DOCSLIB.ORG

On the Fossil Animal Exuviæ of the Yorkshire Coal Field

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
On the Fossil Animal Exuviæ of the Yorkshire Coal Field Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 288 of a liquid fire ; the waves being crusted with luminousness, and the appearance altogether grand and imposing. THE EVENING MEETING. Earl FiTzwiLLiAM having resumed the Chair, The Rev. Dr. SCORESBY described at some length one or two interesting communications which he had made at the recent meeting of the British Association at Cambridge, embracing that by Mr. Hunt " On the Changes produced by the Solar Rays ;" and another by Mons. Couloier Gravier, " Observations on Falling or Shooting Stars at Rheiras and Paris," who had ascertained that in the Northern quarter there were, on an average, 74 per day; in the Eastern quarter, 114; in the Southern quarter, 63; and in the Western quarter, 33. He found that the time for the greatest number was six in the morning, and the fewest at six in the evening. The greatest number was on the 9th of November, and the next greatest number was on the 8th and 9th of August. The number of 5,202 shooting stars had been perceived in 1,054 hours, an average of five in an hour. The result of his calculation was, that about six millions of these shooting stars were occurring annually within sight of the observer. The Doctor lastly described a large magnetic machine of his own construction, with some results of its action. Mr. DENNY then read the following paper :— ON THE FOSSIL ANIMAL EXUVI^ OF THE YORKSHIRE COAL FIELD. BY HENRY DENNY, A.L.S., ETC., OF LEEDS. As every attempt, however slight, to illustrate or investigate the Geology or Zoology of any particular district cannot fail to be of some service to science, I venture to submit to the Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 289 Geological and Polytechnic Society of the West-Riding, a brief sketch of the Fossil Animal ExuvicB of the Yorkshire Coal Field. That the list which will be submitted to you is imperfect I feel fully persuaded, from my not having had the opportunity of ascertaining what the different collections in the neighbourhood contain. But it occurred to me, that if some individual prepared the skeleton of a catalogue, it might be amplified and rendered more complete by those whose information was more extensive, and thus form a synopsis worthy of the attention of a Society whose particular province it is to collect, collate, and register facts especially connected with the local Geology and History of the West Riding of Yorkshire, that being the kind of information which practical Geologists will naturally expect them as a body to supply; for it is by recording observations though in themselves apparently unimportant, that materials are furnished for more extended and valuable investigations. The Coal Field, whose relics we have to consider, extends in length, as is pretty generally known, from Moor AUerton, North of Leeds, to Sheffield, and is there further extended into the adjoining counties of Derbyshire and Nottingham­ shire ; its greatest breadth, I believe, is between Halifax and Pontefract, about 20 miles. Throughout this extent of country, there are several distinct Coal seams or beds, which are designated by the name of the locality in which they are principally worked. Thus, the lowest is that worked at Halifax and neighbourhood, at the depth of above 200 yards, which extends to Idle, Rawden, Kirkstall, and Moor Allerton, where it crops out at only a few inches in thickness, and is of no use as Coal, or worth working. This seam, above all the others, is peculiarly characterised by some organic remains, which we shall have shortly to allude to. The next in importance above it is the Low Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 290 Moor coal, or that worked at Low Moor, Bowling, and Bradford; above this bed is another worked also at Low Moor and Royds, called the black bed. The next in order is the Beeston Coal; next follows the very valuable Coal seams worked at Middleton, Rothwell Haigh, Waterloo, and Wakefield Outwood Collieries, which are succeeded by those of Lofthouse, &c. With the identity or not of some of these seams, I have nothing to do; I only allude to the most generally recognized Coal beds, as the source from whence fossils have been received. This part of the Carboniferous system is distinguished