THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY SCHREYER HONORS COLLEGE

DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY

AN ANALYSIS OF FRESHWATER AND BRACKISH NEOSELACHIANS FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA, CANADA

ROBERT JOHN MCCREA JR SPRING 2017

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a baccalaureate degree in Biology with honors in Biology

Reviewed and approved* by the following:

Todd D. Cook Assistant Professor of Biology Thesis Supervisor

Michael A. Campbell Professor of Biology Honors Adviser

* Signatures are on file in the Schreyer Honors College i

ABSTRACT

The Western Interior Seaway was a large intercontinental sea that divided North America into two land-masses during the Late Cretaceous (100 Ma – 65 Ma). Very little is known about the freshwater and brackish vertebrate faunas that inhabited the river systems draining into the seaway during the middle Campanian and early Maastrichtian. Numerous shark and ray dentitions were recovered from fluvial and freshwater deposits of the Oldman Formation and the

St. Mary River Formation of southern Alberta, Canada. The Oldman Formation site appears to have been dominated by hybodont sharks and Myledaphus rays, whereas the St. Mary River

Formation has produced an orectolobid species. The presence of these species assists in the paleoreconstruction of this non-marine community and provide important insights into the paleodistribution of these long extinct fishes.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES ...... iii

LIST OF TABLES ...... iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ...... v

Chapter 1 Introduction ...... 1

Euselachian Fossil Record ...... 1 Tooth Morphology ...... 2

Chapter 2 Geology ...... 3

Western Interior Seaway ...... 3 Oldman Formation ...... 3 St. Mary River Formation ...... 4

Chapter 3 Materials and Methods ...... 5

Chapter 4 Systematic Paleontology ...... 6

Oldman Formation ...... 6 St. Mary River Formation ...... 7

Chapter 5 Discussion ...... 9

Meristodonoides montanensis ...... 9 Myledaphus bipartitus ...... 9 Restesia sp...... 10 Additional Vertebrate Material ...... 10

References ...... 12

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Western Interior Seaway ...... 16

Figure 2: Oldman Formation Neoselachian Material...... 17

Figure 3: Oldman Formation Additional Vertebrate Material ...... 18

Figure 4: St. Mary River Formation Neoselachians...... 19

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to extend my sincerest thanks to Dr. Alison M. Murray from the University of Alberta for the loan of the Oldman Formation specimens and Dr. Donald B. Brinkman from the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology for the loan of the St. Mary River Formation material. Many thanks are also in order for Jerome A. Magraw for helping out with the SEM imaging and troubleshooting and for Dr. Michael A. Campbell for reviewing an early draft of this thesis. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Todd D. Cook for being my guide throughout this entire process and for his feedback on each of the drafts of this thesis. 1

Chapter 1

Introduction

Euselachian Fossil Record

Chondrichthyans have a fossil record that extends back at least 400 million years. This class consists of skates, rays, sharks, and holocephalans (Nelson et al. 2016). Members of this taxon share the physical characteristic of a cartilaginous endoskeleton (Maisey 1984). Cartilage preserves very poorly, which causes the majority of chondricthyan fossil remains found to be comprised of tissues associated with teeth, scales, and spines (Cappetta 2012).

Euselachian (extant shark and rays, and the extinct hybodont sharks) teeth are abundant in the fossil record because they are constantly being produced and shed as a result of the polyphyodontic condition. The teeth rotate one after the other in rows moving labiolingually until they are shed from the mouth. In essence, as old teeth break or fall out of the mouth, new teeth are behind and in position to take the place of those that were lost (Welton and Farish 1993;

Cappetta 2012).

A shark tooth is comprised of two main parts: the crown and the root. The crown is the exposed projection of the tooth that may be used to clutch, tear, cut, or crush prey items; whereas the root is the portion of the tooth that is anchored within the dental membrane and serves as the entry point for the blood supply (Cappetta 2012). The crown histology consists of a central base of apatitic tissue that is covered by a layer of dentin and a thick superficial layer of enameloid; whereas the root lacks enameloid (Welton and Farish 1993). Crowns can be divided into two 2 broad dental categories: orthodontic and osteodontic. Orthodontic dentition contains base tissue made of orthodentine, dense apatitic tissue, and lacks a pulp cavity; whereas osteodontic dentition contains base tissue made of osteodentine, spongy apatitic tissue, and has a pulp cavity

(Welton and Farish 1993).

