Tepexi De Research Articles

A new approach to the fossil flamingo from Pie de Vaca locality (Puebla, central México) and some taxonomic and biogeographic implications

Pie de Vaca is a late Cenozoic site located in the municipality of Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico. It is known for its ichnofossil record including footprints of camelids, carnivores, and peccaries, as well as the taphoglyph of an almost complete flamingo skeleton. This fossil specimen was previously identified as Phoenicopterus stocki, a small extinct species, through linear osteometric comparisons of the tibiotarsus. This study presents new data on the morphological features of the taphoglyph skull impression. The extant genera Phoenicopterus, Phoenicoparrus, and Phoeniconaias differ in the morphology and size of the skulls. The fossil specimen analyzed exhibits a small head and a distinct cranial shape when compared to those genera. The results confirm that the taphoglyph belongs to an adult of a small phenicopterid. The two-dimensional morphometric comparisons of the tibiotarsus based on the ratio of distal depth to distal width shows that the taphoglyph is larger than Phoeniconaias minor and Phoenicopterus minutus, and more similar to Phoenicopterus ruber. The analysis revealed previously unknown characteristics of the taphoglyph and refutes its previous identification as the extinct species Phoenicopterus stocki. The specimen appears to be a small adult flamingo, but it differs from known extant genera. These findings confirm the presence of a group of small flamingos in the late Cenozoic of North America and Mexico, with the most complete specimen being the taphoglyph of Pie de Vaca. However, further research remains necessary to establish its connections with extinct and extant phenonicopterids.

A New Intriguing Teleost from the Albian Muhi Quarry, Central Mexico, and Early Euteleostean Diversification

The Albian Muhi Quarry of Central Mexico has produced a variety of fishes, among which the teleosts are the most diversified, including representatives of stem groups together with a variety of crown groups. A new genus and species, †Xeneichthys yanesi, is described based on a unique combination of characters, such as a dorsoventral elongation and narrowing of infraorbitals 2 and 3, preopercle, opercle, and cleithrum; absence of some bones, such as the infraorbital 5, interopercle, and pelvic plate and fin; presence of an elongated urostyle and a membranous outgrowth or stegural on the first uroneural; and cycloid and ctenoid scales on the flanks. Due to its combination of characters, †Xeneichthys yanesi is interpreted as belonging to a new extinct family, †Xeneichthyidae, which is considered as an Euteleostei or Euteleosteomorpha incertae sedis. The fish faunas of another Albian quarry, Tlayúa of Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, and Muhi Quarry are compared, and although both contain taxa that can be assigned to stem teleosts (e.g., †ichthyodectiforms and †crossognathiforms), both also contain crown teleosts (e.g., elopomorphs, clupeomorphs, and euteleosts)—all of which are endemic to their respective quarries and make them important centers of diversification of fish faunas during the Early Cretaceous.

Armigatus felixi sp. nov. An Albian double armored herring (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Tlayúa lagerstätte, Mexico

Armigatus felixi sp. nov. is described and named here based on three almost complete specimens from the shallow marine Albian deposits of the Tlayúa Quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico. This second species of Armigatus from America shows the features of the superorder Clupeomorpha and order Ellimmichthyiformes, a series of abdominal scutes as well as the mesoparietal condition and a series of predorsal scutes lateroposteriorly expanded, respectively. Also, this species shows the most outstanding feature of Armigatus, its predorsal scute series is incomplete, which was previously considered as diagnostic and now is present at least other three of its nominal species. In the new species and A. carrenoae show the last predorsal scutes exhibit a subtriangular shape in which a middle spine is protruding backward. Additionally, the new species differs from other nominal specie of Armigatus because its pelvic fin opposes the last part of the predorsal region of the trunk, and its anal and dorsal fins distinctively have 21 and 14 rays respectively. A phylogenetic study suggests that Armigatus is a paraphyletic genus, and its seven nominal species are scattered into the family Armigatidae. In this hypothesis, the Mexican Albian species, A. felixi sp. nov. and A. carrenoae are sister species separated from the Cenomanian Lebanese species, A. alticorpus and A. brevissimus that also are sister species. These last four species noticeably share a peculiar set of characters, as the incomplete predorsal scutes series, a relative low number of predorsal scutes (8–9), and the presence of the osteoglossid tooth patch in the parasphenoid, which reveal that these might be more close related. In the other nominal species of Armigatus, A. dalmaticus, A. namourensis, and probably A. oligodentatus, the predorsal scutes series is complete as in the other ellimmichthyiforms, supporting the idea that these must be allocated in another genus; however, the morphology and relationships of Mexican and Lebanese species deserve an accurate study that goes beyond the present study; therefore, for the moment no nominal species of Armigatus is taxonomically reassigned.