from all the other formations by the much greater abundance and elegance of its fossil plants, which is only what we should, cL prioriy expect, knowing as we do that this valuable deposit owes its existence to vast accumulations of vegetable matter. The plants, therefore, have been long known and acknow­ ledged, though not until very lately accurately identified and classed. But the remains of the higher divisions of the animal kingdom were not even supposed to occur at all. Mr. Conybeare, indeed, in his valuable " Geology of England and Wales" says, " The remains derived from the animal kingdom are very rare, and entirely confined to a few species of Testacea, excepting that in one instance a fragment supposed to have been part of the radius of a Ballistes has been found." That this opinion was un­ founded, I need scarcely say, when our own district furnishes such abundant evidence to the contrary. Nay, I believe I may assert, without fear of contradiction, that the West Riding produced the Jirst well authenticated specimens of Icbthyological Exuvise, from the Coal forma­ tion, in the justly celebrated Heads of Megalichthys, from the Low Moor and Waterloo Collieries, drawings of which were sent to Cuvier, in 1823, for his opinion as to their Reptilian or Fish nature. Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 291 That the enumeration of Animal Exuviae, which will be submitted to you, is meagre, I cannot deny; but from what has just been stated, I presume every one will be prepared to expect this:—that is, as compared with the earlier and subsequent formations. This is more especially the case, however, with the Invertebrate tribes. No Zoophytes, no Crustacea, (with a solitary exception), no Echinodermata, and only a few Molluscous Animals and Conchifera. This paucity, however, is easily accounted for, if we consider Coal as a fresh-water deposit in the first instance, in which we must all be well aware the number of Molluscous Animals and Crustaceans, whether in rivers, lakes, or ponds, is very small, when compared with the countless myriads and variety of forms which people the ocean; and add to which, the total exclusion of Zoophytes, Echinoderms, Acalephae, and Tunicata, &c. Reasoning, then, upon such premises, only a very limited proportion of the former inhabitants of such localities can be expected to occur in the Coal strata. For instance, of the Brachiopodous Conchifera, six hundred fossil species are known in the older rocks. In the Coal strata, we have only one or two at most. How is this to be accounted for ? They are all marine. As we find the quality of Coal varies in different parts of the kingdom, so also do we find varieties in the fossil remains, which is a point of great interest. I am not aware that examples of the fossil Flora have ever been found associated with the exuviaj of Vertebrate animals; with Invertebrate, they are occasionally. These facts, if duly investigated, may probably throw some important light upon the Afferent circumstances under which the various Coal seams were deposited. Were any Vegetable relics ever found in the cannel or stone Coal ? I believe not. While, on the other hand, the remains of our largest fishes are there the most abundant The Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 292 Ichthyolites are generally in a highly bituminous shale, sometimes forming the roof, and at other times the floor, of the Coal seam; while the fossil plants occur in the argillaceous shales and sandstones, which occupy the same situation, but appear destitute of the. former substance. Can the presence of bituminous matter in the one instance, and its absence in the other, be owing in any degree to the decomposition of animal substances ? which has been conjectured by some writers as affording a probable ex­ planation of the difference which they present in miner- alogical analysis. The different seams of Coal, even in the same pit, will not always yield the same remains. At Middleton, there are three seams, known as the Fish Coal, Yard Coal, and Main Coal. In the roofing shale of each of these seams fish remains occur, but in the first more especially; hence the colliers have designated it the Fish Coal, and Mr. Teale the Ichthyophorous shale. In the Main Coal shale, we find a much smaller number of fish exuvise, but they are of a peculiar character and of greater magnitude, such as large vertebrae and dorsal rays or