Acta Geologica Polonica, Vol. 66 (2016), No. 4, pp. 645–662 DOI: 10.1515/agp-2016-0034 Encrustation of inarticulate brachiopods on scaphitid ammonites and inoceramid bivalves from the Upper Cretaceous U. S. Western Interior NEIL H. LANDMAN1, JOSHUA S. SLATTERY2 and PETER J. HARRIES3 1Division of Paleontology (Invertebrates), American Museum of Natural History, 79th St. and Central Park West, New York, New York 10024, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] 2School of Geosciences, University of South Florida, 4202 East Fowler Ave., NES 107, Tampa, Florida 33620, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] 3Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences, Campus Box 8208, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina 27695-8208, USA. E-mail:
[email protected] ABSTRACT: Landman, N.H., Slattery, J.S. and Harries, P.J. 2016. Encrustation of inarticulate brachiopods on scaphitid am- monites and inoceramid bivalves from the Upper Cretaceous U. S. Western Interior. Acta Geologica Polonica, 66 (4), 645–662.Warszawa. The inarticulate brachiopod Discinisca is a rare faunal element in the Upper Cretaceous of the U.S. Western In- terior. We report two occurrences of encrustation of Discinisca on a scaphitid ammonite (scaphite) and several inoceramids from the lower Maastrichtian Baculites baculus/Endocostea typica Biozones of the Pierre Shale at two localities. Six specimens of Discinisca are present on a single specimen of Hoploscaphites crassus from east- central Montana. They occur along the furrow at the mature apertural margin. Because the brachiopods are re- stricted to the margin and do not occur on the rest of the shell, it is likely that they encrusted the ammonite dur- ing its lifetime.