Tooth Morphology

Chondrichthyan dentition is unique at the species level and therefore tooth characteristics can be used to identify each individual taxon. (Cappetta 2012). A cusp refers to the major crown projection and may be adjacent to smaller lateral cusplets. The labial surface of the cusp faces out; whereas the lingual surface faces the oral cavity. The crown surfaces are often separated be a sharp cutting edge that runs down the cusp from the apex. The surfaces may also have striations that are produced by enameloid folding. The basal region of the labial crown surface may contain a protrusion that extends in front of the root known as an apron. The lingual surface may also have a similar protuberance known as a uvula. The lingual surface of the root in many species has an expanded area called a lingual protuberance that may or may not possess a nutrient groove and a nutrient foramen containing vasculature. The basal region of the root may be subdivided into root lobes (Welton and Farish 1993; Cappetta 2012).

Herein, the fossil remains of three chondrichthyan species are described in detail. The fossils were recovered from a middle Campanian (78.3 Ma; Eberth and Deino 1992) site and an early Masstrichtian (74 Ma; Rogers et al. 1993) site located in southern Alberta, Canada.

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Chapter 2

Geology

Western Interior Seaway

The Western Interior Seaway (Fig. 1) was a large intercontinental sea that divided North

America into two landmasses during the Late Cretaceous (100 – 65 Ma) (Kauffman 1984). At its maximum, the inland sea stretched from the Arctic Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico (Kauffman

1984; Cumbaa et al. 2010). This seaway was dynamic in that it experienced many transgressive and regressive events. Water temperature within the seaway also varied over time. Warmer periods resulted in a northward expansion of tropical and subtropical microscopic and macroscopic invertebrate fauna; conversely, cooler periods saw a southern withdrawal of these faunas (Kauffman 1984). During the early-late Campanian a transgressive event brought subtropical fauna as far north as present-day Montana. The early Maastrichtian was marked by a large regression event (Kauffman 1984). Both fossil sites from southern Alberta are considered fluvial and floodplain environments and would have been associated with the cooler temperate waters of the seaway during these times (Kauffman 1984).

Oldman Formation

The Oldman Formation, located in southern Alberta, was deposited approximately 78.3

Ma (Eberth and Deino 1992) during the middle Campanian (Eberth 2005). This formation 4 overlies the Foremost Formation and underlies the Dinosaur Park Formation. It consists mostly of sandstone and a lesser amount of siltstone and mudstone and was deposited by fluvial channels and floodplains (Eberth, 2005).

St. Mary River Formation

The St. Mary River Formation, located in southwestern Alberta and northwestern

Montana, was deposited about 74 Ma during the early Maastrichtian (Rogers et al. 1993). This formation overlies the Horsethief Formation and underlies the Willow Creek Formation and consists mainly of mudstones. It was deposited by large system of deltas with evidence of influence by estuaries (Holmes et al. 1999; Hunter et al. 2010).

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Chapter 3

Materials and Methods

The fossil material from the Oldman Formation was surface collected from sites near the town of Manyberries, southern Alberta, Canada, whereas the fossil material from the St. Mary

River Formation was collected at microvertebrate site near the Blackspring Ridge Wind Project, southern Alberta, Canada. The specimens are housed at the University of Alberta and the Royal

Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, respectively. The exact location of the fossil sites is maintained at each institution. The teeth were immersed in weak acetic acid to remove attached matrix. An S-570 Hitachi Scanning Electron Microscope was used to provide detailed imaging of the specimens. Identification of the fossil specimens was accomplished through an extensive literature search (e.g., Brinkman 1990; Peng et al. 2001; Wroblewski 2004). Euselachian dental terminology largely follows Cappetta (2012) 6

Chapter 4

Systematic Paleontology

Oldman Formation

Chondrichthyes Huxley, 1880 Elasmobranchii Bonaparte, 1838 Hybodontiformes Maisey, 1975 Hybodontidae Owen, 1846 Meristodonoides Agassiz, 1837 Meristodonoides montanensis Case, 1978 Figure 2: A1 – C2

The teeth of this species have a large medium cusp that is often flanked by poorly developed lateral cusplets. Both the labial and lingual crown faces are convex and separated by a weak cutting edge. Distinct striations are restricted to the basal third of the crown. Due to its highly porous nature, the roots of the teeth are fractured and missing.

According to Underwood and Cumbaa (2010), species within this genus can be distinguished from other hybodont taxa based on their symmetrical tooth morphology, round median cusp, poorly developed cutting edge, very small lateral cusplets, and highly vascularized root. Meristodonoides montanensis is differentiated from other species within the genus by the reduced height of the crown striations.

