Indeterminate Genus Research Articles

Molossid Bats from the Late Tertiary of Florida with a Review of the Tertiary Molossidae of North America

The fossil history of molossids in the North American Tertiary is among the poorest for any family of bats. The oldest definite record is of Wallia scalopidens of middle Eocene (Uintan) age from Saskatchewan, Canada. One of the youngest records is of Eumops cf. E. perotis from the late Pliocene (late early Blancan) of Arizona, USA. New occurrences detailed herein from the middle and late Tertiary of Florida, USA, begin to fill in the 40-million-year gap between the previous records. They are: (1) an abraded upper molar of an indeterminate genus from the Brooksville 2 locality, Hernando County, of late Oligocene (Arikareean) age; (2) a large and a small upper molar pertaining to two congeneric species similar to Tadarida and Mormopterus, from the Thomas Farm local fauna, Gilchrist County, of early Miocene (early Hemingfordian) age; and (3) a distal humerus from a Tadarida of an unknown species that is larger than extant Tadarida brasiliensis and similarly sized but differently proportioned than in the extinct Pleistocene species Tadarida constantinei. The last specimen is from the Macasphalt Shell Pit, Sarasota County, and is of late Pliocene (late Blancan) age.

NEW EOCENE DECAPODS (THALASSINIDEA and BRACHYURA) FROM SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

Abstract A new decapod fauna has been recovered from Eocene rocks of San Diego County, California. Decapod faunas of Eocene age have been rare from California, although they are well described from the northern Pacific coast. Three new species, including Neocallichirus rhinos, Ctenocheles secretanae, and Minohellenus inexpressus, and two new genera and species, Acanthoportunus buchanani and Vegarthron santiago, are reported from this new fauna. A new genus has been erected to accommodate Portunites triangulum and Portunites granulifer; both are herein referred to Maeandricampus, new genus. Callianassa matsoni Rathbun has been reassigned to Neocallichirus. Portions of the cephalothorax and abdomen of a species of Ctenocheles are described from fossils for the first time. Orbitoplax weaveri, previously known from Eocene rocks of California and Oregon, is reported from the Eocene Mission Valley Formation and the Ardath Shale for the first time. In addition, one specimen of a stomatopod of indeterminate genus...

New Eocene Decapods (Thalassinidea and Brachyura) from Southern California

A new decapod fauna has been recovered from Eocene rocks of San Diego County, California. Decapod faunas of Eocene age have been rare from California, although they are well described from the northern Pacific coast. Three new species, including Neocallichirus rhinos, Ctenocheles secretanae, and Minohellenus inexpressus, and two new genera and species, Acanthoportunus buchanani and Vegarthron santiago, are reported from this new fauna. A new genus has been erected to accommodate Portunites triangulum and Portunites granulifer; both are herein referred to Maeandricampus, new genus. Callianassa matsoni Rathbun has been reassigned to Neocallichirus. Portions of the cephalothorax and abdomen of a species of Ctenocheles are described from fossils for the first time. Orbitoplax weaveri, previously known from Eocene rocks of California and Oregon, is reported from the Eocene Mission Valley Formation and the Ardath Shale for the first time. In addition, one specimen of a stomatopod of indeterminate genus is noted. The Eocene decapod fauna from California, now containing eighteen genera, has elements common to the northern Pacific coast of North America as well as taxa known only from California; thus, the area appears to have been suited for decapods adapted to a wide variety of temperature and other environmental conditions. Several genera appear to have evolved within the region, whereas others may have been introduced from the Atlantic or Tethys region via the Central American Seaway. The number of Pacific amphitropical genera continues to increase; two portunid genera discussed here display such a pattern, adding to the four already reported for Cretaceous and Tertiary rocks of the region.

