 3 degrees C warmer than today, smaller ice sheets and higher sea levels to the current cooler conditions. Tectonic changes and their influence on ocean heat transport have been suggested as forcing factors for that transition, including the onset of significant Northern Hemisphere glaciation approximately 2.75 million years ago, but the ultimate causes for the climatic changes are still under debate. Here we compare climate records from high latitudes, subtropical regions and the tropics, indicating that the onset of large glacial/interglacial cycles did not coincide with a specific climate reorganization event at lower latitudes. The regional differences in the timing of cooling imply that global cooling was a gradual process, rather than the response to a single threshold or episodic event as previously suggested. We also find that high-latitude climate sensitivity to variations in solar heating increased gradually, culminating after cool tropical and subtropical upwelling conditions were established two million years ago. Our results suggest that mean low-latitude climate conditions can significantly influence global climate feedbacks.
A comprehensive revision of the cusk-eel genus Lepophidium, encompassing all 23 known species, is presented in a single work for the first time. A summary discussion of the status of Lepophidium and its position in the Lepophidiini is presented. Systematic accounts for each species of Lepophidium detail meristic, mensural, and pigment pattern variability, including features of the skeletal and internal anatomy. Eight species are described as new: Lepophidium collettei n. sp., Lepophidium zophochir n. sp., Lepophidium entomelan n. sp., Lepophidium cultratum n. sp., Lepophidium crossotum n. sp., Lepophidium wileyi n. sp., Lepophidium robustum n. sp., and Lepophidium gilmorei n. sp. Two subspecies are elevated to full species. Individual species distribution maps based on 1,012 collections of Lepophidium examined by the authors are presented. A dichotomous key to the 23 species of Lepophidium is provided. Study material, examined over the course of six decades by the senior author, is archived in various natural history museums detailed herein.
Fossil teleostean otoliths from the Mississippi River mudlumps are described for the first time. Analysis of the 446 otoliths obtained from the Late Pleistocene-Early Holocene sediment of a Mississippi River mudlump in the South Pass area of Louisiana revealed the presence of a varied teleostean fauna. The otoliths represent at least 25 families and 40 species of marine fishes. Bregmaceros, a small, cod-like fish that is common on the middle shelf of the present Gulf of Mexico, comprised 42 percent of the total number of otoliths recovered. The otoliths represented teleosts that are presently found in marine waters less than 200 meters in depth. Comparison of the otoliths to modern analogues indicated a depositional environment of middle to outer shelf with temperate to tropical conditions.
The study of approximately twenty three thousand otoliths from Plio-Pleistocene sites in the harbour region of Antwerp, as well as a critical revision of already published material allowed us to identify a teleostean fauna with fourty seven species (including two subspecies and seven species in open nomenclature). Two of these, Ophidion springeri and Uranoscopus septentrionalis are new to science. The fauna is typical for coastal waters slightly warmer than those of the actual North Sea and caracterized by the predominance of Gadidae. Biostratigraphically this fauna is well individualized with respect to preceeding ones (only seven species in common with the Miocene fauna) and those following twenty-three species in common with the extant fauna). The following biostratigraphical subdivision has been recognized in the Upper Miocene and the Plio-Pleistocene of the Antwerp region: (1) an association with «genus? Macrouridarum labiatus, Trisopterus sculptus, Gadiculus benedeni and Trisopterus luscus spectabilis, in the Sands of Deurne (Upper Miocene); (2) an association with Gadiculus benedeni and Merlangius pseudaeglephinus, in the Formation of Kattendijk (Pliocene); (3) an association with Gadiculus verticalis and Merlangius pseudaeglefinus in the Formation of Lillo (Plio-Pleistocene); (4) an association with Gadus morhua and Merlangius pseudaeglefinus in the so called «Icenian deposits not present in Belgium but found in the Netherlands.
Four species of morids (Antimora microlepis, MiCl'olepidium ve1'ecundum, Physiculus nematopus, and P. rastrelliger) are known to inhabit waters of the eastern North Pacific. These can be differentiated by numerous external and internal characters including fin ray counts, dentition, head shape, gill-raker counts, vertebral counts, and otoliths. 1I1icrolepidium grandiceps and Physiculus longipes were found to be junior synonyms of M. verecundum and P. nematopus, respectively. Only three characters appear to be infallible for recognizing members of family Moridae:" large fontanelles in the exoccipitals through which elongate hornlike pro jections of the swimbladder extend and contact the auditory capsules; the otoliths; and the caudal skeleton. Otoliths and the caudal skeleton were used in evaluating the fossil record, and none of the 10 species that have been accepted as being morids, but which were known only from skeletal imprints, could he proven to be correctly identified. On the other hand, four species known only from fossil otoliths are unquestionably morids. MoriJ otoliths are so distinctive and so characteristic that they appear to be reliable for distinguishing many species and most, if not all, genera. Based upon an examina tion of sagittal otoliths from 15 morid genera it was possible to distinguish four natural groups. These were designated the Mora-group containing Mora, Halargyreus, Antimora, and Lepidion; the Physiculus-group containing Phll·~iculus, Gadella, Tripterophycis, Brosmiculu.~, Laemonema, and Microlepidillm; the Pseudophycis-group containing Pseudophycis, Auchenoceros,Lotella, and Salilota; and the Aetuariolum-groupcontaining Aetuariolum, a genus known at present from two species of extinct Miocene morids and one species living in the Antarctic.
Forty-six new records of marine fishes to the Puerto Rican Plateau are reported here with notes on their habitat and life history. The lack of previous reports of many of these species is due to three main reasons: poorly sampled habitats, improved taxonomy, and being a part of a waif fauna. Twenty-one taxa are reported from previously inadequately sampled deep water (>20 m) habitats. Twelve additional species are reported from shallow water in poorly sampled habitats, such as mangroves, soft bottom, or rocky shores. Revision in taxonomy and careful examination revealed seven taxa that are taxonomically distinct from forms previously reported from the area. Finally six rare forms may comprise a waif fauna that infre-quently colonizes the region.
The Tree of Life and a New Classification of Bony Fishes
- R E Betancur-R. R
- E O Broughton
- K Wiley
- J Carpenter
- C López
- N Li
- D Holcroft
- M Arcila
- J Sanciangco
- I I Cureton
- F Zhang
- T Buser
- M Campbell
- J Ballesteros
- A Roa-Varon
- S Willis
- W Borden
- T Rowley
- P C Reneau
- D Hough
- G Lu
- T Grande
- G Arratia
- G Ortí
Betancur-R. R, R. E. Broughton, E. O. Wiley, K.
Carpenter, J. López, C. Li, N. Holcroft, D.
Arcila, M. Sanciangco, J. Cureton II, F. Zhang,
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