Rajiformes Berg, 1940 Rhinobatoidei incertae sedis Myledaphus Cope, 1876 Myledaphus bipartitus Cope, 1876 Figure 2: D1 – G2 7 The teeth of this species have a tall hexagonal-shaped crown that is wider mesodistally than labiolingually. The occlusal face is flat and bears a transverse ridge that divides the occlusal surface into a labial and lingual region. Perpendicular to the ridge are labiolingually directed enameloid folds that extend onto the labial, lingual, and marginal crown faces. The root lobes are separated by a deep nutrient groove that has a central foramen. Additional smaller foramina are situated just below the crown. This species is distinguished from the congeneric species, M. pustulosus, by the presence of pustulose-like tubercles on the labial side of the transverse ridge

(Cook et al. 2014).

Non-dental remains include vertebrae and denticles (= placoid scales). The heavily worn amphicoelous centrum is biconcaved and has concentric rings. Both the neural and hemal arches are fractured and missing. Two distinct denticle morphologies are apparent. Larger denticles have a large folded base and a posteriorly directed spine, whereas the smaller forms are rather mushroom-shaped with a tall folded base and smooth rounded crown.

St. Mary River Formation

Class Chondrichthyes Huxley, 1880 Subclass Elasmobranchii Bonaparte, 1838 Cohort Euselachii Hay, 1902 Order Orectolobiformes Applegate, 1972 Family Orectolobidae Jordan and Fowler, 1903 Genus Restesia Cook, Newbrey, Brinkman, and Kirkland, 2014 Restesia sp. Figure 4: A1 – E2

The teeth of this species are small. The labial crown face bears strong striations, whereas the lingual face is smooth and unornamented. The tall apex of the median cusp expands laterally to form well-developed heels that may have incipient cusplet-like structure. A distinct cutting 8 edge extends to the apex. The base of the labial crown face has emarginations on either side of rather large overhanging apron. The median cusp is distally inclined in more laterally positioned teeth. The root has an elongated pair of V-shaped lobes that are separated by a nutrient groove. A large central foramen is situated between the root lobes.

The specimens recovered from the St. Mary River Formation have an overall morphology similar to that of Restesia americana. This species has been reported from numerous Campanian and Maastrichtian sites throughout the Western Interior Seaway including the Aguja Formation of Texas (Rowe et al. 1992), the Fruitland Formation of New Mexico (Armstrong-Ziegler 1978), the Ferris and Mesaverde formations of Wyoming (Wroblewski 2004; DeMar and Breithaupt

2006), the Fox Hills Formation of South Dakota (Cicimurri 1998), the Hell Creek Formation of

Montana (Cook et al. 2014), and the Dinosaur Park and St. Mary River formations of Alberta

(Langston 1975; Neuman and Brinkman 2005).

The Restesia specimens described here differ from R. americana by having more developed heels, distinct striations on the labial crown surface, and broader apron. The St. Mary

River specimens likely represent a new species of Restesia; however, until further investigation is undertaken, the species will be left in open nomenclature. 9

Chapter 5

Discussion

Meristodonoides montanensis

Meristodonoides has a temporal range that extends from the Aptian or Albian to the early

Maastrichtian (Underwood and Cumbaa 2010). Meristodonoides montanensis appears to have existed primarily during the late Campanian and has been reported from the Mesaverde

Formation of Wyoming (Case 1987) and the Lethbridge Coal Zone of the Dinosaur Park

Formation of Alberta (Beavan and Russell 1999). Bourdon et al. (2011) reported teeth similar to

M. montanensis from the Santonian Hosta Tongue of the Point Lookout Sandstone of New

Mexico. Beavan and Russell (1999) noted that this taxon is common in estuarine depositional environments within the Western Interior Seaway.

Myledaphus bipartitus

Myledaphus have been recovered from the Campanian and Maastrichtian deposits throughout the Western Interior Seaway (Cappetta 2012). Reports include the Agua Formation in

Texas (Standhardt 1986), the Fruitland Formation of New Mexico (Armstrong-Ziegler 1978), the

Laramie formation in Colorado (Carpenter 1979), the Fox Hills Formation in South Dakota

(Becker et al. 2004), the Judith River Formation of Montana (Case 1978), and the Dinosaur Park 10 and St. Mary River formations of Alberta (Langston 1975; Beavan and Russell 1999). Beavan and Russell noted that this species is often found in freshwater deposits.

Restesia sp.

