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The fish assemblage from the Pennsylvanian Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry Lagerstätte (Oklahoma, USA)

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Abstract

A diverse assemblage of fishes (isolated teeth and scales) is reported from the Middle to Upper Pennsylvanian Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry Lagerstätte in Oklahoma, USA. The assemblage includes chondrichthyans such as the bransonelliform Bransonella lingulata, the xenacanthiform Xenacanthus, the symmoriiform Stethacanthus, ctenacanthiforms, an polyacrodontid euselachian, anachronistid neoselachians (Cooleyella amazonensis and C. sp.) and an iniopterygian paraselachian cf. Sibyrhynchidae. Moreover, the assemblage encompasses remains of acanthodians and various actinopterygians and a single specimen of an osteolepiform sarcopterygian. Most of the taxa are cosmopolitan during the Late Palaeozoic. The occurrence of bransonelliform and xenacanthiform species at the same locality is very rare in the Carboniferous. The assemblage yields the first Carboniferous occurrences of a polyacrodontid hybodontoid and an actinopterygian belonging to the Acropholidae. Bransonella lingulata from the Desmoinesian/Moscovian of the Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry in Oklahoma represents the youngest occurrence of this species.

Kurzfassung

Die Ablagerungen des ‚Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry’ (mittleres-oberes Pennsylvanium, Oberkarbon – einer Fossil-Lagerstätte im Süden Oklahomas (USA) – enthalten eine diverse Fischfauna. Unter anderem wurden die Überreste (einzelne Zähne, Schuppen) verschiedenster Chondrichthyes (Bransonella lingulata (bransonelliform), Xenacanthus (xenacanthiform), Stethacanthus (symmoriiform)), sowie ctenacanthiformer Fische gefunden. Zusätzlich konnten Elemente eines polyacrodontiden Euselachii, von anachronistiden Neoselachii (Cooleyella amazonensis and C. sp.), sowie eines Paraselachii (cf. Sibyrhynchidae, Iniopterygii) nachgewiesen werden. Daneben wurden Überreste von Acanthodii und Actinopterygii und ein einzelnes Exemplar eines osteolepiformen Sarcopterygii gefunden. Der überwiegende Teil der Taxa tritt im späten Paläozoikum weltweit in Erscheinung. Ungewöhnlich ist jedoch das Auftreten bransonelliformer und xenacanthiformer Arten am gleichen Ort und in den selben Ablagerungen. Erstmalig im Karbon konnte ein polyacrodontider Hybodontoide sowie ein Strahlenflosser der Familie der Acropholidae nachgewiesen werden. Bransonella lingulata ist der jüngste Vertreter seiner Art.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (project No. 14-04-01507a), by a grant from Saint-Petersburg State University (No. 0.38.292.2015) as well as by funding of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (projects: NU 96/10-1, 2 and SE 2283/2-1). The work was performed according to the Russian Government Program of Competitive Growth of Kazan’ Federal University. Scientific research was carried out at the Center for Geo-Environmental Research and Modeling (GEOMODEL) of the research park of the St. Petersburg State University. AI is grateful to Dr. Oliver Hampe (Berlin) for useful discussions. Thanks go to Mrs Heltzel for her permission to access and to sample the Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry site on her private property. The authors are grateful to Dr. Christopher Duffin (London) and an anonymous reviewer for their helpful comments and suggestions to improve the quality of the manuscript.

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Ivanov, A.O., Seuss, B. & Nützel, A. The fish assemblage from the Pennsylvanian Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry Lagerstätte (Oklahoma, USA). PalZ 91, 565–576 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12542-017-0361-9

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