Cretaceous Crustacea from plattenkalk deposits of Mexico

The Crustacea preserved in Cretaceous plattenkalk deposits from Mexico is revisited. New findings include isopods, palinurid lobsters, and crabs. Based on new material available, descriptions of previously reported species are extended. High diversity and abundance of Peracarida from the upper Aptian Sierra Madre El Espinal quarries (Chiapas) are synthesized, along with detailed images of a previously described palinurid species. The famous laminar red limestone quarries of the upper Albian Tlayúa Formation, Tepexi de Rodríguez (Puebla), yielded a new lobster and a pagurid, and nearly 100 complimentary crab specimens of Tepexicarcinus Feldmann, Vega, Applegate and Bishop, 1998, offer more information on its morphology and ontogeny. Arthropoda from the upper Albian El Doctor Formation, Muhi quarries (Hidalgo), include three new incomplete lobsters, an additional specimen of the penaeid Aeger hidalguensis Feldmann et al.2007 (whose morphology is compared with the A. tipularis () from the Upper Jurassic of Germany), and new specimens of an enigmatic Thylacocephala. From the Cenomanian Siera Madre Formation, El Chango quarries Chiapas, we illustrate shrimp, a poorly preserved phyllosoma larva, and a new brachyuran crab. The diverse and abundant crustaceans from the Turonian–Cenomanian El Rosario quarry (Múzquiz, Coahuila) are revisited, with preliminary interpretations of previously reported raninoids.

Nusaviichthys nerivelai gen. et sp. nov., an Albian crossognathiform fish from the Tlayúa lagerstätte, Mexico

The fish Nusaviichthys nerivelai gen. et sp. nov. is described here based on well-preserved fossils from the Albian deposits of the Tlayúa quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, central Mexico. The occurrence of this new fish from Tlayúa expands the taxonomical and morphological diversity of the crossognathiformes of the Caribbean region of America during the Early Cretaceous. The inclusion of the osteological features of this species into comparative and phylogenetic analyses reveal its belonging to the order Crossognathiformes, suborder Pachyrhizodontoidei, and family Notelopidae; some of the most significant of these features include the presence of a large extrascapula bone; circumorbital bones forming a completely closed ring; medioparietal condition of the skull; posterior infraorbitals hypertrophied, covering the entire cheek, and extended up to the anterior part of the opercular bones; the relative short uroneural 1 anteriorly restricted to the preural 1; and the cycloid scales with a crenulated posterior edge. This new species differs from its relatives in the presence of numerous and small conic teeth in both jaws and vomer; the large triangular gular plate, and the numerous radiating grooves ridges present in the supraorbital, dermosphenotic, skull roof bones, opercular bones, and jaws; and the almost horizontal position of the neural and hemal spines of the last caudal centra. Despite the weak support, the naturalness of this extinct teleost order is recovered in the phylogenetic analysis performed here, which includes this new Mexican fossil fish as well as other crossognathiform genera not included in previous studies.

