Taxonomy and biostratigraphy of the elasmobranchs and bony fishes (Chondrichthyes and Osteichthyes) of the lower-to-middle Eocene (Ypresian to Bartonian) Claiborne Group in Alabama, USA, including an analysis of otoliths
Author
Ebersole, Jun A.
Author
Cicimurri, David J.
Author
Stringer, Gary L.
text
European Journal of Taxonomy
2019
2019-12-06
585
1
274
journal article
24105
10.5852/ejt.2019.585
dca608e8-fccf-4c1c-b8df-ef0c28e1d518
3660259
181B6FBA-ED75-4BB4-84C4-FB512B794749
Scomberomorus bleekeri
(
Storms, 1892
)
Fig. 64
J–R
Cybium
(
Enchodus
)
bleekeri
Storms, 1892: 3
, pl. 1.
Sphyraena
sp. –
Thurmond & Jones 1981
: fig. 103, right.
Scomberomorus bleekeri
–
Bannikov 1982: 135
.
Scomberomorus
cf.
stormsi
–
Clayton
et al.
2013
: fig. 6d.
Scomberomorus
sp. –
Maisch
et al.
2016: 9
, fig. 2, 27–33.
Material examined
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
–
Alabama
• 150 isolated teeth;
Claiborne Group
;
ALMNH
PV1985.87.4,
ALMNH
PV1985.87.5,
ALMNH
PV1992.28.33 (
4 specimens
),
ALMNH
PV1993.2.496a (
2 specimens
),
ALMNH
PV 2005.6
.436.2,
MMNS
VP-8234 (
12 specimens
),
MSC
34670,
MSC
35777.1
–
5
,
MSC
37194.1.1–12,
MSC
37194.3.1–17,
MSC
37292,
MSC
37368,
MSC
37662.1
–
3
,
MSC
37894,
MSC
38431.1
–
2
,
MSC
38540,
MSC
38979,
NJSM
24044
,
NJSM
24323
,
NJSM
24324
,
SC
2012.47.95,
SC
2012.47.96 (
26 specimens
),
WSU
24
,
WSU
5053
(
43 specimens
),
WSU
CC 546
(
2 specimens
)
.
Description
Teeth measuring less than 6.0 mm high, 4.0 mm wide. Crown medially curved, biconvex; medial face more convex than lateral face; faces with thin layer of smooth enameloid. Crown bicarinate; carinae smooth, sharp, convex, not reaching tooth base. Tooth base thickened medially, D-shaped in basal view.
Remarks
We identified two
Scomberomorus
species in our Claiborne sample,
S. bleekeri
(
Storms, 1892
)
and
S. stormsi
(
Leriche, 1905
)
. The teeth of
S. stormsi
(see below) differ by being more elongated and gracile compared to
S. bleekeri
(
Kemp
et al.
1990
;
Weems 1999
), they occasionally bear longitudinal striations on their labial and lingual faces (
Casier 1946
) and are more ovate in basal outline.
The teeth of
Scomberomorus bleekeri
differ from those of
Palaeocybium
in being asymmetrical in basal view (the carinae divide the crown into a thinner, weakly convex labial face and thicker, very convex lingual face), and by appearing slightly constricted basally due to the carinae stopping short of the tooth base. We consider the
Scomberomorus
material discussed by
Clayton
et al.
(2013)
and
Maisch
et al.
(2016)
to represent
S. bleekeri
.
Thurmond & Jones (1981
: fig. 47) figured three teeth which they assigned to
Sphyraena
sp., but our examination of these teeth revealed that the specimen shown in figure 47 (right) belongs to
S. bleekeri
.
Stratigraphic and geographic range in
Alabama
The specimens in our sample were collected from the lower Tallahatta Formation at site ADl-1, the Tallahatta Formation at site AMo-8, the contact of the Tallahatta and
Lisbon
formations at sites ACh-7, ACh-14 and ACov-11, the basal
Lisbon
Formation at site ACov-11, and the basal Gosport Sand at site ACl-4. Upper Ypresian to middle Bartonian, zones NP14 to NP17.