Taphonomy of Early Triassic fish fossils of the Vega-Phroso Siltstone Member of the Sulphur Mountain Formation near Wapiti Lake, British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

The taphonomy of fishes living in lacustrine environments has been extensively studied in both the laboratory and the fossil record; the taphonomy of marine fishes, however, is poorly known. Triassic marine fishes with heavy ganoid and cosmoid scales, which provided protection from rapid taphonomic loss, offer a means to examine marine fish taphonomy in the fossil record. Four genera of Early Triassic fishes (the ray-finned actinopterygians Albertonia, Bobasatrania, Boreosomus, and the lobe-finned coelacanth (sarcopterygian), Whiteia) from the Wapiti Lake, British Columbia locality of the Lower Triassic Sulphur Mountain Formation were examined in order to gain a better understanding of the taphonomy of fish in marine environments, determine ambient environmental conditions in the region during the Early Triassic, and ascertain the habitat and mode of life of the fish. Results indicate that environmental conditions that contributed to the preservation of the fossil fishes of the current study included deposition in deep, quiet waters, which reduced the odds of disarticulation, colder waters under higher pressure, which slowed decay and limited postmortem floatation, and waters that were anoxic, which discouraged predators and scavengers. In addition, the thickness of the primitive ganoid and cosmoid scales of the fossil fishes also increased their preservation potential. Taphonomic, physiological and environmental indicators suggest that Whiteia, Albertonia, and possibly Bobasatrania lived in deep, cold waters near the oxygen minimum zone, while Boreosomus lived higher in the water column. While the anatomical and physiological characteristics of modern fishes will likely continue to inhibit marine taphonomy studies, examination of ancient fish, particularly those with ganoid or cosmoid scales, may provide future avenues of research to gain a better understanding of marine fish taphonomy and provide a powerful tool to examine ancient fish behavior and their environment.