A preliminary report on the Rare Earth Element + Yttrium (REE+Y) analysis from the Tlayúa Quarry Konservat-Lagerstätte (Tlayúa Formation; Lower Cretaceous, Albian) of Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico: Results from Zone 13

The Tlayua Quarry Konservat-Lagerstatte (Albian, Lower Cretaceous; Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, Mexico) is known worldwide for the preservation of its ubiquitous fossil remains. Major and trace element concentrations of selected limestone samples from zone 13 of the Tlayua Quarry were measured in order to understand the depositional conditions and source of REE + Y. The concentrations of SiO2, Al2O3, P and Zr show little contamination by terrigenous material and phosphates in this zone, at least to instances in which the REE + Y concentrations can be both shale-normalizable and reliable. REE + Y plots display typical modern seawater signals; namely, positive La and Gd anomalies, superchondritic Y/Ho ratios (between 46.421 and 67.777) and slight depletions of LREE and MREE with respect to HREE (x Pr/Yb = 0.201; x Nd/Yb = 0.305 and (x Dy/Yb = 0.683 respectively). Furthermore, sustained negative cerium anomalies could be identified (Ce/Ce* = 0.613), which would indicate oxidating conditions as in modern seawater. The observed REE + Y patterns, which constitute the first palaeoenvironmental inference by means of element analysis performed in Tlayua, suggest that the limestones from zone 13 still retain their original seawater pattern. Considering that terrigenous and phosphate contamination is overall low in the analysed samples, REE + Y (REY) patterns from the Tlayua Formation can be useful palaeoenvironmental proxies for the Cretaceous. All this allows the conclusion that, at least during the deposition of these limestones from zone 13, a typical marine signature can be seen. This does not exclude, however, the presence of a tidally or strongly monsoonic-influenced sedimentation in other sediments from zone 13 or from other zones in Tlayua, as previous works have suggested.

Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov., un arenque de doble armadura (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) de las calizas albianas de la cantera Tlayúa, Puebla, México

Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov. is described in this paper. This ellimmichthyiform fish from the Albian deposits of the Tlayúa quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, central Mexico, shows the diagnostic characters of the superorder Clupeomorpha (the otophysic connection, commissure of the supratemporal sensory canal passing through parietals, and the abdominal scute series), order Ellimmichthyiformes (parietals in contact to each other along the midline of the skull; a beryciform foramen in the anterior ceratohyal; three epurals in the caudal skeleton; and a series of predorsal scutes), and family Paraclupeidae (predorsal scutes with increasing sizes in anterioposterior order and postpelvic abdominal scutes with a strong ventral spine). Additionally, the characters of this new Mexican fish are distinctive and support the creation of a new species of the genus Paraclupea, these include a diamond shaped body moderately high; 18 predorsal scutes strongly ornamented with radiating ridges; most posterior predorsal scutes are subrectangular, wider than long; the abdominal scutes are spatula-like; the dorsal process of posttemporal bone is hypertrophied; and the second uroneural is short and distally reaches the end of the first uroneural. The present finding introduces the second species of the genus Paraclupea; a significative increase in the geographical distribution of this genus in the Northern Hemisphere, from eastern China to the southern North America; and the third North American Cretaceous paraclupeid after Tycheroichthys dunveganensis and Scutatoclupea applegatei.

EXPERIMENTAL AND THEORETICAL MODELLING OF WASTE PRODUCED BY THE MARBLE INDUSTRY OF TEPEXI DE RODRÍGUEZ

Tepexi de Rodriguez is one of the municipalities with the highest rate of extreme poverty in Mexico. The agriculture and the marble extraction industry are the major sources of employment. This region has more than 15 processing factories of marble, where poor safety conditions of work, low salaries and pollution are common denominator. The marble residues deposit in the ground without control, deteriorate the vegetation, causes desertification and affect the health of the population. Actually, there aren´t researches about the amount of waste generated by this industry in Tepexi. The objective of this work was analyze theoretically through statistical formulas the amount of waste generate in the marble transformation and compare to the real residues obtain in a field test. The results show that 87% of the raw material is discarded, generate more than 60,000 cubic meters of waste per year. With this results, can be proposed that the blocks will be standardize, optimizing the raw material by 25% or more, decreasing the amount of residues and advantage the development of industry with a sustainable approach. Keyword: Waste reduction, pollution, sustainable development, marble industry

Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Asteroidea (Echinodermata) from Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, Mexico

Seven asteroids are described from the Tlayua quarries (18° 35´ N - 97° 56´ W), recovered from the Middle Member of the Tlayua Formation. Tlayua quarries are 94 km southeast of Puebla and 2 km northeast of the town of Tepexi de Rodriguez in the Eastern part of central Mexico. The Middle Member is fossiliferous and composed mainly of a micritic lithographic limestone with layers having packs that consist of as much as 30 % hematite. The fossils are confined to these iron rich layers. These Middle Member are about 28 m thick. Due to the abundance, variety and conservation of its paleobiota, the Tlayua quarry is one of the most important fossiliferous localities from North America’s Cretaceous. About 5 000 samples of invertebrate and vertebrate fossils have been collected from this locality and have been studied. The seven specimens belong to the Cretaceous strata and are believed to be of Lower Cretaceous (Albian) age. The asteroids described are referred to the genus Astropecten, Plutonaster, Tamaria and Echinaster. This is the first report of Cretaceous asteroids for Mexico.

PERSONAL ART IN TEOTIHUACAN: THE THIN ORANGE GRAFFITI

AbstractIn the Classic period Teotihuacan imported large quantities of Thin Orange ware from the Tepexi de Rodríguez area of Puebla. Thin Orange bowls were widely distributed in the city, many of them with post-firing graffiti inscribed on their walls or bases. Although not highly visible, the graffiti seem to have served as owner's marks. Some of the images, particularly in the city's central zone with its high concentration of elite residences and public structures, were drawn from the formal iconography of Teotihuacan. Most, however, seem to have been idiosyncratic expressions of personal identity or simply marks with no wider meaning. This general disinterest in the formal iconography as a source of personal imagery suggests that the ideology of the state may not have penetrated deeply into the daily lives of most Teotihuacanos and may even have stimulated some resistance.

Ancient herring from the Tlayúa Quarry (Cretaceous, Albian) near Tepexi de Rodíguez, Puebla State, central Mexico, closing the gap in the early diversification of Clupeomorpha

Ranulfoichthys dorsonudum gen. and sp. nov. is described based on well-preserved specimens collected in the marine Albian limestones of Tlayúa Quarry, Puebla State, Mexico. This new species shows the diagnostic characters of the Superorder Clupeomorpha, its hypural 2 is fused with the first ural centrum whereas the hypural 1 is autogenous, its supratemporal commissural sensory canal passes through the parietals and supraoccipital, and the abdominal border of its trunk is completely covered with spiny scutes. Ranulfoichthys gen. nov. also shares primitive characters with the Order Ellimmichthyiformes, including the contact between the parietals, the absence of the recessus lateralis, and the presence of the beryciform foramen in the anterior ceratohyal; however, this new species has unmodified scales along its predorsal border while Ellimmichthyiformes have a distinctive predorsal series composed of scutes with expanded lateral wings. Additionally, this new species differs from other clupeomorphs because its interfrontal suture is deeply sinuous just posterior to the orbit and its first uroneural is so long that it almost reaches the posterior edge of preural centrum 3. This new species is not the oldest clupeomorph fossil so far known but it clearly differs from Ellimmichthyiformes, Clupeiformes, Armigatus and Ornategulum; and it represents a basal clupeomorph that contributes to our understanding of the early diversification of the Clupeomorpha.

First report of penaeid (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeoidea) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of the Tlayúa quarry, Tepexi de Rodríguez (Puebla, Central Mexico)

The first penaeid from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of the Tlayua quarry, Tepexi de Rodriguez (Puebla, Central Mexico) is here reported. The specimen has been tentatively assigned to the superfamily Penaeoidea Rafinesque-Schmaltz, 1815, for the lack of main diagnostic characters. Despite the incompleteness of the body, it is the second report of penaeid from the Lower Cretaceous of Mexico, increasing the scarce knowledge about the decapod assemblage of Tepexi de Rodriguez basin.

