Mooreville Chalk

From The Right Wiki
(Redirected from Mooreville Formation)
Jump to navigationJump to search
Mooreville Chalk
Stratigraphic range: Upper Cretaceous
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofSelma Group
Sub-unitsArcola Limestone Member
UnderliesDemopolis Chalk Formation
OverliesEutaw Formation
Lithology
PrimaryChalk
Location
RegionAlabama, Mississippi
CountryUnited States

The Mooreville Chalk is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi, which were part of the subcontinent of Appalachia. The strata date back to the early Santonian to the early Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[1] The chalk was formed by pelagic sediments deposited along the eastern edge of the Mississippi embayment. It is a unit of the Selma Group and consists of the upper Arcola Limestone Member and an unnamed lower member.[2] Dinosaur, mosasaur, and primitive bird remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Mooreville Chalk Formation.[1][2][3]

Fish

Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Cretolamna

C. appendiculata[3]

A lamniform

File:Cretoxyrhina mantelli 21DB.jpg
Cretoxyrhina mantelli
File:Squalicorax2DB.jpg
Squalicorax sp.

Cretoxyrhina

C. mantelli[3]

A lamniform

Edaphodon

E. barberi[4]

Chimaeriforms

E. mirificus[4]

Ischyodus

I. williamsae[4]

A chimaeriform

Odontaspis

O. cuspidata

A lamniform

Propenser

P. hewletti[4]

Lamniformes

Ptychodus

P. mammillaris[4]

?Neoselachian incertae sedis

P. mortoni[3]

P. polygyrus[4]

Pseudocorax

P. affinis[4]

Lamniformes

P. laevis[3]

Serratolamna

S. serrata[3]

A lamniform

Scapanorhynchus

S. rhaphiodon[4]

Lamniformes

S. texanus[3]

Squalicorax

S. falcatus[4]

Lamniformes

S. kaupi[3]

Bony fish

Bony fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Albula

A. dunklei[4]

An albuliform

File:Enchodus petrosus.jpg
Enchodus petrosus
File:Saurodon BW.jpg
Saurodon leanus
File:XiphactinusDB.jpg
Xiphactinus audax

Bananogmius

B. crieleyi[4]

A tselfatiiform

Cimolichthys

C. nepaholica[4]

An aulopiform

Enchodus

E. petrosus[4][3]

An aulopiform

E. saevus[4]

Hoplopteryx

Hoplopteryx sp.[4]

A trachichthyiform

Ichthyodectes

I. ctenodon[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Moorevillia

M. hardi[4]

A tselfatiiform

Pachyrhizodus

P. caninus[4]

A crossognathiform

Protosphyraena

P. gladius[3]

A pachycormid

Saurodon

S. leanus[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Stratodus

S. apicalis[4]

An aulopiform

Xiphactinus

X. audax[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Reptiles

Dinosaurs

Indeterminate hadrosaurid, nodosaurid, dinosaur egg, and ornithomimosaur fossils are known from Mooreville Chalk outcrops in Alabama.[1] The nodosaurid remains most likely belong to a new taxon.[5]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Dinosaurs reported from the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Angelinornis

A. antecessor

A. antecessor was originally described as Plegadornis antecessor, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.[1]

File:Eotrachodon NT small.jpg
Eotrachodon
File:Ichthyornis restoration.jpeg
Ichthyornis dispar
File:Saurornitholestes digging Burrows wahweap.jpg
Saurornitholestes

Eotrachodon[6]

E. orientalis

A hadrosaurid known from a nearly complete skeleton and nearly complete skull.

Halimornis[1][2]

H. thompsoni[1][2]

"Vertebrae and limb elements."[7]

An enantiornithine

Ichthyornis[1][2]

I. antecessor

The species I. antecessor was made the type species of the genus Angelinornis in 1962. Later, I. antecessor and Angelinornis were shown to be junior synonyms of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar[1]

I. dispar[1][2]

An ichthyornithine.

Lophorhothon[1][3]

L. atopus[1][3]

A primitive species of hadrosaurid known from only a few skull fragments.[1]

Saurornitholestes[5] S. sp. A dromaeosaurid.