spines, &c., of shark­ like fishes; while the Yard Coal is still more deficient, and contains only a few small teeth of Holoptychius and Ctenop- tychius. " The manner," observes Mr, Williamson, " in which Ichthyolites are associated with other remains in different localities is well worthy of attention. At Burdiehouse, they occur in the midst of Unios, Cyprides, and Micro- conchus Carbonarius; at Colebrook Dale, with species of Orbicula, Trochus, Nautilus, Orthoceras, and Conuiaria; in the Lower Measures of Lancashire, in beds nearly associated with those, containing Goniatites Listeri, and Pecten Papyraceus; in the Higher Measures of Lanca­ shire and in Yorkshire, with Unionidge and Entomostraca; Downloaded from http://pygs.lyellcollection.org/ by guest on September 29, 2021 29S at Middleton, with Lingulae; at the top of the series in Lancashire and Derbyshire, with Mytili." The highest class of vertebrate animals whose remains are found in the Coal Measures, is that of Fishes.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Late Permian Ichthyofauna from the Zechstein Basin, Lithuania-Latvia Region
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/554998; this version posted February 20, 2019. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY 4.0 International license. 1 A late Permian ichthyofauna from the Zechstein Basin, Lithuania-Latvia Region 2 3 Darja Dankina-Beyer1*, Andrej Spiridonov1,4, Ģirts Stinkulis2, Esther Manzanares3, 4 Sigitas Radzevičius1 5 6 1 Department of Geology and Mineralogy, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania 7 2 Chairman of Bedrock Geology, Faculty of Geography and Earth Sciences, University 8 of Latvia, Riga, Latvia 9 3 Department of Botany and Geology, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain 10 4 Laboratory of Bedrock Geology, Nature Research Centre, Vilnius, Lithuania 11 12 *[email protected] (DD-B) 13 14 Abstract 15 The late Permian is a transformative time, which ended in one of the most 16 significant extinction events in Earth’s history. Fish assemblages are a major 17 component of marine foods webs. The macroevolution and biogeographic patterns of 18 late Permian fish are currently insufficiently known. In this contribution, the late Permian 19 fish fauna from Kūmas quarry (southern Latvia) is described for the first time. As a 20 result, the studied late Permian Latvian assemblage consisted of isolated 21 chondrichthyan teeth of Helodus sp., ?Acrodus sp., ?Omanoselache sp. and 22 euselachian type dermal denticles as well as many osteichthyan scales of the 23 Haplolepidae and Elonichthydae; numerous teeth of Palaeoniscus, rare teeth findings of 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/554998; this version posted February 20, 2019.
    [Show full text]
  • Geological Survey of Ohio
    GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF OHIO. VOL. I.—PART II. PALÆONTOLOGY. SECTION II. DESCRIPTIONS OF FOSSIL FISHES. BY J. S. NEWBERRY. Digital version copyrighted ©2012 by Don Chesnut. THE CLASSIFICATION AND GEOLOGICAL DISTRIBUTION OF OUR FOSSIL FISHES. So little is generally known in regard to American fossil fishes, that I have thought the notes which I now give upon some of them would be more interesting and intelligible if those into whose hands they will fall could have a more comprehensive view of this branch of palæontology than they afford. I shall therefore preface the descriptions which follow with a few words on the geological distribution of our Palæozoic fishes, and on the relations which they sustain to fossil forms found in other countries, and to living fishes. This seems the more necessary, as no summary of what is known of our fossil fishes has ever been given, and the literature of the subject is so scattered through scientific journals and the proceedings of learned societies, as to be practically inaccessible to most of those who will be readers of this report. I. THE ZOOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF OUR FOSSIL FISHES. To the common observer, the class of Fishes seems to be well defined and quite distin ct from all the other groups o f vertebrate animals; but the comparative anatomist finds in certain unusual and aberrant forms peculiarities of structure which link the Fishes to the Invertebrates below and Amphibians above, in such a way as to render it difficult, if not impossible, to draw the lines sharply between these great groups.
