A new species of Pluridens (Mosasauridae: Halisaurinae) from the upper Campanian of Southern Nigeria

The Upper Cretaceous of Africa has produced a diverse fauna of mosasaurs, including the highly specialized, long-jawed Pluridens. The type of Pluridens walkeri comes from the Maastrichtian Farin-Doutchi Formation of Niger, with a second, referred specimen coming from the Campanian section of the Campanian-Maastrichtian Nkporo Shale near Calabar, in southern Nigeria. Comparisons of this referred specimen with the holotype suggest that it represents a distinct and more primitive species. The Calabar jaw resembles P. walkeri in being long and narrow anteriorly with a shallow subdental shelf, and in having small, numerous, recurved teeth with medially positioned replacement pits. However, it lacks many of the derived features that characterize Pluridens walkeri, such as the extremely long and straight jaw, the extreme lateral protrusion and subcircular section of the dentary, strong transverse expansion of the dental thecae, and extreme reduction and increase in number of the teeth. The Calabar Pluridens is therefore referred to a new species, Pluridens calabaria. Following recent studies, Pluridens is considered to represent a highly derived member of the Halisaurinae. The marked differences between the Campanian and Maastrichtian species of the genus underscore the rapid pace of mosasaur evolution during the Cretaceous.     

An Upper Cretaceous (middle Campanian) marine chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fauna from the Rattlesnake Mountain sandstone member of the Aguja Formation in West Texas

A thin phosphate-granule conglomerate within the Upper Cretaceous (middle Campanian) Rattlesnake Mountain sandstone member of the Aguja Formation preserves a diverse chondrichthyan and osteichthyan fauna. This highly fossiliferous deposit (the ‘Ten Bits Microsite’) yielded about 5000 teeth, spines, and denticles in a small amount of matrix (c. 150 kg). About 30 identifiable species of sharks, rays, and bony fishes are recognized. Two of the three most abundant chondrichthyan species at Ten Bits (Scapanorhynchus texanus and Ischyrhiza mira) are also the most common species in other middle to late Campanian marine vertebrate faunas along the Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain. The myliobatiform rays Brachyrhizodus and Rhombodus that occur at Ten Bits also appear to be characteristic of the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, as are lamniform sharks such as Cretalamna and Serratolamna. These taxa are entirely absent or extremely rare in Western Interior Campanian faunas. In contrast, some small orectolobiform sharks (Cantioscyllium, Chiloscyllium, Columbusia) and small rays (Protoplatyrhina) found at Ten Bits are common in shallow water faunas of the Western Interior and Texas Coastal Plain, but rarely reported from the eastern Gulf or Atlantic Coast. The common Western Interior ray Myledaphus bipartitus does not occur at Ten Bits or in any Gulf or Atlantic Coast fauna. Ptychotrygon agujaensis is abundantly represented in the Ten Bits fauna, but unknown in correlative marine faunas. Although Ptychotrygon occurs in all Western Interior, Gulf and Atlantic Coastal Plain faunas, it is represented elsewhere by apparently endemic species at each collection site. The differences between Western Interior, Gulf, and Atlantic Coastal Plain faunas probably reflect latitudinal variation in water temperature or salinity, or different oceanic water circulation patterns between the Western Interior Seaway and the Gulf or Atlantic Coast that restricted the distributions of some marine fish species. The Ten Bits fauna shares typical species with both Western Interior and Gulf and Atlantic Coast faunas, reflecting its position at the border between these provinces; however, the dominant taxa found at Ten Bits are the same as those found on the Gulf and Atlantic Coast, and indicate that western Texas was more closely allied biogeographically with that province than with the Western Interior of North America. One species tentatively identified in the Ten Bits fauna on the basis of a single tooth, Igdabatis cf. I. indicus, is otherwise known only from southern Europe and Asia, although a similar large myliobatid ray also occurs rarely in Texas Coastal Plain faunas. These occurrences indicate that western Texas may have been near the northern limit of the range for some tropical Tethyan marine vertebrate species.     

