Geographic and stratigraphic distribution of the Late Cretaceous suspension-feeding bony fish<i>Bonnerichthys gladius</i>(Teleostei, Pachycormiformes)

Abstract

ABSTRACT The stratigraphic and paleogeographic distribution of the suspension-feeding pachycormiform fish Bonnerichthys is reviewed. Fossils attributable to this genus are known from the Western Interior Seaway (Niobrara Formation of Kansas, Sharon Springs Formation of Kansas, Nebraska, and North Dakota, DeGrey Formation of South Dakota, and possibly Mobridge Formation of Nebraska), the Eastern (Eutaw Formation of Mississippi and Mooreville and Demopolis formations of Alabama and Mississippi) and Western (Ozan Formation of Texas and Marlbrook Marl Formation of Arkansas) Gulf Coastal Plain, the Atlantic Coastal Plain (Wenonah Formation of New Jersey and possibly Marshalltown Formation of Delaware), and Pacific coast (Moreno Formation of California). Chronologically, occurrences of Bonnerichthys range in age from Coniacian to Maastrichtian. Fossils of Bonnerichthys from the Atlantic Coastal Plain, Eastern and Western Gulf Coastal Plain, and Pacific coast are definitively identified and figured here for the first time. Candidate deposits outside the United States that might yield Bonnerichthys are reviewed. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the following museum staff and their associates for providing specimen data or for allowing access to collections: J. Parham, T. Ikejiri (ALMNH), J. Maisey (AMNH), R. J. Zakrzewski (FHSM), L. Grande, W. F. Simpson (FMNH), V. Rhue, J. M. Harris, S. A. McLeod, G. Takeuchi, H. W. Thomas (LACM; also for CIT), J. Cundiff (MCZ), G. Phillips (MMNS), D. C. Parris, R. O. Johnson (NJSM), J. Ebersole (McWane Science Center for RMM), K. Seymour (ROM), J. E. Martin, S. Shelton (SDSM), D. Winkler, M. Polcyn (SMU), P. Robinson (UCM), P. Holroyd (UCMP), and G. Corner (UNSM). We also thank all of those field workers who collected various specimens. We are especially grateful to the Nebraska Department of Roads and Highways Paleontology Program at the University of Nebraska State Museum for allowing M.J.E. access to roadcuts producing specimen UNSM 50999, the Army Corps of Engineers for aiding B.S.G. in the collection of specimen SDSM 7033, the Crow Creek Nation for granting permission to collect specimens on tribal land, and D. Hanson of the Arkansas Geological Survey for the gift of specimen SMU 76850 to K.J.I. L. Cavin and J. Liston provided helpful reviews of an earlier version of this contribution. M.F. was supported in early stages of this research by a grant from the Lerner-Grey Fund for Marine Research, a Hinds Fund Grant, an Evolving Earth Grant, a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship (award number DGE-0228235), and an Environmental Protection Agency STAR Fellowship (award number FP916730). Handling editor: Charlie Underwood