Hostname: page-component-6dbcb7884d-64ff6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-02-13T15:21:02.792Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Soft tissue pigments of the Upper Mississippian chondrenchelyid, Harpagofututor volsellorhinus (Chondrichthyes, Holocephali) from the Bear Gulch Limestone, Montana, USA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 May 2016

Eileen D. Grogan  and
Richard Lund
Eileen D. Grogan
Affiliation:
Biology Department, St. Joseph's University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19131
Richard Lund
Affiliation:
Biology Department, Adelphi University, Garden City, New York 11530
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Reexamination of the chondrenchelyid Harpagofututor volsellorhinus from the Bear Gulch Limestone (Health Formation, Upper Chesterian, Mississippian), has revealed that the preserved fossil pigments are those originally associated with particular, well-vascularized abdominal organs (liver, spleen, and gonads) and major venous sinuses (orbital, gonadal, pelvic). The pattern of pigment localization reflects circulatory pathways of fossilized vessels. This determination was confirmed by comparison of fossil patterns to the visceral and circulatory anatomy of extant chondrichthyans. The arrangement of these pigments conveys strong, and otherwise unavailable, evidence for the internal reproductive features of these sexually mature, Paleozoic chondrichthyans. Under the appropriate preservational conditions the pigments also reveal asphyxia as the cause of death. Thus, the value of these pigments cannot be underestimated. Unfortunately, they are prone to spontaneous and progressive degradation that starts immediately upon excavation. Consequently, it is imperative to record data accurately and in a timely fashion. This report thus introduces the use of a color flatbed scanner as a particularly effective laboratory research tool for the collection and archiving of ephemeral fossil data.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Paleontology , Volume 71 , Issue 2 , March 1997 , pp. 337 - 342
Copyright
Copyright © The Paleontological Society 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexander, R. 1991. The use of contrast radiography in the study of elasmobranch vascular systems. Copeia, 3:850–854.Google Scholar
Daniel, J. F. 1926. The lateral blood supply of primitive elasmobranch fishes. University of California Publications in Zoology, 29(1):1–7.Google Scholar
Daniel, J. F., and Stoker, E. 1927. The relations and nature of the cutaneous vessels in selachian fishes. University of California Press Publications in Zoology, 31:1–6.Google Scholar
di Giacomo, E. E., and Perier, M. R. 1994. Reproductive biology of elephant fish, Callorhynchus callorhynchus, in Patagonian waters, Argentina. Fishery Bulletin, 92:531–539.Google Scholar
Feldman, H. R., Lund, R., Maples, C. G., and Archer, A. W. 1994. Origin of the Bear Gulch beds (Namurian, Montana, USA). Geobios, M.S. 16:283–291.Google Scholar
Freer, D. W. L., and Griffiths, C. L. 1993. The fishery for, and general biology of, the St. Joseph Callorhinchus capensis (Dumeril) off the South-Western Cape, South Africa. South African Journal of Marine Science, 13:63–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grogan, E. D. 1993. The structure of the holocephalan head and the relationships of the Chondrichthyes. Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation. College of William and Mary, School of Marine Science, Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Gloucester Point, Virginia, 241 p.Google Scholar
Grogan, E. D., and Lund, R. 1995. Pigment patterns, soft anatomy, and relationships of Bear Gulch Chondrichthyes, p. 145–146. In Lelievre, H., Wenz, S., Blieck, A., and Cloutier, R. (eds.), Premiers Vertébrés Et Vertébrés Inférieurs. Geobios, Memoire Special, 19:145–146.Google Scholar
Horner, J. R. 1985. The stratigraphic position of the Bear Gulch Limestone (Mid-Carboniferous) of central Montana. Neuvième Congrès International de Stratigraphie et de Géologie du Carbonifère, Compte Rendu, 5:427–436.Google Scholar
Lund, R. 1977. A new petalodont (Chondrichthyes, Bradyodonti) from the Upper Mississippian of Montana. Annals of the Carnegie Museum, 46:195–221.Google Scholar
Lund, R. 1982. Harpagofututor volsellorhinus new genus and species (Chondrichthyes, Chondrenchelyiformes) from the Namurian Bear Gulch Limestone, Chondrenchelys problematica Traquair (Visean), and their sexual dimorphism. Journal of Paleontology, 56:938–958.Google Scholar
Lund, R., Feldman, H., Lund, W., and Maples, C. 1993. The depositional environment of the Bear Gulch Limestone, Fergus County Montana, p. 87–96. In Hunter, L. V. (ed.), Energy and Mineral Resources of Central Montana. Montana Geological Society Guidebook.Google Scholar
Malagrino, G., Takemura, A., and Mizue, K. 1981. Studies on Holocephali—II. On the reproduction of Chimaera phantasma (Jordan et Snyder) caught in the coastal waters of Nagasaki. Bulletin of the Faculty of Fisheries Nagasaki University, Number 51:1–7.Google Scholar
Moy-Thomas, J. A. 1939. The early evolution and relationships of the elasmobranchs. Biological Reviews, 14:1–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Müller, J. 1834. Vergleichende Anatomie der Myxinoiden, der Cyclostomen mit durchbortem Gaumen. I. Osteologie und Myologie. Abhandlungen der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Berlin:1–276.Google Scholar
Parker, J. J. 1886. On the blood vessels of Mustelus antarticus. A contribution to the morphology of the vascular system in the Vertebrata. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, 177:685–732.Google Scholar
Pratt, H. L. Jr. 1983. Elasmobranch gonad structure: a description and survey. Copeia, 3:719–729.Google Scholar
Pratt, H. L. Jr. 1990. Storage of spermatozoa by large Atlantic sharks. Abstracts American Elasmobranch Society Annual Meetings, Charleston, South Carolina, p. 153.Google Scholar
Romer, A. S. 1945. Vertebrate Paleontology, 2nd ed. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 468 p.Google Scholar
Satchell, G. H. 1971. Circulation in Fishes. Columbia University Press, New York, 131 p.Google Scholar
Stahl, B. J. 1967. Morphology and relationships of the Holocephali with special reference to the venous system. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, 135:141–213.Google Scholar
Williams, L. A. 1983. Deposition of the Bear Gulch Limestone: a Carboniferous Plattenkalk from central Montana. Sedimentology, 30:843–860.Google Scholar
Wourmes, J. P. 1977. Reproduction and development in chondrichthyan fishes. American Zoologist, 17:379–410.Google Scholar