New records of coleoid cephalopod jaws from the Upper Cretaceous of Hokkaido,Japan, and their paleobiogeographic and evolutionary implications

Seven coleoid jaws recovered from Santonian to lower Campanian (Upper Cretaceous) strata in Hokkaido, Japan were taxonomically studied. Based on the comparison with the jaws of modern and fossil coleoids, six of the seven jaw fossils are referred to the following two genera and three species, including one possible new species: Nanaimoteuthis jeletzkyi and N. yokotai of the order Vampyromorpha, and Paleocirroteuthis sp. nov. (?) of the order Cirroctopodida. The other single lower jaw is seemingly similar to those of modern octopods and teuthids with respect to the shape of the inner lamella, but its order-level assignment could not be determined because of its imperfect preservation. N. jeletzkyi has been described in the Upper Cretaceous fore-arc basin deposits in Hokkaido (Yezo Group) and Vancouver Island, Canada (Nanaimo Group), whereas N. yokotai occurs only in the Yezo Group. These findings, complemented by previous reports of coleoid jaws, gladii, and phragmocones from the Yezo and Nanaimo Groups, demonstrate that a highly diversified, non-belemnitid coleoid fauna including large teuthids had already appeared during the post-Albian Late Cretaceous, in the North Pacific region.     

Late Cretaceous ostracod fauna from the Shenjiatun section (Songliao Basin,Northeast China): Biostratigraphic and palaeoecological implications

This work provides the first detailed taxonomic study of ostracod species from the Shenjiatun section (Nenjiang Formation, Songliao Basin, northeast China). Ten species belonging to seven genera are recognized. At the species level, this ostracod fauna shows a high degree of endemicity. The ontogeny of two species is recognized in this study, and sexual dimorphism within Daqingella arca is unequivocally recognized for the first time. The ostracod fauna suggests that this fossil-bearing sedimentary succession should be assigned to members 3–4 (Campanian) of the Nenjiang Formation (mainly Member 3) instead of representing ‘Quaternary sediments’ as previously thought. On the basis of the ostracod fauna, Member 3 of the Nenjiang Formation at Shenjiatun represents a shallow-littoral, lacustrine depositional environment that, at least in the upper part of Member 3, potentially included less stable conditions characterized by smaller, ephemeral waterbodies and increased (non-marine, oligohaline) salinities through evaporation.     

Titanoceratops ouranos, a giant horned dinosaur from the late Campanian of New Mexico

At the end of the Cretaceous, 65.5 million years ago, the giant ceratopsids Triceratops and Torosaurus dominated North America’s dinosaur fauna. The origins of these giant ceratopsids, the Triceratopsini, are poorly understood. This paper describes Titanoceratops ouranos, a giant ceratopsid from the late Campanian (73-74 Ma) of New Mexico, and the earliest known triceratopsin. The holotype was previously interpreted as an aberrant and exceptionally large specimen of Pentaceratops sternbergi, but the animal does not show the diagnostic features of Pentaceratops. Instead, cladistic analysis shows that Titanoceratops is the sister taxon of a clade formed by Eotriceratops, Triceratops, and Torosaurus. With an estimated mass of 6.5 tons, Titanoceratops is among the largest dinosaurs known from the Campanian of North America, and rivaled Triceratops in size. The recognition of Titanoceratops suggests that giant chasmosaurines evolved once, among the Triceratopsini, and that the group evolved large size five million years earlier than previously thought. The giant horned dinosaurs probably originated in the southern part of the North American continent during the Campanian but only became widespread during the Maastrichtian.     

Highly specialized suspension-feeding bony fish Rhinconichthys (Actinopterygii: Pachycormiformes) from the mid-Cretaceous of the United States,England, and Japan

We re-define the Cretaceous bony fish genus Rhinconichthys by re-describing the type species, R. taylori, and defining two new species; R. purgatorensis sp. nov. from the lowermost Carlile Shale (middle Turonian), southeastern Colorado, United States, and R. uyenoi sp. nov. from the Mikasa Formation (Cenomanian), Middle Yezo Group, Hokkaido, Japan. Rhinconichthys purgatoirensis sp. nov. is designated on a newly discovered specimen consisting of a nearly complete skull with pectoral elements. Only known previously by two Cenomanian age specimens from England and Japan, the North American specimen significantly extends the geographic and stratigraphic range of Rhinconichthys. The skull of Rhinconichthys is elongate, including an expansive gill basket, and estimated maximum body length ranges between 2.0 and 2.7 m. Rhinconichthys was likely an obligate suspension-feeder due to its derived cranial morphology, characterized by a remarkably large and elongate hyomandibula. The hyomandibula mechanically acts as a lever to thrust the jaw articulation and hyoid arch both ventrally and anterolaterally during protraction, thus creating a massive buccal space to maximize filtering of planktonic prey items. Cladistic analysis supports a monophyly of suspension-feeding pachycormids including Rhinconichthys, but further resolution within this clade will require more information through additional fossil specimens.     