Miocene conifers from the Manuherikia Group, New Zealand

Eight genera of conifers in two or three families are documented from Miocene sediments of the Manuherikia Group, Central Otago, New Zealand They include Acmopyle masonu sp nov , Dacrycarpus dacrydioides Lepidothamnus intermedius, Podocarpus sp ‘Mata Creek’, Prumnopitys taxifoha, and Retrophyllum vulcanense in the Podocarpaceae, an indeterminate genus in either the Podocarpaceae or Taxaceae, and a single representative of the Cupressaceae Seven species occur in one deposit

Opossums (Didelphidae) and Bats (Noctilionidae and Molossidae) from the Late Miocene of the Amazon Basin

Fossil mammalian teeth recovered in sedimentary beds along the Rio Acre in western Amazonia include at least two kinds of Didelphidae (genera and species indeterminate) and the second Tertiary record for the Neotropical family Noctilionidae. The specimens form a part of the Rio Acre local fauna, probably representing the Huayquerian land-mammal age (ca. 9-5 X 10 6 years ago). The fossil bat from the Rio Acre is a single tooth that is smaller than the equivalent tooth in either of the two extant species of Noctilionidae and represents a new species of Noctilio, named herein. A second fossil bat was found ca. 120 km from the first along the Rio Purus. It is a molossid of indeterminate genus and species. These are the first Tertiary fossils of bats from the Amazon River Basin and the only South American fossil bats from ca. 12-1 X 10 6 years ago.

The oldest bovid from the Siwaliks, Pakistan

ABSTRACT Two new small-sized bovid species are described from the Miocene of Pakistan (Kamlial and Vihowa formations, about 18 Ma), based on associated dentitions and horn cores. Eotragus noyei, sp. nov. is probably ancestral to all younger Eotragus and the modern Boselaphini. E. noyei has a horn core which does not have a pronounced anterior concavity and posterior convexity seen in younger Eotragus species and it has primitive teeth with inclined buccal walls. The indeterminate genus and species from the Vihowa Formation has compressed, keeled horn cores and more advanced teeth with vertical buccal walls. The morphology of the horn cores suggests that this taxon could represent the earliest known member of the keeled Boselaphini. If this hypothesis is correct, we are witnessing the presence in Pakistan of the first split within the Boselaphini (keeled Miocene species versus Eotragus and modern taxa).

Bryophytic remains from the early Permian sediments of India

Bryophytic fossil remains in the Permian Gondwana formations are extremely rare. The rarity of fossil bryophytes is generally attributed to their delicate nature and small size of the plants. Fossil bryophytes so far reported are few as compared to vascular plants but they have been adequately recorded to indicate early existence of mosses and liverworts. It is also likely that bryophytes have just not been recognized in ancient sediments by palaeobotanists and they may not be so rare as are believed today. Most of the fossil specimens reported from India as bryophytes are either doubtful records or unidentifiable up to generic level, Indian Permian reports are considered doubtful while Triassic and younger records are not so meagre and are reasonably well reported.
 It is for the first lime a good assemblage of bryophytes has been recovered from the Early Permian sediments of India as impressions along with the typical Glossopteris flora. Both the groups Hepaticae and Musci are represented by newly designated form genera and species. The assemblage is represented by an indeterminate genus - Bryothallites talchirensis, hepatic genus- Hepaticites umariaensis, and three moss genera- Talchirophyllites indicus, Saksenaphyllites saksenae and Umariaphyllites acutus. Remarks on the naming of the fossil bryophytes, their probable possibility of preservation, spore distribution, probable habitat and evolutionary aspects also have been given and discussed.

Micromorph crinoid fauna of the McCraney Limestone (Mississippian, Kinderhookian) of western Illinois

A low diversity fauna of microscopic crinoids from the Kinderhookian (Mississippian) McCraney Limestone at Seehorn Hollow, western Illinois, is described and illustrated by stereomicrographs. The crinoids include first record of the camerate crinoid genus Hexacrinites (H. mississippiensis n. sp.) above the Devonian. The other three taxa are all inadunates and include the monocyclic microcrinoid Allagecrinus mccraneyensis n. sp., which has up to 14 arms, and two dicyclic poteriocrinoids, Hypselocrinus maccabei (Miller and Gurley, 1894) and an indeterminate genus of the Scytalocrinidae.

