New occurrences of caryophylliid and fungiacyathid scleractinian corals from the Santa Marta and Snow Hill Island formations (Upper Cretaceous, Antarctica)

Abstract

Scleractinian corals have been reported in the Antarctic Cretaceous since the beginning of the 20th century, but few studies have described the taxonomy of these specimens. Here we describe three new occurrences of coral from the James Ross Basin based on specimens collected in 2016. We identified Dasmosmilia? sp. and Heterocyathus filkorni sp. nov. in the Alpha Member of the Santa Marta Formation on James Ross Island (upper Santonian to lower Campanian) and Fungiacyathus deltoidophorus and a poorly-preserved and unidentifiable scleractinian coral from the Karlsen Cliffs Member of Snow Hill Island Formation (lower Maastrichtian). Heterocyathus filkorni sp. nov. represents the earliest occurrence of this genus in the Southern Hemisphere and is consistent with the hypothesis that a marine exchange between Europe and Antarctica was occurring in the Late Cretaceous. If confirmed, the Dasmosmilia described here represent their earliest record from the Antarctic Cretaceous.