New semionotiform (Neopterygii) from the Tlayúa Quarry (Early Cretaceous, Albian), Mexico

We describe a new semionotiform fish, Tlayuamichin itztli gen. et sp. nov. from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Mexico, which constitutes one of the youngest semionotid articulated remains. The new taxon is represented by five well-preserved specimens from the Tlayúa Quarry near Tepexi de Rodríguez in Puebla State, central Mexico. A series of paraethmoid bones anterior to the supraorbital series, supraorbital bones extending beyond the anterior rim of the orbit, the presence of a large pentagonal supraorbital closing the anterior rim of the orbit, seven anterior infraorbitals, dorsally expanded infraorbitals at the ventral border of the orbit, and the most dorsal suborbital separating the preoperculum from the dermopterotic are potential autapomorphic features of the new taxon. The very long frontals, a dermopterotic that does not contact the anterodorsal corner of the operculum and the presence of a modified pectoral scale are additional features that help to diagnose the taxon. Tlayuamichin itztli gen. et sp. nov. resembles most closely “Lepidotes” minor from the Middle Purbeck Beds (early Berriasian), England. These two taxa share similarity with other species of Semionotus from the Early Jurassic of North America and the Triassic of Europe, suggesting interesting biogeographic relationships.

Characterization of wild plum (Ximenia americana L. var. americana; Olacaceae) fruit growing at Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico

As a country, Mexico presents an especially wide range of fruit germplasm diversity. Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, Mexico, belongs to The Tehuacan-Cuicatlan Valley, which is an arid zone recognized to have a flora diversity. In that place, wild plum (Ximenia americana L. var. americana; Olacaceae), locally named “tihuixocote” grows mainly in backyards, the fruit of this species is appreciated by native people due to its taste, which is reported to be a mixture between sweet and sour. Fruit from 15 trees were characterized by measuring bio-physical and bio-chemical parameters, including weight, diameter (equatorial and polar), relationship equatorial/polar diameters, total sugar, soluble solid content and phenolic compounds. The results of this study indicate variability for these various wild plum fruit characteristics among trees growing in a reduced territorial space.

Two Lower Cretaceous (Albian) Fossil Holothurians (Echinodermata) from Tepexi De Rodriguez, Puebla, Mexico

Two new genera and species of well-preserved fossil holothurians are described from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) of Tepexi de Rodriguez, Puebla, central Mexico. Parapsolus tlayuensis is a psolid, and Paleopentacta alencasterae is a cucumariid. Paleopentacta alencasterae is the first complete holothurian fossil known to have two types of body wall ossicles preserved. The presence of the families Psolidae and Cucumariidae suggests that the local habitat was a hard substrate. The two holothurian species described here are interpreted as shallow water-suspension feeding species.

NEW ALBIAN (EARLY CRETACEOUS) OPHIUROIDS FROM THE TLAYÚA QUARRY, PUEBLA, MEXICO

Abstract: On the basis of six articulated individuals from the middle to late Albian lithographic limestone at Tlayúa near Tepexi de Rodríguez (Puebla, Mexico), a new species of ophiuroid, Ophiactis applegatei, is described. The material adds to the rather poor record of Early Cretaceous brittlestars and represents the oldest known member of the family Ophiactidae, being based on well‐preserved and articulated specimens and thus reasonably well defined morphologically. The rarity of ophiuroids, their complete preservation as well as the unnatural contortions of their arms suggest these specimens to be allochthonous, having been transported into a hostile environment where burial was rapid.

