Youngest occurrence of a plethodid fish (Teleostei: Tselfatiiformes: Plethodidae) from the Maastrichtian of North Africa

An isolated dermobasihyal bone belonging to an indeterminate plethodid fish (Tselfatiiformes) is described from Upper Cretaceous strata of the Plateau des Phosphates of central Morocco. The morphology of the new dermobasihyal bone is highly diagnostic of the family Plethodidae and has affinities wit...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inCretaceous research Vol. 152; p. 105673
Main Authors Cooper, Samuel L.A., Norton, Jack L.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2023
Subjects
Fossil record
Maastrichtian
Morocco
Paleobiogeography
Plethodidae
Tselfatiiformes
Maastrichtian
Plethodidae
Morocco
Paleobiogeography
Tselfatiiformes
Fossil record
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:An isolated dermobasihyal bone belonging to an indeterminate plethodid fish (Tselfatiiformes) is described from Upper Cretaceous strata of the Plateau des Phosphates of central Morocco. The morphology of the new dermobasihyal bone is highly diagnostic of the family Plethodidae and has affinities with the genera Pentanogmius, Bananogmius, and Martinichthys. Despite these close similarities, its exact generic assignment remains ambiguous. The specimen is significant as it represents the first record of Plethodidae in the Maastrichtian – thereby extending the family's stratigraphic range into the uppermost stage of the Cretaceous. Previous assumptions that plethodids went extinct during the Campanian is proven to be false, with Plethodidae now demonstrated to have survived into the late Maastrichtian, likely becoming extinct along with the non-avian dinosaurs and pterosaurs at the K-Pg Mass Extinction.
ISSN:0195-6671
1095-998X
DOI:10.1016/j.cretres.2023.105673