    [Show full text]
  • Xenacanthus (Chondrichthyes: Xenacanthiformes) from North America
    Acta Geologica Polonica, Vol. 49 (J 999), No.3, pp. 215-266 406 IU S UNES 0 I Dentitions of Late Palaeozoic Orthacanthus species and new species of ?Xenacanthus (Chondrichthyes: Xenacanthiformes) from North America GARY D. JOHNSON Department of Earth Sciences and Physics, University of South Dakota; 414 East Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069-2390, USA. E-mail: [email protected] ABSTRACT: JOHNSON, G.D. 1999. Dentitions of Late Palaeozoic Orthacanthus species and new species of ?Xenacanthus (Chondrichthyes: Xenacanthiformes) from North America. Acta Geologica Polonica, 49 (3),215-266. Warszawa. Orthacanthus lateral teeth have paired, variably divergent, smooth, usually carinated labio-lingually compressed principal cusps separated by a central foramen; one or more intermediate cusps; and an api­ cal button on the base isolated from the cusps. Several thousand isolated teeth from Texas Artinskian bulk samples are used to define the heterodont dentitions of O. texensis and O. platypternus. The O. tex­ ensis tooth base has a labio-Iingual width greater than the anteromedial-posterolateral length, the basal tubercle is restricted to the thick labial margin, the principal cusps are serrated to varying degrees, and the posterior cusp is larger. The O. platypternus tooth base is longer than wide, its basal tubercle extends to the center, the labial margin is thin, serrations are absent on the principal cusps, the anterior cusp is larger, and a single intermediate cusp is present. More than two hundred isolated teeth from Nebraska (Gzhelian) and Pennsylvania (Asselian) provide a preliminary description of the heterodont dentition of O. compress us . The principal cusps are similar to O.
    [Show full text]
  • Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous Chondrichthyans from the Fairfield Group, Canning Basin, Western Australia
    Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous chondrichthyans from the Fairfield Group, Canning Basin, Western Australia Brett Roelofs, Milo Barham, Arthur J. Mory, and Kate Trinajstic ABSTRACT Teeth from 18 shark taxa are described from Upper Devonian to Lower Carbonif- erous strata of the Lennard Shelf, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Spot samples from shoal facies in the upper Famennian Gumhole Formation and shallow water car- bonate platform facies in the Tournaisian Laurel Formation yielded a chondrichthyan fauna including several known species, in particular Thrinacodus ferox, Cladodus thomasi, Protacrodus aequalis and Deihim mansureae. In addition, protacrodont teeth were recovered that resemble formally described, yet unnamed, teeth from Tournaisian deposits in North Gondwanan terranes. The close faunal relationships previously seen for Late Devonian chondrichthyan taxa in the Canning Basin and the margins of north- ern Gondwana are shown here to continue into the Carboniferous. However, a reduc- tion in species overlap for Tournaisian shallow water microvertebrate faunas between the Canning Basin and South China is evident, which supports previous studies docu- menting a separation of faunal and terrestrial plant communities between these regions by this time. The chondrichthyan fauna described herein is dominated by crushing type teeth similar to the shallow water chondrichthyan biofacies established for the Famennian and suggests some of these biofacies also extended into the Early Carboniferous. Brett Roelofs. Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987 Perth, WA 6845, Australia. [email protected] Milo Barham. Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987 Perth, WA 6845, Australia. [email protected] Arthur J.
    [Show full text]
  • Copyrighted Material
    06_250317 part1-3.qxd 12/13/05 7:32 PM Page 15 Phylum Chordata Chordates are placed in the superphylum Deuterostomia. The possible rela- tionships of the chordates and deuterostomes to other metazoans are dis- cussed in Halanych (2004). He restricts the taxon of deuterostomes to the chordates and their proposed immediate sister group, a taxon comprising the hemichordates, echinoderms, and the wormlike Xenoturbella. The phylum Chordata has been used by most recent workers to encompass members of the subphyla Urochordata (tunicates or sea-squirts), Cephalochordata (lancelets), and Craniata (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals). The Cephalochordata and Craniata form a mono- phyletic group (e.g., Cameron et al., 2000; Halanych, 2004). Much disagree- ment exists concerning the interrelationships and classification of the Chordata, and the inclusion of the urochordates as sister to the cephalochor- dates and craniates is not as broadly held as the sister-group relationship of cephalochordates and craniates (Halanych, 2004). Many excitingCOPYRIGHTED fossil finds in recent years MATERIAL reveal what the first fishes may have looked like, and these finds push the fossil record of fishes back into the early Cambrian, far further back than previously known. There is still much difference of opinion on the phylogenetic position of these new Cambrian species, and many new discoveries and changes in early fish systematics may be expected over the next decade. As noted by Halanych (2004), D.-G. (D.) Shu and collaborators have discovered fossil ascidians (e.g., Cheungkongella), cephalochordate-like yunnanozoans (Haikouella and Yunnanozoon), and jaw- less craniates (Myllokunmingia, and its junior synonym Haikouichthys) over the 15 06_250317 part1-3.qxd 12/13/05 7:32 PM Page 16 16 Fishes of the World last few years that push the origins of these three major taxa at least into the Lower Cambrian (approximately 530–540 million years ago).