A new genus of ionoscopiform fish (Halecomorphi) from the Lower Cretaceous (Albian) lithographic limestones of the Tlayúa Quarry, Puebla, Mexico

Quetzalichthys perrilliataen. gen. and sp. is described based on five specimens from Lower Cretaceous (Middle-Upper Albian) limestones of the Tlayúa Quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, Mexico. This new taxon displays the diagnostic characters of Ionoscopiformes, which consequently designate it as a new member of this order of Mesozoic fishes. Additionally,Quetzalichthysn. gen. shares several derived characters withIonoscopusandOshunia, including the presence of more than 15 supraneurals, solid and well-ossified monospondylous vertebrae with two lateral longitudinal oval fossae, thin scales of the amioid type, and the ventral surface of some circumorbital bones being intensely pitted.Quetzalichthys perrilliataeis characterized by three unique characters: 26 abdominal centra, 21 principal dorsal fin rays, and two supraorbitals. Additionally, its unpaired fins and tail show conditions intermediate to those found inIonoscopusandOshunia.A cladistic analysis of Ionoscopiformes, including both taxa found in the Tlayúa Quarry (QuetzalichthysandTeoichthys), identifies two monophyletic families within the order, Ophiopsidae (includingOphiopsis, Macrepistius, Teoichthys) and Ionoscopidae (involvingIonoscopus, Oshunia, andQuetzalichthys).

Magnetostratigraphy of the lower Cretaceous strata in Tlayúa Quarry, Tepexi de Rodriguez, State of Puebla, Mexico

Abstract A stratigraphic sequence of magnetic polarity reversals consisting of nine magnetozones is recognized in Early Cretaceous sedimentary strata in the Tlayúa Quarry of Tepexi de Rodriguez, state of Puebla. Combined with biostratigraphic age assignments using ammonites that apparently belonging to the Albian, the geomagnetic polarity sequence can be correlated with the middle part of chron C34n (C34n.1n-C34n.2n chrons, with an age of 100–105 Myr), the Cretaceous long normal interval. The magnetic properties and characteristic remanence of magnetization are dominated by soft and hard coercivity magnetic minerals. Rock-magnetic properties and a positive reversal test suggest that remanence is primary. The section displays both reverse and normal polarities with mean directions: D=344.9°, I=32.4°, k=21, a95=4.2° and D=149.4°, I=−36.6°, k=17, a95=8.7°, respectively. Comparison with the North American apparent polar wander path indicates tectonic stability of the region since the Cretaceous.

Sedimentology and paleoecology of an Eocene–Oligocene alluvial–lacustrine arid system, Southern Mexico

A depositional model of the Eocene–Oligocene Coatzingo Formation in Tepexi de Rodríguez (Puebla, Mexico) is proposed, based on facies analysis of one of the best-preserved sections, the Axamilpa Section. The sedimentary evolution is interpreted as the retrogradation of an alluvial system, followed by the progressive expansion of an alkaline lake system, with deltaic, palustrine, and evaporitic environments. The analysis suggests a change towards more arid conditions with time. Fossils from this region, such as fossil tracks of artiodactyls, aquatic birds and cat-like mammals, suggest that these animals traversed the area, ostracods populated the lake waters, and plants grew on incipient soils and riparian environments many times throughout the history of the basin. The inferred habitat for some fossil plants coincides with the sedimentological interpretation of an arid to semiarid climate for that epoch. This combined sedimentological–paleontological study of the Axamilpa Section provides an environmental context in which fossils can be placed and brings into attention important biotic episodes, like bird and camelid migrations or the origin of endemic but extinct plants in this area.

Description and relationships of a new ichthyodectiform fish from the Tlayúa Formation (Early Cretaceous: Albian), Puebla, Mexico

ABSTRACT A new species is described and proposed as a new genus and family belonging to the Order Ichthyodectiformes. The specimens referred to this taxon were collected in limestones of the Middle Member of the Tlayúa Formation of Albian age, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, central Mexico. This new species shows a unique combination of primitive and derived characters. Its head and body proportions resemble those of other Cretaceous ichthyodectiforms, but its parietals are unfused and the caudal fin has three epurals and five uroneurals; it is also characterized by an unusually high total vertebral count, which comprises 78–80 centra, and areas of crowded teeth in the dentary and maxilla.