Previous investigations into the vertebrate fauna from the St. Mary River Formation revealed the fossilized remains of ceratopsian dinosaur and mammalian species (Hunter et al.

2010). Brackish water and marine vertebrate species are not well documented from this formation; however, Holmes et al. (1999) reported the partial skeleton of a mosasaurid

Plioplatecarpus. The report of this Restesia dentition adds to the poorly known list of aquatic vertebrates.

Modern orectolobids include the 12 species of carpet sharks commonly known as wobblegong sharks. These benthic sharks live in warmer, more tropic water so that the presence of Restesia at higher paleolatitudes indicate much warmer waters during this time period (Cook et al. 2014).

Additional Vertebrate Material

Additional non-euselachian vertebrate remains were recovered from the Oldman

Formation site. A lepisosteid (gar) fish fragmented scale with thick enamel covering and distinct ornamentation is identified as Atractosteus sp. (Fig. 3A). Reptilian remains include a fractured lepidosaurian osteoderm with distinct ornamentation from the cranial roof from a lepidosaur that was determined to be from Parasaniwa sp. (Fig. 3B) and a large fractured champsosaurid tooth that is slightly laterally compressed and bears a distinct cutting edge identified as 11 Champsosaurus sp. (Fig. 3C). Crocodilian material included a posterior tooth that is bulbous and is crushing in nature (Fig. 3D) and a fractured osteoderm that bears distinctive pits (Fig. 3E) that determined to be from Leidyosuchus sp. Theropod dinosaurian material includes an elongated, slightly laterally compressed and slightly recurved tooth that lacks any small cutting edge serrations and is determined to be Richardoestesia sp. (Fig. 3F) and a fractured Paronychodon sp. tooth containing a series of distinct ridges running along the length of the crown (Fig. 3G).

The occurrence of Meristodonoides montanesis and Myledaphus bipartitus along with these freshwater/brackish and terrestrial faunal remains supports the previous notion that these euselachian species frequented non-marine environments.

Previous investigations into the vertebrate fauna from the St. Mary River Formation revealed the fossilized remains of ceratopsian dinosaur and mammalian species (Hunter et al.

2014). Brackish water and marine vertebrate species are not well documented from this formation; however, Holmes et al. (1999) reported the partial skeleton of a mosasaurid

Plioplatecarpus. The report of this Restesia dentition adds to the poorly known list of aquatic vertebrates. 12

References

Agassiz, L. 1833–1844. Recherches sur les poisson fossils. Neuchatel.

Applegate, S.P.1972. A revision of the higher taxa of orectolobids: Journal of the Marine Biological Association of India, 14:743–751.

Armstrong-Ziegler, J.G. 1978. An aniliid snake and associated vertebrates from the Campanian of New Mexico: Journal of Paleontology, 52:480–483.

Beavan, N.R., and A.P. Russell. 1999. An elasmobranch assemblage from the terrestrial-marine transitional Lethbridge Coal Zone (Dinosaur Park Formation: Upper Campanian), Alberta, Canada: Journal of Paleontology, 73:494–503.

Becker, M.A., J.A. Chamberlain, Jr., and D.O. Terry, Jr. 2004. Chondrichthyans from the Fairpoint Member of the Fox Hills Formation (Maastrichtian), Meade County, South Dakota: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 24:780–793.

Berg, L.S. 1940. Classification of fishes both recent and fossil. Trudy Zoologiceskogo Instituta, Akademia Nauk S.S.S.R., Leningrad, 5:87–517.

Bonaparte, C.L. 1838. Selachorum tabula analytica. Nuovi Annali della Scienze Naturali, Bologna, 1:195–214.

Bourdon, J., K. Wright, S.G. Lucas, J.A. Spielman, and R. Pence. 2011. Selachians from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Hosta Tongue of the Point Lookout Sandstone, central New Mexico. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science, Bulletin, 52:1–52.

Brinkman, D.B. 1990. Palaeoecology of the Judith River Formation (Campanian) of Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada: Evidence from vertebrate microfossil localities: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 78:37–54.

Cappetta, H. 2012. Chondrichthyes. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii: Teeth. In Handbook of Palaeoichthyology, Volume 3E. Edited by H.-P.Schultze. Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München.

Carpenter, K. 1979. Vertebrate fauna from the Laramie Formation (Maestrichtian), Weld County, Colorado: Contributions to Geology, University of Wyoming, 17:37–49.

Case, G.R. 1978. A new selachian fauna from the Judith River Formation (Campanian) of Montana: Palaeontographica Abteilung A, 160:176–205.