Latest Campanian and Maastrichtian Siderolitidae (larger benthic foraminifera) from the Pyrenees (S France and NE Spain)

The siderolitids from the uppermost Campanian and Maastrichtian deposits of the Pyrenees have been re-studied. This has revealed a high diversity and rapid replacement of taxa, confirming the group as a good tool for high resolution biostratigraphy. Two genera have been found in the uppermost Campanian–Maastrichtian interval in the Pyrenean deposits: Siderolites Lamarck, and Wannierina Robles-Salcedo. Siderolites, with canaliferous spines or denticulate periphery, is represented by four species replacing each other from the latest Campanian to Maastrichtian: Siderolites praecalcitrapoides (latest Campanian), S. pyrenaicus sp. nov. (early Maastrichtian), Siderolites calcitrapoides (late Maastrichtian) and Siderolites denticulatus (late Maastrichtian). Wannierina is characterised by well-developed keels and ramified marginal canals. Two species of Wannierina have been identified and they succeeded one another from latest Campanian to early Maastrichtian: Wannierina vilavellensis sp. nov. (latest Campanian) and Wannierina cataluniensis (early Maastrichtian). The species of the genus Siderolites inhabited shallow waters of tropical to subtropical platforms with moderate-to-high water-energy conditions and those of the genus Wannierina are typical of deep–water low-energy environments but still in the eutrophic zone.     

Biomarker and isotopic signatures of an early Cambrian Lagerstätte in the Stansbury Basin, South Australia

The lower Cambrian (Series 2) Emu Bay Shale biota, found at Big Gully on the north coast of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, is by far the richest Burgess Shale-type (BST) fauna in the southern hemisphere. While the trace element geochemistry of the host shale shows it accumulated beneath an oxic water column, this appears difficult to reconcile with the exceptional preservation of organs such as gut glands, muscles and eyes in some of its fauna. Micro-scale sealed vessel (MSSV) pyrolysis of kerogen isolated from a solvent extracted sample of fossiliferous Emu Bay Shale provided independent confirmation of its redox status and also implicated cyanobacteria in the preservation of its fauna. Thermal extraction and pyrolysis each yielded alkanes displaying a low ratio of pristane to phytane (pr/ph = 1) and n-alkanes with a marked odd/even predominance in the <C₂₀ range. The latter molecular signature is diagnostic of Gloeocapsomorpha prisca and is the first indication that mats of this or a similar coccoid cyanobacterium were involved in the taphonomy of a BST deposit. Hopanes (including 2-methylhopanes) are far more abundant than steranes and the shale’s bulk organic matter has δ¹³C values in the range −32‰ to −28‰, providing further evidence of the cyanobacterial affinity of its microbial biomass. Thus mat-forming cyanophytes, rather than sulfur-oxidising bacteria, may have played a key role in maintaining a sharp redox boundary at the sediment-water interface during deposition of the Emu Bay Shale Lagerstätte, thereby enabling the survival of soft body parts within its fossil fauna for long enough to permit inorganic replication of their fine detail during late diagenesis.     

Adaptive morphologies and guild structure in a high-diversity bivalve fauna from an early Campanian rocky shore, Ivö Klack (Sweden)

The bivalve fauna from a late early Campanian rocky shore at Ivö Klack (southern Sweden), comprises just over sixty species, a very high diversity in comparison to other Late Cretaceous and modern rocky shore bivalve assemblages. This high diversity is here considered to represent a reliable census of the fauna; only in part can it be explained by the cumulative effect of generations of bivalves inhabiting this coastal environment. The high density and diversity and the wide range of shell morphologies allow interpretation of different modes of life in this variable environment with many contrasting habitats. Study of the functional morphology of bivalve shells and comparison with extant relatives has resulted in a subdivision of the fauna into seven guilds and five habitats. The bivalve fauna represents a within-habitat, time-averaged assemblage to which none of the species was introduced from adjacent environments. It includes some of the most northerly known, very small rudistid bivalves, in addition to the oldest known occurrences of Mytilus and Barbatia in association with rocky shores. Bivalves constituted the most important invertebrate group inhabiting the late early Campanian rocky shore at Ivö Klack, in terms of diversity, density and biomass.     

