Mooreville Chalk Formation

Mooreville Chalk Formation
Stratigraphic range: Upper Cretaceous
Type Geological formation
Unit of Selma Group
Sub-units Arcola Limestone Member
Underlies Demopolis Chalk Formation
Overlies Eutaw Formation
Lithology
Primary Chalk
Location
Region Alabama, Mississippi
Country  United States

The Mooreville Chalk Formation is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi. The strata date back to the early Santonian to the early Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous.[1] The chalk was formed by pelagic sediments deposited along the eastern edge of the Mississippi embayment. It is a unit of the Selma Group and consists of the upper Arcola Limestone Member and an unnamed lower member.[2] Dinosaur, mosasaur, and primitive bird remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Mooreville Chalk Formation.[1][2][3]

Fish

Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Cretalamna

C. appendiculata[3]

A lamniform
Cretoxyrhina mantelli
Squalicorax sp.

Cretoxyrhina

C. mantelli[3]

A lamniform

Edaphodon

E. barberi[4]

Chimaeriforms

E. mirificus[4]

Ischyodus

I. williamsae[4]

A chimaeriform

Odontaspis

O. cuspidata

A lamniform

Propenser

P. hewletti[4]

Lamniformes

Ptychodus

P. mammillaris[4]

?Neoselachian incertae sedis

P. mortoni[3]

P. polygyrus[4]

Pseudocorax

P. affinis[4]

Lamniformes

P. laevis[3]

Serratolamna

S. serrata[3]

A lamniform

Scapanorhynchus

S. rhaphiodon[4]

Lamniformes

S. texanus[3]

Squalicorax

S. falcatus[4]

Lamniformes

S. kaupi[3]

Bony fish

Bony fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Albula

A. dunklei[4]

An albuliform
Enchodus petrosus
Saurodon leanus
Xiphactinus audax

Bananogmius

B. crieleyi[4]

A tselfatiform

Cimolichthys

C. nepaholica[4]

A salmoniform

Enchodus

E. petrosus[4]

Salmoniforms

E. saevus[4]

Hoplopteryx

Hoplopteryx sp.[4]

A beryciform

Ichthyodectes

I. ctenodon[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Moorevillia

M. hardi[4]

An elopiform

Pachyrhizodus

P. caninus[4]

An elopiform

Saurodon

S. leanus[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Stratodus

S. apicalis[4]

An alepisauriform

Xiphactinus

X. audax[4]

An ichthyodectiform

Reptiles

Dinosaurs

Indeterminate hadrosaurid, nodosaurid, dinosaur egg, and ornithomimmosaur fossils are known from Mooreville Chalk outcrops in Alabama.[1]

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
 Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Dinosaurs reported from the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Angelinornis

A. antecessor

A. antecessor was originally described as Plegadornis antecessor, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.[1]
Ichthyornis dispar

Eotrachodon[5]

E. orientalis

A hadrosaurid known from a nearly complete skeleton and nearly complete skull.

Halimornis[1][2]

H. thompsoni[1][2]

"Vertebrae and limb elements."[6]

An enantiornithine

Ichthyornis[1][2]

I. antecessor

The species I. antecessor was made the type species of the genus Angelinornis in 1962. Later, I. antecessor and Angelinornis were shown to be junior synonyms of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar[1]

I. dispar[1][2]

An ichthyornithine.

Lophorhothon[1][3]

L. atopus[1][3]

A hadrosaurid.[1]

Plegadornis

P. antecessor

The name Plegadornis antecessor was applied to a fossil believed to represent a new bird species, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the "new" species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthtyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.[1]

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Clidastes

C. liodontus[4]

Mosasaurines
Clidastes prophyton
Eonatator sternbergii
Globidens alabamaensis

C. "moorevillensis"[3]

C. propython[4]

Eonatator

E. sternbergii[3][7]

A halisaurine E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergii

E. zangerli [8]

Globidens

G. alabamaensis[3]

A mosasaurine

Mosasaurus

M. missouriensis[3]

A mosasaurine

Platecarpus

P. tympaniticus[3]

A plioplatecarpine

Prognathodon

P. rapax[4]

Mosasaurines

P. solvayi[3]

Selmasaurus

S. russelli[3]

A plioplatecarpine

Tylosaurus

T. proriger[4]

A tylosaurine

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Trinacromerum

Trinacromerum sp.[3]

Polycotylids
Trinacromerum sp.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Pteranodon

Pteranodon sp.[3]

Pteranodontids.
Pteranodon sp.

Turtles

Turtles of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images

Bothremys

B. barberi[3]

A pelomedusid.
Protostega gigas

Corsochelys

C. haliniches

A dermochelyid.

Protostega

P. gigas[3]

A protostegid.

Toxochelys

T. moorevillensis[3]

A toxochelyid.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Chiappe, Luis; Lamb, James P.; Ericson, PER G. P. (2002). "New enantiornithine bird from the marine Upper Cretaceous of Alabama". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (1): 170–174. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0170:NEBFTM]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Kiernan, Caitlin R. (2002). "Stratigraphic distribution and habitat segregation of mosasaurs in the Upper Cretaceous of western and central Alabama, with an historical review of Alabama mosasaur discoveries". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 22 (1): 91–103. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2002)022[0091:SDAHSO]2.0.CO;2. Retrieved 2009-02-02.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Applegate, Shelton P.; Dale E. Russell (1970). The Vertebrate Fauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama. Part VII. Part VIII. The Mosasaurs The Fishes. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History. pp. 387–430. OCLC 50419737.
  5. ↑ Albert Prieto-Márquez, Gregory M. Erickson & Jun A. Ebersole, 2016, "A primitive hadrosaurid from southeastern North America and the origin and early evolution of ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054495
  6. ↑ "Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 213.
  7. ↑ Bardet N; Suberbiola P; Iarochene M; Bouyahyaoui F; Bouya B; Amaghzaz M (2002). "A new species of Halisaurus from the Late Cretaceous phosphates of Morocco, and the phylogenetical relationships of the Halisaurinae (Squamata: Mosasauridae)". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 143 (3): 447–472. doi:10.1111/j.1096-3642.2005.00152.x. Retrieved 2009-02-10.
  8. ↑ https://www.academia.edu/3725966/The_relationships_of_Alabama_halisaurine_mosasaurs
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