    [Show full text]
  • A New Cochliodont Anterior Tooth Plate from the Mississippian of Alabama (USA) Having Implications for the Origin of Tooth Plates from Tooth Files Wayne M
    Itano and Lambert Zoological Letters (2018) 4:12 https://doi.org/10.1186/s40851-018-0097-8 RESEARCHARTICLE Open Access A new cochliodont anterior tooth plate from the Mississippian of Alabama (USA) having implications for the origin of tooth plates from tooth files Wayne M. Itano1* and Lance L. Lambert2 Abstract Background: Paleozoic holocephalian tooth plates are rarely found articulated in their original positions. When they are found isolated, it is difficult to associate the small, anterior tooth plates with the larger, more posterior ones. Tooth plates are presumed to have evolved from fusion of tooth files. However, there is little fossil evidence for this hypothesis. Results: We report a tooth plate having nearly perfect bilateral symmetry from the Mississippian (Chesterian Stage) Bangor Limestone of Franklin County, Alabama, USA. The high degree of symmetry suggests that it may have occupied a symphyseal or parasymphyseal position. The tooth plate resembles Deltodopsis? bialveatus St. John and Worthen, 1883, but differs in having a sharp ridge with multiple cusps arranged along the occlusal surface of the presumed labiolingual axis, rather than a relatively smooth occlusal surface. The multicusped shape is suggestive of a fused tooth file. The middle to latest Chesterian (Serpukhovian) age is determined by conodonts found in the same bed. Conclusion: The new tooth plate is interpreted as an anterior tooth plate of a chondrichthyan fish. It is referred to Arcuodus multicuspidatus Itano and Lambert, gen. et sp. nov. Deltodopsis? bialveatus is also referred to Arcuodus. Keywords: Chondrichthyes, Cochliodontiformes, Carboniferous, Mississippian, Bangor limestone, Alabama, Conodonts Background Paleontological studies show that the elasmobranch dental Extant chondrichthyan fishes comprise two clades: the pattern of rows of tooth files, with teeth replaced in a elasmobranchs (sharks, skates, and rays) and the holoce- linguo-labial sequence has been highly conserved, since it phalians (chimaeras).
    [Show full text]
  • 30-Johnson (Xenacanth)
    Lucas, S.G., et al. eds., 2013, The Carboniferous-Permian Transition. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin 60. 161 XENACANTH SHARKS AND OTHER VERTEBRATES FROM THE GERALDINE BONEBED, LOWER PERMIAN OF TEXAS GARY D. JOHNSON Shuler Museum of Paleontology, Institute for the Study of Earth and Man, Southern Methodist University, PO Box 750274, Dallas, Texas 75275-0274; email: [email protected] Abstract—The Geraldine Bonebed occurs in the Nocona Formation (Wichita Group, Sakmarian age) in Texas. It has historically yielded a large number of mostly complete skeletons of four tetrapod taxa, for which it is famous, and also a diverse flora as well as other vertebrates. Bulk samples of matrix were recently screen-washed and sorted to produce a variety of vertebrate microfossils, including sharks, especially xenacanths. The non-xenacanth sharks are rare and include a petalodont tooth (Janassa?), Helodus sp. (4 teeth) and one partial hybodont tooth. These are all considerably more common higher in the Wichita Group. Only the petalodont and possibly the hybodont and Helodus represent a marine component in the fauna, but the marine faunas are more extensive higher in the Wichita. Also new to the fauna are acanthodians, actinopterygians, Cardiocephalus and Ophiacodon. Among the xenacanths are two typically small Xenacanthus sp. occipital spine fragments, two Orthacanthus sp. occipital spine frag- ments (one small, one very small) and hundreds of Orthacanthus teeth. Orthacanthus texensis teeth are much more common than O. platypternus teeth. Teeth of O. texensis and O. platypternus are comparable in size distributions, as determined by statistical analyses of the tooth-base measurements, to those higher in the Wichita Group.
