'Xiphactinus audax' Leidy 1870 from the Puskwaskau Formation (Santonian to Campanian) of northwestern Alberta, Canada and the distribution of 'Xiphactinus' in North America

Title
'Xiphactinus audax' Leidy 1870 from the Puskwaskau Formation (Santonian to Campanian) of northwestern Alberta, Canada and the distribution of 'Xiphactinus' in North America
Publication Date
2016
Author(s)
Vavrek, Matt
Murray, Allison
Bell, Phil
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5890-8183
Email: pbell23@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pbell23
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
University of Alberta Libraries
Place of publication
Canada
DOI
10.18435/B5H596
UNE publication id
une:20004
Abstract
'Xiphactinus' is the largest teleost fish known from the Late Cretaceous of North America, and has been found across much of the Western Interior Basin. Despite extensive Late Cretaceous marine deposits occurring in Alberta, there has previously been only two possible records of 'Xiphactinus' from the province, neither of which has been diagnosable to the species level. We describe here a portion of the lower jaws, including teeth, of 'Xiphactinus audax' from northeast of Grande Prairie, Alberta. The fossil has large, thecodont teeth that are circular in cross section and lack any carinae, and are highly variable in their overall size. This fossil is the first diagnostic material of 'X. audax' from Alberta, and extends the range of the species by over a thousand kilometres. During the Late Cretaceous, the area the fossil was found in was near the Arctic Circle, and represents an important datapoint within the poorly known, northern portion of the Western Interior Basin.
Link
Citation
Vertebrate Anatomy Morphology Palaeontology, 1(1), p. 89-100
ISSN
2292-1389
Start page
89
End page
100

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