Chondrichthyans from the Menuha Formation (Late Cretaceous: Santonian–Early Campanian) of the Makhtesh Ramon region,southern Israel

Exposures of the Menuha Formation (Santonian–Early Campanian, Mount Scopus Group) in the Makhtesh Ramon region of the southern Negev have produced numerous chondrichthyan teeth. The isolated teeth represent at least ten different species: Cretalamna appendiculata, Cretoxyrhina mantelli, Squalicorax falcatus?, S. kaupi, Scapanorhynchus rapax, S. raphiodon?, Carcharias samhammeri, Carcharias cf. C. holmdelensis?, and two other fish (Hadrodus priscus and a pycnodont). This assemblage has important implications for Late Cretaceous chondrichthyan palaeobiogeography. The majority of teeth were contained within a glauconite-rich, yellow-brown, soft chalk that included oysters (Pycnodonte vesicularis?), trace fossils (Planolites, Thalassinoides, and Chondrites), phosphatic peloids, and foraminiferans (globigerinids). The teeth were collected mainly through surface-sampling and sieving. The Menuha Formation probably represents a temperate to subtropical, shallow, open-shelf environment deposited during the formation of the Ramon anticline. Reworked conglomeratic chalks in the western section represent marginal facies derived from this structural uplift. With little to no published material describing the chondrichthyan fauna of the Menuha Formation, these data improve interpretations of its palaeoenvironment. Interpretation of the palaeoenvironment of the formation is important for understanding the larger stratigraphic/tectonic framework of the Ramon monocline region of southern Israel.     

First record of late Campanian ammonites from the Abderaz Formation of the Koppeh Dagh,northeastern Iran

An ammonite fauna from the upper Abderaz Formation of Kuh-e-Bul in the northwestern part of the Koppeh Dagh (Iran) is described and illustrated. The collection of 30 specimens is assigned to seven species, all of which are recorded from Iran for the first time: Pseudophyllites indra (Forbes, 1846), Pachydiscus (Pach.) haldemsis (Schlüter, 1867), Patagiosites stobaei (Nilsson, 1827), Menuites wittekindi (Schlüter, 1876), Glyptoxoceras retrorsum (Schlüter, 1872), Lewyites elegans (Moberg, 1885) and Trachyscaphites spiniger (Schlüter, 1872). This fauna is of a typical Boreal character, with all taxa having been described from northwest Europe originally. The stratigraphic range indicated by the ammonites is lower upper Campanian, below the first occurrence of Nostoceras (Bostrychoceras) polyplocum (Roemer, 1841) and probably above the last occurrence of Hoplitoplacenticeras (H.) vari (Schlüter, 1872). A nannofossil sample from the ammonite-bearing interval corresponds to the upper Campanian nannofossil zone UC15/CC22. Thus, on the basis of both ammonites and calcareous nannofossils, the upper Abderaz Formation is shown to be younger than assumed previously.     

Biostratigraphic and biogeographic implications of a hadrosaurid (Ornithopoda: Dinosauria) from the Upper Cretaceous Almond Formation of Wyoming,USA

The results of Barnum Brown's 1937 expedition to the Almond Formation of Wyoming consisted of two unidentified ceratopsian skulls and a partial hadrosaurid specimen (AMNH 3651). The hadrosaurid is here attributed to the Maastrichtian genus Saurolophus, verifying previous biostratigraphic correlations of this formation using ammonite zones. Fossiliferous lower Maastrichtian formations occurring latitudinally between those of Alberta, Canada, and southwestern Texas, USA, such as the Almond Formation, are essential for testing the effects and duration of apparent hadrosaurid faunal segregation earlier in the Campanian, and indirectly aiding in the placement of faunal boundaries that are currently unknown for the late Campanian. The discovery of Saurolophus in Wyoming, a close relative of the Campanian genus Prosaurolophus, affirms that the segregation of hadrosaurid faunas established in the late Campanian (～75 Ma) continued for at least 3 million years. Combining occurrences of Saurolophus from Mongolia and the Moreno Formation of California with those of Alberta, Canada, this genus appears to have had one of the largest geographic ranges of any equivalent clade of hadrosaurid dinosaur, although species level distributions are still uncertain.     

