An early Eocene fish assemblage associated with a barite deposit in the lower part of the Crescent Formation, Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, USA
2024 (English)In: Palaeontologische Zeitschrift, ISSN 0031-0220, E-ISSN 1867-6812, Vol. 98, no 3, p. 443-467Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Abundant shark and rare actinopterygian teeth are reported from a locality within the early Eocene (Ypresian) lower part of the Crescent Formation exposed in the Hamma Hamma River valley on the eastern Olympic Peninsula, Washington State, USA. This part of the Crescent Formation is predominantly submarine volcanic basalt with some sedimentary interbeds deposited in deep water. The teeth are derived from sediments that appear to directly overlay and in places interfinger with the margins of an anomalous lenticular barite deposit; one tooth was found in the barite. Genera represented include deep-water taxa (aff. Chlamydoselachus, Mitsukurina, Notorynchus, Odontaspis) and open marine, epipelagic sharks (Alopias, Brachycarcharias, Jaekelotodus, Macrorhizodus, Otodus, Striatolamia). The only other fossils found were two fragmentary shark vertebrae, numerous shark dermal ossicles, a single teleost tooth (Egertonia) and abundant, minute valves of a discinid brachiopod. This is the first report of macrofossils from the lower part of the Crescent Formation and the only early Eocene shark assemblage described from the North Pacific Basin. The shark assemblage also corroborates paleodepositional interpretations of the lower Crescent Formation as being in part ancient volcanic seamounts during early Eocene time.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Germany: Springer, 2024. Vol. 98, no 3, p. 443-467
Keywords [en]
Paleogene, shark, actinopterygian, deep-water fauna, North Pacific
National Category
Natural Sciences Other Earth Sciences
Research subject
Diversity of life; The changing Earth
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:nrm:diva-5673DOI: 10.1007/s12542-024-00692-yOAI: oai:DiVA.org:nrm-5673DiVA, id: diva2:1911536
Funder
Swedish Research Council, 2016-03920
Note
Fossils used in this study were collected under USFS permit (R6-OLYMPIC-MGM-FY23-001). This research was funded in part by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) [P 33820] to JK, and in part bythe Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsrådet; 2016-03920) to SK.
Open access funding provided by Swedish Museum of Natural History.
2024-11-082024-11-082025-09-12Bibliographically approved