Plegadornis

P. antecessor

The name Plegadornis antecessor was applied to a fossil believed to represent a new bird species, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the "new" species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthtyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.[1]

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Clidastes

C. liodontus[4]

Mosasaurines

File:Clidastes proph1DB.jpg
Clidastes propython
File:Eonatator BW.jpg
Eonatator sternbergii
File:GlobidensDB2.jpg
Globidens alabamaensis
File:Platecarpus tympaniticus.jpg
Platecarpus tympaniticus
File:Selmasaurus life.png
Selmasaurus russelli
File:Bunker tylosaur22.jpg
Tylosaurus proriger

C. "moorevillensis"[3]

C. propython[4][3]

Ectenosaurus E. shannoni[8] A plioplatecarpine

Eonatator

E. sternbergi (sic)[3][9]

A halisaurine E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergii[10]

E. zangerli[11]

Globidens

G. alabamaensis[3]

A mosasaurine

Mosasaurus

M. missouriensis[3]

A mosasaurine

Platecarpus

P. tympaniticus[3]

A plioplatecarpine

Prognathodon

P. rapax[4]

A mosasaurine

Selmasaurus

S. russelli[3]

A plioplatecarpine

Tylosaurus

T. proriger[4]

A tylosaurine

Plesiosaurs

Very rare elasmosaurs are present in this formation.[3]

Plesiosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Trinacromerum

Trinacromerum sp.[3]

Polycotylids

File:Trinacromerum BW.jpg
Trinacromerum sp.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Pteranodon

Pteranodon sp.[3]

Pteranodontids.

File:Pteranodon longiceps mmartyniuk wiki.png
Pteranodon sp.

Turtles

Turtles of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Bothremys

B. barberi[3]

A pelomedusid.

File:Protostega gigas.jpg
Protostega gigas

Corsochelys

C. haliniches

A dermochelyid.

Protostega

P. gigas[3]

A protostegid.

Toxochelys

T. moorevillensis[3]

A toxochelyid.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Chiappe, Luis; Lamb, James P.; Ericson, PER G. P. (2002). "New enantiornithine bird from the marine Upper Cretaceous of Alabama". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (1): 170–174. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0170:NEBFTM]2.0.CO;2.
  3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 3.11 3.12 3.13 3.14 3.15 3.16 3.17 3.18 3.19 3.20 3.21 3.22 3.23 3.24 Kiernan, Caitlin R. (2002). "Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 22 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0091:SDAHSO]2.0.CO;2.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 4.14 4.15 4.16 4.17 4.18 4.19 4.20 4.21 4.22 4.23 4.24 Applegate, Shelton P.; Dale E. Russell (1970). The Vertebrate Fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part VII. Part VIII. The Mosasaurs The Fishes. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. pp. 387–430. OCLC 50419737.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Brownstein, Chase D. (2018-02-08). "The biogeography and ecology of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs of Appalachia". Palaeontologia Electronica. 21 (1): 1–56. doi:10.26879/801. ISSN 1094-8074.
  6. ↑ Albert Prieto-Márquez, Gregory M. Erickson & Jun A. Ebersole, 2016, "A primitive hadrosaurid from southeastern North America and the origin and early evolution of ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054495
  7. ↑ "Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 213.
  8. ↑ Kiernan, Caitlin R.; Ebersole, Jun A. (2023). "Two new plioplatecarpine mosasaurs (Mosasauridae; Plioplatecarpinae) of the genus Ectenosaurus from the Upper Cretaceous of North America". PaleoBios. 40 (13). doi:10.5070/P9401362375. ISSN 0031-0298.
  9. ↑ Kejiri, T.; Ebersole, J.A.; Blewitt, H.L.; Ebersole, S.M. (2013). "An Overview of Late Cretaceous Vertebrates from Alabama". Bulletin of the Alabama Museum of Natural History. 31 (1): 46–71.
  10. ↑ Bardet N, Suberbiola P, Iarochene M, Bouyahyaoui F, Bouya B, Amaghzaz M (2005). "A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical relationships of the Halisaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 143 (3): 447–472. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00152.x.
  11. ↑ "The relationships of Alabama halisaurine mosasaurs". Academia.edu. Retrieved 10 December 2021.
Retrieved from "https://rightwiki.org/index.php?title=Mooreville_Chalk&oldid=5555871"