Biometry of the Late Cretaceous Arkhangelskiella group: ecophenotypes controlled by nutrient flux

This study focuses on the morphometry and taxonomy of the Late Cretaceous coccolith genus Arkhangelskiella. Sixty samples from the Campanian–Maastrichtian interval of DSDP Hole 390A (Blake Nose) were investigated for their contents of Arkhangelskiella spp. In each sample one hundred specimens of Arkhangelskiella spp. were examined by measuring the coccolith length and width, as well as the length and width of the central area. In the samples investigated the Arkhangelskiella group exhibits a large size variation, specimens length varies from 4.95 μm to 14.52 μm. Former taxonomic concepts, based on morphometry, subdivided the Arkhangelskiella group into three species: Arkhangelskiella maastrichtiana, Arkhangelskiella confusa and Arkhangelskiella cymbiformis. Our data show a large variability of the morphometric data (coccolith length, width of the outer rim). There is no indication for three independant species; two of the quoted taxa (1. thick outer rim = Arkhangelskiella maastrichtiana; 2. very thin outer rim = Arkkhangelskiella cymbiformis) seem to be extreme forms of a continuous morphometric lineage. The lower part of the investigated succession (139.92–133.42 mbsf) is dominated by small specimens with an average length of 6.8 μm whereas the upper part (132.86–126.15 mbsf) is characterized by larger specimens (mean 8.7 μm). In DSDP Hole 390A the size increase appears to be very abrupt, within two samples (samples 133.42 mbsf, 132.86 mbsf) the mean size increases by 1.51 μm. Previous morphometric studies of Arkhangelskiella indicate a more continuous size increase throughout the late Campanian–Maastrichtian. The abrupt size increase observed here hints toward a minor hiatus in DSDP Hole 390A separating upper Campanian from lower Maastrichtian sediments. It seems likely that the size increase of Arkhangelskiella reflects changes of various environmental factors like nutrient supply and sea water chemistry (Mg/Ca ratio; Ca concentration). A comparison of morphometric results with previous palaeoecological studies documents a nutrient control for the growth of Arkhangelskiella. Small specimens can be related to more mesotrophic conditions whereas large specimens are linked to oligotrophic surface waters.     

Conifer fossil woods from the Santa Marta Formation (Upper Cretaceous), Brandy Bay,James Ross Island,Antarctica

Conifer fossil woods from the Santonian to lower Campanian Santa Marta Formation are anatomically studied in detail. The wood flora is dominated by conifers, mainly Araucariaceae. Conifer fossil woods represent 84% of the samples (26 of 31) of the assemblage. The remaining samples are dicotyledon woods which are not included in this study. Woods are mostly calcified and preservation is often excellent. Fossil woods include three species of Agathoxylon, Phyllocladoxylon antarcticum, Cupressinoxylon hallei and a new species of Cupressinoxylon, C. rotundum Pujana sp. nov. The conifer-dominated forests are consistent with the pollen and macrofloras previously described from sediments of the same stratigraphic unit. This fossil wood assemblage contributes to understand the floristic changes that took place in the Cretaceous forests.     

Cephalopods from the Badlands National Park area,South Dakota: Reassessment of the position of the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary

Terry et al. (2001) proposed that the Fox Hills Formation in the area of Badlands National Park, southwestern South Dakota, USA, contains the Cretaceous/Paleogene (K/Pg) boundary, marked by a thick layer of contorted bedding called the Disturbed or Disrupted Zone (DZ). Examination of the ammonites from just below this layer yields Hoploscaphites nicolletii (Morton, 1842), H. spedeni (Landman and Waage, 1993), Discoscaphites gulosus (Morton, 1834), D. conradi (Morton, 1834), and Sphenodiscus lobatus (Tuomey, 1856). The abundance of Discoscaphites and the presence of a coarsely ornamented specimen of H. spedeni suggest that this assemblage corresponds to the upper part of the H. nicolletii Zone in the type area of the Fox Hills Formation. No ammonites are present above the DZ, but previous analyses of the dinoflagellates from just below, within, and above the DZ by Palamarczuk et al. (2004) are consistent with the ammonite results. Together, these fossils indicate that the interval just below and above the DZ represents the upper part of the lower upper Maastrichtian (≈ middle upper Maastichtian). Belemnites are present in the strata just below the DZ and occur as guards either isolated in the matrix or associated with fragmentary ammonites in concretions composed of soft sandy marl. The belemnites are assigned to Belemnitella bulbosa Meek and Hayden, 1857a, and B. badlandsensis n. sp., which is characterized by an unusually large fissure angle. The distribution of ammonites and lithofacies at this time reveals that the western shoreline of the Western Interior Seaway trended northeast–southwest across western South Dakota and adjacent parts of North Dakota. Based on an examination of the oxygen isotopes of the belemnites and scaphites in this area, the seawater temperature was nearly constant along the coast, approximately 17–20 °C. A comparison of the contact between the Pierre Shale and Fox Hills Formation at various localities in the Western Interior Basin indicates that this contact rises in the section toward the east, reflecting the final retreat of the Seaway during the late Maastrichtian.     