Rhabdosteid dolphins (Mammalia: Cetacea) from the Middle Miocene, Lake Frome area, South Australia

Fragmentary remains of small dolphins from the Pinpa and Ericmas faunas of the fluvial-lacustrine Middle Miocene Namba Formation, Tarkarooloo Basin, Lake Frome area, represent an indeterminate genus and species of the extinct family Rhabdosteidae (= Eurhinodelphidae). They provide evidence of a marine connection of the Tarkarooloo Basin before or during the Middle Miocene and constitute the first record of rhabdosteids from Australia. Rhabdosteids have been recorded previously in the Southern Hemisphere only from Patagonia and, provisionally, New Zealand. Hitherto, rhabdosteids have not been reported from fluvial-lacustrine sediments.

Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Lower Tres Hermanos Sandstone, Sevilleta Grant near La Joya, Socorro County, New Mexico: ABSTRACT

More than 1,300 ft (396 m) of Upper Cretaceous rocks overlie shales of the Upper Triassic Dockum Formation and are exposed on the Sevilleta Grant, near La Joya, Socorro County, New Mexico. The Upper Cretaceous sequence extends from the Dakota Sandstone to the Dilco Member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation and consists largely of shales and sandstones. The included Tres Hermanos Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale includes sandstones, shales, and two coal beds. The lowermost sandstone unit is a moderately sorted, calcareous sandstone which coarsens upward and with small- and medium-scale tangential, wedge and trough-shaped sets of cross-beds. The sandstone is about 11 ft (3.4 m) thick and contains fossil-rich lenses of poorly sorted, dark yellow-brown-weathering sands that are friable to moderately indurated and calcite cemented. Shale galls are present in the fossil-rich lenses and, together with wood fragments, abundant turtle bone fragments, some crocodile tooth and scute fragments, amid vertebrae and teeth, indicate a nearshore environment with a nearby source of freshwater. Selachian teeth and probable coprolites are richly varied and abundant. The following genera have been recognized: Hybodus, Lonchidion, Squalicorax, Squatina, Bracha lurus, Scapanorhynchus, Odontaspis, Cretoxyrhina, Cretolamna, Plicatolamna, Paranomotodon, Ischyrhiza, Ptychotrygon, Rhombodus as well as several as yet indeterminate genera. The dominant invertebrate genus is the oyster Crassostrea soleniscus although at least two genera of gastropods are present. End_of_Article - Last_Page 554------------

Upper Cretaceous Stratigraphy and Paleontology, Sevilleta Grant near La Joya, Socorro County, New Mexico: ABSTRACT

More than 1,300 ft (396 m) of Upper Cretaceous rocks overlies shales of the Upper Triassic Dockum Formation and are exposed on the Sevilleta Grant, near La Joya, Socorro County, New Mexico. The Upper Cretaceous sequence extends from the Dakota Sandstone to the Dilco Member of the Crevasse Canyon Formation and consists largely of shales and sandstones. The included Tres Hermanos Sandstone has been raised to formational status by Hook and Cobban and includes the lowermost Atarque Member, overlain by the Carthage Member and the Fite Ranch Member, respectively. The Atarque and Fite Ranch Members consist of sandstones; the Carthage Member consists of shales and sandstones and contains two coal beds. The Atarque Member is a moderately sorted, calcareous sandstone which coarsens upward with small- and medium- End_Page 554------------------------------ sized tangential, wedge and trough sets of cross-beds. The Atarque Member is about 11 ft (3.4 m) thick and contains fossil-rich lenses of poorly sorted, dark yellow-brown-weathering sands that are friable to moderately indurated and calcite cemented. Shale galls are present in the fossil-rich lenses and, with wood fragments, abundant turtle bone fragments, some crocodile tooth and scute fragments, amid vertebrae and teeth indicate a nearshore environment with a nearby source of fresh water. Selachian teeth and probable coprolites are richly varied and abundant. The following genera have been recognized: Hybodus, Lonchidion, Squalicorax, Squatina, Brachaelurus, Scapanorhynchus, Odontaspis, Cretoxyrhina, Cretolamna, Plicatolamna, Paranomotodon, Ischyrhiza, Ptychotrygon, Rhombodus, as we l as several as yet indeterminate genera. The dominant invertebrate genus is the oyster Crassostrea although at least two genera of gastropods are present. End_of_Article - Last_Page 555------------