Paleobiology of the Late Cretaceous Sclerorhynchid Sawfish, Ischyrhiza Mira (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes), from North America Based on New Anatomical Data
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Historical Biology An International Journal of Paleobiology ISSN: 0891-2963 (Print) 1029-2381 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ghbi20 Paleobiology of the Late Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfish, Ischyrhiza mira (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes), from North America based on new anatomical data Phillip C. Sternes & Kenshu Shimada To cite this article: Phillip C. Sternes & Kenshu Shimada (2018): Paleobiology of the Late Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfish, Ischyrhiza mira (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes), from North America based on new anatomical data, Historical Biology, DOI: 10.1080/08912963.2018.1452205 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2018.1452205 Published online: 30 Mar 2018. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at http://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=ghbi20 HISTORICAL BIOLOGY, 2018 https://doi.org/10.1080/08912963.2018.1452205 Paleobiology of the Late Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfish, Ischyrhiza mira (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes), from North America based on new anatomical data Phillip C. Sternesa and Kenshu Shimadaa,b,c aDepartment of Biological Sciences, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA; bDepartment of Environmental Science and Studies, DePaul University, Chicago, IL, USA; cSternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS, USA ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY We describe seven associated skeletal remains of Ischyrhiza mira, a Late Cretaceous sclerorhynchid sawfish, Received 20 December 2017 from the Campanian‒lower Maastrichtian of Tennessee and Alabama, U.S.A., to decipher its paleobiology. Accepted 11 March 2018 Ischyrhiza mira had about 16 or 17 functional spines and about the same number of replacement spines on KEYWORDS each side of the rostrum in which tall erect spines occupied the anterior one-half to two-third of the rostrum Anatomy; batoid; fossil; followed posteriorly by smaller spines. Whereas small hat-shaped dermal denticles were distributed on the Mesozoic; Sclerorhynchidae rostrum, large thorn-like dermal denticles were present on the dorsal side of the body characteristic of sluggish, benthic batoids. We concur with the interpretation that specimens previously identified as rostral spines of Peyeria are actually enlarged thorn-like dermal denticles of a sclerorhynchid. We suggest that the ratio between the rostrum length and total body length of sclerorhynchids was generally about 1:3.27. Our vertebra-based ontogenetic analysis of I. mira gives an age estimate of 12.4 years for a 190-cm-long individual, the size at birth of about 0.5 m, and the maximum possible length for the species of no more than 3 m. Compared to extant pristid sawfishes, I. mira probably became sexually mature much earlier with a slightly faster rate of rostrum development. Introduction Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Texas, and New Mexico as well as from Alberta, Canada (Cappetta and Case 1975a; Lauginiger Sclerorhynchidae (Elasmobranchii: Rajiformes) is an extinct and Hartstein 1983; Case and Schwimmer 1988; Russell 1988; batoid group of ‘sawfishes’sensu lato found in Cretaceous Welton and Farish 1993; Beavan and Russell 1999; Peng et al. rocks nearly worldwide (Kriwet and Kussius 2001). Like the 2001; Becker et al. 2006; Spielmann et al. 2009; Cicimurri et al. extant sawfishes (Rhinopristiformes: Pristidae) and sawsharks 2014; Bice and Shimada 2016). Most reported remains of I. mira (Pristiophoriformes: Pristiophoridae) (Ebert et al. 2013; Naylor consist of isolated rostral spines and oral teeth. Some associated et al. 2016), sclerorhynchids are characterised by a dorsoventrally skeletal remains of the species, including a partial rostrum from flattened body with an elongate, spinous rostrum considered the Mooreville Chalk of Alabama (Mehling et al. 2012; Maisey to have evolved independently of pristids and pristiophorids 2013), are known, but those associated specimens have received (Kriwet 2004; Wueringer et al. 2009). One of the sclerorhy- little attention, and the paleobiology of I. mira remains largely nchids is the genus Ischyrhiza Leidy 1856 known from various unknown. Upper Cretaceous deposits nearly worldwide, including Africa (I. In this paper, we examine seven sets of associated skele- nigeriensis Tabaste 1963), western Eurasia (I. germaniae (Albers tal remains of Ischyrhiza mira from lower Campanian‒lower and Weiler 1964); I. viaudi Cappetta 1981; I. serra Nessov 1997), and South America (I. hartenbergeri Cappetta 1975) (note: some