13 Case, G.R. 1987. A new selachian fauna from the Late Campanian of Wyoming (Teapot Sandstone Member, Mesaverde Formation, Big Horn Basin). Palaeontographica, Abt. A, 197:1–37.

Cicimurri, D.J. 1998. Fossil Elasmobranchs of the Cretaceous System (Neocomian- Maastrichtian) Black Hills Region, South Dakota and Wyoming [M.S. thesis]: Rapid City, South Dakota, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, 197 p.

Cook, T.D., M.G. Newbrey, D.B. Brinkman, and J.I. Kirkland. 2014. Euselachians from freshwater deposits of the Hell Creek Formation of Montana ,in: G.P. Wilson, W.A. Clemens, J.R. Horner, J.H. Harman (Eds.), Through the end of the Cretaceous in the type locality of the Hell Creek Formation in Montana and adjacent areas, Geological society of America special paper, 503:229–246.

Cope, E.D. 1876. Descriptions of some vertebrate remains from the Fort Union beds of Montana: Proceedings of the Philadelphia Academy of Science, 28:248–261.

Cumbaa, S., K. Shimada, and T.D. Cook. 2010. Mid-Cretaceous vertebrate faunas of the Western Interior Seaway of North America and their evolutionary, paleobiogeographical, and paleoecological implications. Palaeogeograghy, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 295:199–214.

DeMar, D., and B.H. Breithaupt. 2006. The nonmammalian vertebrate micro- fossil assemblages of the Mesaverde Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Campanian) of the Wind River and Bighorn Basins, Wyoming: New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, 35:33–53.

Eberth, D. A., and A. A. Deino. 1992. Geochronology of the Non-marine Judith River Formation of Southern Alberta. Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists, 1992 Theme meeting, Mesozoic of the Western Interior.

Eberth, D.A. 2005. The Geology. In: Dinosaur Provincial Park: a spectacular ancient ecosystem revealed. Edited by P.J. Currie and E.B. Koppelhus. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, Ind. pp. 54–82.

Hay, O.P. 1902. Bibliography and catalogue of the fossil Vertebrata in North America. United States Geological Survey Bulletin, 179:1–868.

Holmes, R., M.W. Caldwell, and S.L. Cumbaa. 1999. A new specimen of Plioplatecarpus (Mosasauridae) from the lower Maastrichtian of Alberta; comments on allometry, functional morphology, and paleoecology. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 36:363– 369.

Hunter J.P., Ronald E. Heinrich, and David B. Weishampel. 2010. Mammals from the St. Mary River Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Montana, Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30:885-898. 14 Huxley, T.H. 1880. On the application of the laws of evolution to the arrangement of the Vertebrata and more particularly of the Mammalia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, 1880:649–662.

Jordan, D.S., and H.W. Fowler. 1903. A review of the elasmobranchiate fishes of Japan: Proceedings of the United States National Museum, 26:593–674.

Kauffman, E.G. 1984. Paleobiogeography and evolutionary response dynamic in the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America. Pp. 273–306 in G.E.G.Westerman (ed). Jurassic-Cretaceous Biochronology and Biogeography of North America. Geological Association of Canada, Special paper 27.

Langston, W., Jr. 1975. The ceratopsian dinosaurs and associated lower vertebrates from the St. Mary River Formation (Maestrichtian) at Scabby Butte, southern Alberta: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, 12:1576–1608.

Maisey, J.G. 1975. The interrelationships of phalacanthous selachians. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Monatshefte, 1975:553–567.

Maisey, J.G. 1984. Higher elasmobranch phylogeny and biostratigraphy. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 82:33–54.

Nelson, J.S., T.C. Grande, and M.V.H. Wilson. 2016. Fishes of the World (5th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley.

Neuman, A.G., and D.B. Brinkman. 2005. Fishes of the fluvial beds, in P.J. Currie, and E.B. Koppelhus, eds., Dinosaur Provincial Park: A Spectacular Ancient Ecosystem Revealed: Bloomington, Indiana University Press, p. 167–185.

Owen, R. 1846. Lectures on the comparative anatomy and physiology of the vertebrate animals, delivered at the Royal College of Surgeons of England in 1844 and 1846. Part 1. Fishes. Longman, London.

Peng, J., A.P. Russell, and D.B. Brinkman. 2001. Vertebrate microsite assemblages from the Foremost and Oldman formations. Provincial Museum of Alberta Natural History Occasional Paper, 25:1–54.