Ostracoda (Arthropoda,Crustacea) in a Miocene oxygen minimum zone,Trinidad, West Indies: A test of the Platycopid Signal Hypothesis

Studies of Recent ostracodes around the area of South America shed little light on the paleoenvironmental interpretation of Miocene assemblages. Consequently, interpretations of the Miocene ostracode assemblages must be supplemented using evidence from better documented taxa. Benthic foraminifera in samples from the Lower to Middle Miocene Brasso Formation at Brasso Village, Trinidad, have previously been used to distinguish three sample groupings (Beneath, Within and Above) around an oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), this being a layer of water within which dissolved oxygen concentrations can be as low as 0.1–1.0 mL/L. Using these same samples and the foraminiferal assemblage demarcations relative to the OMZ, this paper examines the associated and rich ostracode fauna of the Brasso Formation.The mean recovery of ostracode valves per sample was approximately three times greater in the Within OMZ sample group than in either of the Beneath OMZ or Above OMZ groups, perhaps reflecting the exclusion of macro-predators from within the OMZ. Individual rarefaction of species richness S to N = 300 valves was conducted for each sample group. This showed that S did not differ between the sample groups, ranging from 22.4 to 24.8. We used all ostracode species to model group separation. Based upon the Mahalanobis’ criterion, we obtained significant group separation using a model with four taxa: Munseyella ex gr. minuta, Argilloecia posterotruncata, Munseyella sp. and Xestoleberis sp., while a fifth, Argilloecia spp., provided a significant but minor increase in separation probabilities over all groups. The two most abundant species (Bradleya sp., Gangamocytheridea reticulata) were thus not the best species for detecting the OMZ. Platycopid ostracodes of the genus Cytherella were found throughout the section, rather than concentrated within the OMZ, which contradicts the Platycopid Signal Hypothesis that OMZs are characterized by platycopid dominance. The total distribution and turnover of both ostracodal and foraminiferal assemblages were compared and contrasted quantitatively using a total assemblage turnover index (ATI) and the paleoenvironmental importance evaluated. The correlated between-sample ATI is for both groups lowest within the OMZ.     

Marine connections in North America during the late Maastrichtian: palaeogeographic and palaeobiogeographic significance ofJeletzkytes nebrascensisZone cephalopod fauna from the Elk Butte Member of the Pierre Shale, SE South Dakota and NE Nebraska

The Elk Butte Member of the Pierre Shale of southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska yields a late Maastrichtian cephalopod fauna of nautiloids, belemnites and ammonites of theFeletzkytes nebrascensisZone, best known from the near-shore facies of the Fox Hills Formation. ThenebrascensisZone is the highest distinct marine assemblage that can be recognised in the Western Interior, although ammonites occur as rarities high in the Lance Formation in Wyoming. Elements of the fauna occur in the Gulf Coast and Atlantic Seaboard, and extend into the highest Maastrichtian nannofossil Subzone CC26b, ofMicula prinsii, in Texas. These occurrences point to the existence of a southerly marine route for migration into and out of the northern Interior during the late late Maastrichtian. An analysis of Maastrichtian ammonite occurrences in West Greenland reveals no evidence for a marine link to the western Interior at this time, but rather indicates an open marine link to the North Atlantic region.The presence of upper upper Maastrichtian Pierre Shale in southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska, deposited in water depths that are conservatively estimated at 100-200 m, suggests that marine conditions (evidence for which has been removed by post-Cretceous erosion) may have extended well to the north of the shoreline position indicated in recent palaeogeographic reconstructions.