Maastrichtian marine deposits in Tennessee and Alabama species have been transferred to other sclerorhynchid genera, (Figure 1), including the aforementioned partial rostrum from such as I. iwakiensis Uyeno and Hasegawa 1986, to Onchosaurus the Mooreville Chalk of Alabama (Figure 2). None of them Gervais 1852; and I. texana Cappetta and Case 1975b to Kiestus preserves oral teeth that would confirm whether teeth referred Cappetta and Case 1999). In North America, Cappetta (2012) to as I. mira (e.g. Welton and Farish 1993) do indeed belong to lists four species of Ischyrhiza to be valid: I. avonicola Estes 1964 the species, and these associated specimens are mostly disar- and I. mira Leidy 1856 from the Turonian‒Maastrichtian, I. geor- ticulated and highly partial. Nevertheless, they are significant giensis Case, Schwimmer, Borodin, and Leggett 2001 from the because they offer a wealth of paleobiological information about Santonian, and I. monasterica Case and Cappetta 1997 from the the fossil sawfish because, besides the rostrum, they include Maastrichtian. Among them, I. mira is the most common species associated sets of rostral spines, dermal denticles, and verte- in which it has been reported from New Jersey, Delaware, Kansas, brae. We first describe the morphology and variation of each CONTACT Phillip C. Sternes [email protected] © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online 30 Mar 2018 P. C. STERNES AND K. SHIMADA 2 Figure 1. Stratigraphic and geographic distribution of associated skeletal specimens of Ischyrhiza mira Leidy 1856 examined in this study. (a) generalised Upper Cretaceous stratigraphy of western Tennessee and western Alabama with triangular arrows to the right pointing to stratigraphic positions of respective specimens (stratigraphic information based on Mancini et al. 1996, Figure 2, and Ikejiri et al. 2013, Figure 3). (b) generalised paleogeographic map of North America during middle Late Campanian showing oceanic mass in white, land masses in dark gray, and position of Tennessee and Alabama in light gray (map based on Kauffman 1984, Figure 12). (c) close-up view of Tennessee and Alabama showing locality of each specimen. anatomical element in I. mira and then make various paleobi- chondrichthyan and seven osteichthyan taxa as well as 14 tet- ological inferences such as its ontogenetic growth pattern and rapod taxa, including two dinosaur taxa are known from the life history strategies. Demopolis Chalk (Ikejiri et al. 2013). The Ripley Formation is characterised by glauconitic fine sand and sandy calcare- Geographical and stratigraphic context ous clay interbedded by thin indurated fossiliferous sandstone beds (Raymond et al. 1988). At least nine chondrichthyan taxa, The specimens ofIschyrhiza mira described in this paper come four osteichthyan fish taxa, and eight tetrapod taxa including from the Mooreville Chalk (lower Campanian), the Bluffport two dinosaurs are known (Ikejiri et al. 2013). The upper part of Marl Member (mid‒upper Campanian) of the Demopolis the Coon Creek Formation consists of silty to clayey sand with Chalk Formation, and the upper part of the Ripley Formation local siderite concretions (Ebersole 2016). Fossil vertebrates (lower Maastrichtian) in Alabama as well as from the upper are rare in the formation, but reported taxa include at least 11 part of the Coon Creek Formation (upper Campanian) in chondrichthyan and nearly 20 osteichthyan fishes as well as 11 Tennessee (Figure 1). These rock units are marine depos- reptile taxa, including a pterosaur and a dinosaur (Whetstone its that formed along the eastern‒southern shoreline of the 1977; Gibson 2008). Besides I. mira, taxa reported from all Late Cretaceous Mississippi Embayment that connected to four stratigraphic units include Scapanorhynchus texanus, the southern end of the Western Interior Seaway to the west ‘Cretalamna’ appendiculata, Squalicorax pristodontus, ichthy- (Figure 1(b)). The Mooreville Chalk consists of fossiliferous odectiforms (Saurodon sp. and/or Xiphactinus sp.), Enchodus chalk and chalky marl (Raymond et al. 1988). It is rich in fossil spp. as well as one or more taxa of testudines, mosasaurs (e.g. vertebrates, including at least 23 chondrichthyan species, 26 Plioplatecarpus sp.), marine crocodilians, and dinosaur (e.g. osteichthyan fish species, and 39 tetrapod taxa including five hadrosaur) (Gibson 2008; Ikejiri et al. 2013). Whereas most of dinosaur and two avian taxa (Ikejiri et al. 2013). The Bluffport these fish taxa are marine components (e.g. Everhart 2017), the Marl Member represents the upper part of the Demopolis fact that dinosaurs have been found in all these stratigraphic Chalk and consists of massive chalky marl, clayey chalk, units indicates that the shoreline must have been not so far and calcareous clay (Raymond et al. 1988). At least seven from those locations. HISTORICAL BIOLOGY 3 Figure 2. Rostral specimen of Ischyrhiza mira Leidy