KIRKLAND/A TEXANA A NEW OCCURRENCE OF THE PROBLEMATICAL FOSSIL FROM THE CRETACEOUS OF TRANS-PECOS TEXAS RICHARD H. FLUEGEMAN, JR. DEPARTMENTOF GEOLOGY BALLSTATE UNNERSTTY MUNCIE, IND/ANA

Kirklandia texana A fragmentary specimen of the problem­ · valent to the Glen Rose Formation of the atical fossil Caster was Kirklandia texana Big Bend region to the east (Scott and collected along U. S. Highway 67 at the Kidson, 1977) and to the Bluff Mesa town of Shafter, Presidio County, Texas Formation ofKirklandia the Quitman texana and Eagle (Text-figure 1). was Mountains. originally described by Caster (1945) from All of the material the Paw Paw Formation of Denton County, studied. by Caster (1945) was collected KirklandiaTexas and to texana date this is the only reported from· the Paw Paw Formation of Denton occurrence of this problematical fossil. County, Texas. The Paw Paw Formation is has been interpreted as latest Albian to earliest Cenomanian in a fossiljellyfish (Caster, 1945) and as a age (Scott and Kidson,Kirklandia 1977, fig. 2). The traceKirklandia fossil (Fursich texana and Kennedy, 1975). only other specimens that may be assigna­ The identification of the Shafter specimen ble to the genus were described as Caster was made by by Lorcher (1931) from the Middle compari.son to illustrations in Caster Jurassic of GermnayKirklan.dia Given this, the (1945) and in Fursich and Kennedy (1975) Shafter specimen is the oldest fossil and by comparisons to the type material at assigned to fromKirklandia, North theKirklandia University texana of Cin cinnati Geological America and if the Middle Jurassic forms Museum. The occurrence of this specimen are not members of the genus of is interesting in that then the Shafter specimen is the oldest Kirklandiait is preserved texana as a cast. Additionally, this representative of that genus. � the first reported occurrence of Kirklandia from the· Cretaceous of DESCRIPTION OF SPECIMENKirklandia tex­ West Texas and is the only report of ana from the Western Cordillera The Shafter specimen of region. is housed at th!! University of The specimen was collected from the Cincinnati Geological Museum (UCGM Lower Cretaceous Shafter Formation of 46427). For comparative purposes only, the Presidio County, Texas. The section from specimen will be described using the which it was collected is located on the nomenclature of Caster (1945). west side of U. S. Highway 67, 0.5 km The specimen is preserved Kirklandia.as a partial south of the intersection with the Shafter scalloped disc. It is interpreted as a cast of town road. This is the type of area of the the subumbrellar surface of Shafter Formation. The specific bed from The specimen is incomplete, preserving which the specimen was collected is 1. 7 m four insert lobes and four swollen protu­ above the base of the outcrop and consists berances. The texture and composition of of fine-grained limestone with scattered, the specimen are distinct from the sur­ small fossilfragments. rounding matrix. No evidence of the paired No planktonic foraminifera were depressions noted by Caster (1945) is pre­ obtained from the Shafter Formation at sent on the protuberances and no trace of this locality andOrbitolina no di�gnostic texana ammonities the sulcar star is present. One protuber­ were collected. Fossils of the benthic ance does show evidence of a tubular foraminiferan were col­ structure, designated a radial canal by lectedOrb fromitolina the texana Shafter Formation and, Caster (1945). There is also some sugges­ based on this, the Shafter is placed within tion of a central elevated structure on the the benthic foramini­ specimen. fera biozone. This would make the Shafter One unusual featureof the Shafterspec­ Formation Early Albian in age and equil- imen that has not been reported from

121 122 Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology Vol. 30

0 10 Ml

0 10 KM

X =COLLECTING LOCALITY FOR Kirklandia tp.

Text-figure l. Index map of a part of Trans-Pecos Texas showing the collecting locality for Kirklandia texana. > T~xt-figure 2. Kirklandia texana Caster (UCGM 46427). 1. Photo ofUCGM 46427 show­ ing scalloped outline of subumbrellar surface and position of swollen protuberances. Arrow points to detached swollen protuberarices.. Detail of oral area showing swollen pro­ tuberances. Scale bar = .25 cm. No.2 Kirklandia texana 123

2 124 Vol. 30 Tulane Studies in Geology and Paleontology other specimens is the pres­ larities, the specimen of from ence of a detached swollen protuberance. the Shafter Formation of West Texas is This structureKirklandia is lying upon one of the assigned to KirklandiaCaster. insert lobes and is about the same size as the other four swollen protuberances · pre­ LITERATUREKirklandia texana CITED served on this specimen. Because the specimen of CASTER, K. E., 1945, A new jellyfish from the Shafter Formation is incom­ Caster) from the lower plete, a precise measurementKirklandia of the fossil tex­ Cretaceous of Texas: Paleonto-graphica isana not possible. Since the central area is Americana,(Kirklandia 3:168-220, texana pis. 1-5. preserved, however, it seems likely that FURSICH, F. T., and W. J. KENNEDY, the distance from the edge of an insert 1975, Caster-Cretaceous lobe to the central area represents a hydrozoan medusoid or trace fossil medu­ radius of the subumbrellar disc. soid?: PaleonKirklandiatology, texana v. 18: 665-679, pis. 78-80. Therefore, it is possible to estimate the LORCHER, E., 1931, Eine neue fossile diameter of the original specimen. The Qualle aus den Opalinusschichten und ihre measured radius on the Shafter specimen palaeogeographische Bedeutung: Jahres­ is 20 min giving an approximate diameter bucher u. Mitt. Oberrhein Geol. Ver. (N. F.), v. of 40 mm. This value is near the minimum 22:3943, 1 pl. diameter reported by Caster (1945) for the SCOTT, R. W., and E. J. KIDSON, 1977, Paw Paw specimens of Lower Cretaceous depositional systems, West The specimen of from Texas: D. G. BEBOUT and R. G. LOUCKS, the Shafter FormationKirklandia of West Texas texana. is eds., Cretaceous carbonates of Texas and illustrated in Text-figureKirklandia 2. texana Mexico:in applications to subsurfa·ce explo­ The morphologic nomenclature and the ration: University of Texas Austin,Bureau of size of the specimens of Economic Geology, Report of Investigations, from the Paw Paw formation correspond v. 89:169-181. well with the specimen ofKirklandia texanafrom .the Shafter Formation. Given these simi- August 27, 1997 Kirklandia