    [Show full text]
  • The Yellowstone Paleontological Survey
    E PALEONT ON O T LO S G W I O C L A L L E National Y Park The Yellowstone Service Department of the Interior Paleontological Survey SURVEY Vincent L. Santucci Yellowstone Center for Resources National Park Service Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming YCR-NR-98-1 1998 How to cite this document: Santucci, V. L. 1998. The Yellowstone Paleontological Survey. Yellowstone Center for Resources, National Park Service, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming,YCR-NR-98-1. Current address for Vincent L. Santucci is National Park Service, P.O. Box 592, Kemmerer, WY 83101. The Yellowstone Paleontological Survey To Lt. Col. Luke J. Barnett, III “Uncle by blood, brother in spirit!” Vincent L. Santucci Yellowstone Center for Resources National Park Service Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming YCR-NR-98-1 1998 Table of Contents Introduction .................................................................................................... 1 Stratigraphy .................................................................................................... 4 Fossil Chronology........................................................................................... 6 Taxonomy ..................................................................................................... 12 Localities ...................................................................................................... 15 Interpretation ................................................................................................ 19 Paleontological Resource Management.......................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Morphology and Histology of Dorsal Spines of the Xenacanthid Shark
    Morphology and histology of dorsal spines of the xenacanthid shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and palaeoenvironmental implications KIMBERLY G. BECK, RODRIGO SOLER-GIJÓN, JESSE R. CARLUCCI, and RAY E. WILLIS Beck, K.G., Soler-Gijón, R., Carlucci, J.R., and Willis, R.E. 2016. Morphology and histology of dorsal spines of the xenacanthid shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and palaeoen- vironmental implications. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 61 (1): 97–117. Detailed studies on Carboniferous species of the xenacanth Orthacanthus have shown that the xenacanth dorsal fin spine can be used for skeletochronological analyses and provides valuable information about development, growth and environmental life conditions of those extinct sharks. We report here for the first time the histology and skeletochro- nology of Permian specimens, dorsal spines of Orthacanthus platypternus from the Craddock Bone Bed (lower Clear Fork Formation; Early Permian, Leonardian age) of northern Baylor County (north-central Texas, USA). Twelve dorsal spines of O. platypternus preserve a highly vascularized wall mainly composed of centrifugally growing dentine in a succession of dentine layers, probably deposited with an annual periodicity. As expected, spines of individuals with 1–2 dentine layers, presumably juveniles, present the smallest sizes. However, spines of individuals showing at least 3–4 dentine layers and interpreted to be subadults/young adults, are distributed in two spine-size clusters corresponding to females (probably the largest spines) and males, in agreement with the hypothesis of sexual size dimorphism proposed in a previous biometric analysis. Our comparative study of O. platypternus and the Stephanian species O.
