Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

Journal of Paleontology

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via ISI Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by SCOTT, R. W. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

ALBIAN CAPRINID RUDISTS FROM TEXAS RE-EVALUATED

¹ Precision Stratigraphy Associates, RR3 Box 103-3, Cleveland, Oklahoma 74020, <rwscott{at}ix.netcom.com>

Of the 33 caprinid rudist taxa reported from Albian strata in North America, only eighteen can be recognized unequivocally because many of the earlier named species were based on incomplete, altered, and poorly described specimens that do not meet rigorous criteria of modern rudist taxonomy. New data on five older taxa, "Caprina" crassifibra Roemer, 1849; "Caprina" guadalupe Roemer, 1849; "Caprina" occidentalis Conrad, 1855; "Caprina" planata Conrad, 1855, and "Icthyosarcolites" anguis Roemer, 1888, show that these species cannot be compared to current rudist taxa nor identified with certainty and therefore they should not be used in biostratigraphic, paleoecologic, or biogeographic studies. Four other taxa are poorly known and should not be used until the types or new material can be studied. Six taxa are considered here to be junior synonyms. New material collected from Upper Albian strata in West Texas, the type area of Conrad's taxa, can be identified as Kimbleia albrittoni Perkins, 1961; Kimbleia capacis Coogan, 1973; Texicaprina vivari Palmer, 1928; and Mexicaprina cornuta Coogan, 1973. The ranges of these four taxa define three zones within Upper Albian carbonates in central and west Texas.