Palaeoctopus pelagicus from the Turonian of Mexico reinterpreted as a coelacanth (Sarcopterygian) gular plate |
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| Authors: | HANS‐PETER SCHULTZE DIRK FUCHS SAMUEL GIERSCH CHRISTINA IFRIM WOLFGANG STINNESBECK |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Natural History Museum, The University of Kansas, 1345 Jayhawk Blvd., Lawrence, KS 66045‐7561, USA;2. e‐mail hp1937@ku.edu;3. Institut für geologische Wissenschaften, Fachrichtung Pal?ontologie, Freie Universit?t Berlin, Malteserstrasse 74‐100, D‐12249 Berlin, Germany;4.
e‐mail drig@zedat.fu‐berlin.de;5. Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde, Erbprinzenstrasse 13, D‐76133 Karlsruhe, Germany;6. Institut für Geowissenschaften, Rubrecht‐Karls‐Universit?t, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234, D‐69120 Heidelberg, Germany;7. e‐mails christina.ifrim@geow.uni‐heidelberg.de;8. wolfgang.stinnesbeck@geow.uni‐heidelberg.de |
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| Abstract: | Abstract: The supposed vestige of a cephalopod gladius from Turonian platy limestones at Vallecillo, north‐east Mexico, named Palaeoctopus pelagicus by Fuchs et al. in 2008, is reinterpreted and shown to be a gular plate of a coelacanth fish, possibly of the genus Megacoelacanthus. In addition to the gular plate, two extrascapulars and fin rays of all fins are preserved on one slab and its counterpart. This is the first record of a coelacanth from these lower Turonian strata at Vallecillo, which are rich in fish. |
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| Keywords: | reinterpretation Actinistia coelacanths Late Cretaceous north‐east Mexico |
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