Rogers, R. R., C. C. Swisher, III, and J. R. Horner. 1993. Ar/ Ar age and correlation of the nonmarine Two Medicine Formation (Up- per Cretaceous), northwestern Montana, U.S.A. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 30:1066–1075.

Rowe, T., R.L. Cifelli, T.M. Lehman, and A.Weil. 1992, The Campanian Terlingua local fauna, with a summary of other vertebrates from the Aguja Formation, Trans-Pecos Texas: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 12:472–493. 15 Standhardt, B.R. 1986. Vertebrate Paleontology of the Cretaceous-Tertiary Transition of Big Bend National Park, Texas [Ph.D. thesis]: Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University, 298 p. Underwood, C. J. and S.L. Cumbaa. 2010. Chondrichthyans from a Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) bonebed, Saskatchewan, Canada. Palaeontology, 53:903–944.

Welton, B. and R. Farish. 1993. The Collector's Guide to Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas. Before Time, Texas. 204 pp.

Wroblewski, A.F.J. 2004. New Selachian paleofaunas from “fluvial” deposits of the Ferris and lower Hanna formations (Maastrichtian– Selandian: 66–58 Ma), southern Wyoming: Palaios, 19:249–258.

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Figure 1: Western Interior Seaway

Image from Kauffman (1984) 17

Figure 2: Oldman Formation Neoselachian Material

Scale bar = 1 mm 18

Figure 3: Oldman Formation Additional Vertebrate Material

Scale Bar = 1 mm

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Figure 4: St. Mary River Formation Neoselachians

Scale bar = 1 mm

Academic Vitae

Robert John McCrea Jr [email protected]

Education

The Pennsylvania State University, Erie, PA – PSB  Bachelor of Science in Biology  Schreyer Honors Option

Victoria University of Wellington, NZ – VUW  Education abroad student exchange program  July through November 2016 (Fall 2016 semester)

Undergraduate Thesis

Thesis Title: AN ANALYSIS OF FRESHWATER AND BRACKISH NEOSELACHIANS FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA, CANADA Thesis Supervisor: Dr. Todd D. Cook

Laboratory Experience

St. Mary’s River Formation Fossil Assemblage – PSB January 2017 – May 2017  Researched various Orectolobiformes and other Chondrichthians  Imaged specimens using SEM  Identified specimens using the current academic literature  Dr. Todd D. Cook, Ph.D.

Old Man Formation Fossil Assemblage – PSB January 2016 – May 2016  Cataloged of various unidentified Chondrichthian and other vertebrate microfossils  Prepared specimens for imaging and identification  Corroborated with other academics in identification of specimens  Dr. Todd D. Cook, Ph.D.

Benzyoxazole Project – PSB August 2015 – December 2015  Tested the possible antibacterial qualities of various Benzyoxazole compounds  Prepared growth media and cultured various species of bacteria to be used for testing  Operated and maintained laminar flow hood to aseptically apply treatments to bacteria  Dr. Kelly A. Miller, Ph.D.

Teaching Assistant positions

Laboratory in “Mammalian Physiology” (PSB – BIOL 473) January – May 2016  Provided additional help in laboratory setting  Responded to student questions

Laboratory in “Biology: Function and Development of January – May 2015 Organisms” (PSB – BIOL 240W)  Assisted in teaching of laboratory exercises  Answered student inquiries

Relevant Coursework

Comparative Anatomy – PSB Calculus with Analytic Geometry – PSB Mammalian Physiology – PSB Introductory Psychology – PSB Vertebrate Evolution – PSB Field Biology – VUW Organic Chemistry – PSB Introductory Geology – VUW Introductory Microbiology – PSB Genetics – VUW General Biochemistry – PSB Introductory Linguistics – VUW Introductory Physics – PSB

Work Experience

Lowe’s Store #500 Summer 2014, 2015, and 2016 Seasonal Lawn and Garden Customer Service Associate  Operated power equipment such as a fork truck  Assisted in small maintenance projects such as repairing damaged uprights  Designed projects for customers that required additional information on how to complete their projects

Laboratory Skills

Aseptic technique Culturing of Bacteria Bacterial Media Preparation Dissection technique Scanning Election Microscope technique Field Collection

Computer Skills

Word PowerPoint Excel Photoshop

Presentations

Sigma Xi Undergraduate Research Conference April 2016  Designed a poster on the data collected from the Oldman Formation  Presented poster to about five judges for about 6 minutes for each judge  Placed second in a group of about 10 poster presenters