    [Show full text]
  • Mississippian: Osagean)
    CHONDRICHTHYAN DIVERSITY WITHIN THE BURLINGTON- KEOKUK FISH BED OF SOUTHEAST IOWA AND NORTHWEST ILLINOIS (MISSISSIPPIAN: OSAGEAN) A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science By MATTHEW MICHAEL JAMES HOENIG B.S., Hillsdale College, 2017 2019 Wright State University WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATE SCHOOL Thursday, September 5th, 2019 I HEREBY RECOMMEND THAT THE THESIS PREPARED UNDER MY SUPERVISION BY Matthew Michael James Hoenig ENTITLED Chondrichthyan diversity within the Burlington-Keokuk Fish Bed of Southeast Iowa and Northwest Illinois (Mississippian: Osagean) BE ACCEPTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF Master of Science Charles N. Ciampaglio, Ph.D. Thesis Director Doyle R. Watts, Ph.D. Chair, Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences Committee on Final Examination David A. Schmidt, Ph.D. Stephen J. Jacquemin, Ph.D. Barry Milligan, Ph.D. Professor and Interim Dean of the Graduate School ABSTRACT Hoenig, Matthew Michael James. M.S. Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Wright State University, 2019. Chondrichthyan diversity within the Burlington-Keokuk Fish Bed of Southeast Iowa and Northwest Illinois (Mississippian: Osagean) Chondrichthyan remains occur in abundance within a thin layer of limestone at the top of the Burlington Limestone at the point of the contact with the overlying Keokuk Limestone. This layer of rock, the “Burlington-Keokuk Fish Bed,”1 is stratigraphically consistent and laterally extensive in exposures of the Burlington Limestone near its type section along the Iowa-Illinois border. Deposition of the fish bed occurred on the Burlington Continental Shelf carbonate ramp off the subtropical western coast of Laurussia during the Lower Carboniferous (Late Tournaisian; Osagean) due to a drop in sea level, although the specific mechanism(s) that concentrated the vertebrate fossils remain(s) unknown.
    [Show full text]
  • Proceedings of the Thirty-First Annual Meeting of the Geological Society of America, Held at Baltimore, Maryland, December 27 and 28, 1918
    BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA PROCEEDINGS OF THE THIRTY-FIRST ANNUAL MEETING OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA, HELD AT BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, DECEMBER 27 AND 28, 1918. Edmund Otis Hoyey, Secretary CONTENTS Page Session of Friday, December 27........................................................................ 4 Report of the Council.................................................................................... 4 Secretary’s report................................................................................... 4 Treasurer’s report................................................................................... 7 Editor’s report.......................................................................................... 9 Election of Auditing Committee.................................................................. 11 Election of officers.......................................................................................... 11 Election of Fellows......................................................................................... 12 Necrology......................................................................................................... 12 Memorial of Garland Carr Broadhead (with bibliography); by Charles R. Keyes...................................................................................................... 13 Memorial of Charles R. Eastman (with bibliography); by Bashford Dean.............................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Holocephali; Chondrichthyes)
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.27.222737; this version posted July 28, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. 1 Mineralisation of the Callorhinchus vertebral column 2 (Holocephali; Chondrichthyes) 3 4 Running title: Mineralisation of the Callorhinchus vertebral column 5 6 Jacob Pears1, Zerina Johanson2*, Kate Trinajstic1, Mason Dean3, Catherine 7 Boisvert1 8 1School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, Australia. Email: 9 [email protected]; [email protected]; 10 [email protected] 11 2Department of Earth Sciences, Natural History Museum, London, UK. Email: 12 [email protected] 13 14 3Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Department of Biomaterials, Am 15 Muehlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam, Germany. Email: [email protected] 16 17 *Correspondence: 18 Zerina Johanson: [email protected] 19 20 Keywords: Holocephali, Callorhinchus, tesserae, mineralisation, evolution, stem 21 group Holocephali 22 23 Abstract 24 Chondrichthyes (Elasmobranchii and Holocephali) are distinguished by their largely 25 cartilaginous endoskeleton that comprises an uncalcified core overlain by a mineralised layer; 26 in the Elasmobranchii (sharks, skates, rays) this mineralisation takes the form of calcified 27 polygonal tiles known as tesserae. In recent years, these skeletal tissues have been described 28 in ever increasing detail in sharks and rays but those of Holocephali (chimaeroids) have been 29 less well-described, with conflicting accounts as to whether or not tesserae are present. 30 During embryonic ontogeny in holocephalans, cervical vertebrae fuse to form a structure 31 called the synarcual.
    [Show full text]