Northumberland Formation

Northumberland Formation
Stratigraphic range: Late Cretaceous, ?Campanian–Maastrichtian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Nanaimo Group
Underlies	Spray Formation
Location
Coordinates	49°36′N124°42′W / 49.6°N 124.7°W / 49.6; -124.7
Approximate paleocoordinates	56°06′N94°24′W / 56.1°N 94.4°W / 56.1; -94.4
Country	Canada

The Northumberland Formation is a Late Cretaceous (?Campanian-?Maastrichtian)-aged geologic formation in Canada. It belongs to the larger Nanaimo Group. Indeterminate bird and pterosaur fossils have been recovered from the formation, ^[1] as well as a potential gladius of Eromangateuthis . ^[2] An extensive diversity of shark teeth is known from the formation; many appear to be closely allied with modern deep-water shark taxa, suggesting a deep-water environment for the formation. ^[3] The most well-known exposures of the formation are on Hornby Island.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Cartilaginous fish

Source: ^[4]

Hybodontiformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Meristodonoides	M. sp.			A hybodontid shark.

Hexanchiformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Chlamydoselachus	C. balli			A chlamydoselachid shark, related to the modern frilled shark.
Rolfodon	R. ludvigseni			A chlamydoselachid shark.
	R. cf. thompsoni
Dykeius	D. garethi			A very large chlamydoselachid shark.
Hexanchus	H. microdon			A cow shark related to the modern bluntnose sixgill shark.
Notidanodon	N. pectinatus			A cow shark.
Xampylodon	X. dentatus			A large cow shark.
Protoheptranchias	P. lowei			A cow shark similar to the modern sharpnose sevengill shark.
Paraorthacodus	P. rossi			A paraorthacodontid shark.
Komoksodon	K. kwutchakuth			A komoksodontid shark.

Echinorhiniformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Echinorhinus	E. lapaoi			A echinorhinid shark, related to the modern bramble shark.

Squaliformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Eoetmopterus	E. supercretaceus			An etmopterid shark similar to modern lantern sharks.
Squalus	S. vondermarcki			A dogfish shark, related to modern spurdogs.
	S. nicholsae
	S. sp.
Centrosqualus	C. mustardi			A dogfish shark.
Protocentrophorus	P. steviae			A dogfish shark.
Rhinoscymnus	R. clarki			A sleeper shark, possibly included within Somniosus .
Centroscymnus	C. sp.			A sleeper shark related to the modern Portuguese dogfish.
Squaliodalatias	S. savoiei			A dalatiid shark.
Hessinodon	H. wardi			A possibly dalatiid shark.

Pristiophoriformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Pristiophorus	P. smithi			A sawshark.
	P. pricei

Orectolobiformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Plicatoscyllium	P. cf. globidens			A ginglymostomatid shark.
Hemiscyllium	H. hermani			A bamboo shark.

Lamniformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Carcharias	C. dominguei			A sand shark, related to the modern sand tiger shark.

Synechodontiformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Synechodus	S. dereki			A palaeospinacid shark.

Carcharhiniformes

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Scyliorhinidae indent.				A catshark of uncertain affinities.
Florenceodon	F. johnyi			A florenceodontid shark.

Bony fish

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Gwawinapterus	G. beardi		Jaw.	A saurodontid ichthyodectiform, initially identified as an istiodactylid pterosaur. [5]

Birds

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Maaqwi [6]	M. cascadensis		Coracoid and wing bones.	A large ornithuran, either a vegaviid or a procellariform. [7]
Enantiornithes indet. [8]				An enanthiornithine avialan.

Pterosaurs

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Azhdarchoidea indet. [1]				A possibly azhdarchid pterosaur.

Squamates

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Mosasauridae indet. [9]	Tylosaurus sp			A mosasaur.

Invertebrate paleofauna

Molluscs

Cephalopods

Genus [10]	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Baculites	B. occidentalis			A baculitid ammonite.
Fresvillia	F. constricta			A baculitid ammonite.
Diplomoceras	D. cylindraceum			A diplomoceratid ammonite.
	D. cf. cylindraceum
Exiteloceras	E. densicostatum			A diplomoceratid ammonite.
	E. bipunctatum
Phylloptychoceras	P. horitai			A diplomoceratid ammonite.
Solenoceras	S. exornatus			A diplomoceratid ammonite.
	S. cf. reesidei
Nostoceras	N. adrotans			A nostoceratid ammonite.
	N. hornbyensis
	N. aff. pauper
Enchoteuthis [2]	E. sp.			A muensterellid octopodiform.
Eromangateuthis [2]	E. soniae?			A plesioteuthid octopodiform.
Cyrtobelus [11]	C. hornbyense			A groenlandibelid spirulid. [2]
Actinosepia [2]	A. canadensis			An actinosepiid vampyromorphid. [12]
Cirroteuthidae indet. [2]			Gladius.	A cirroteuthid octopus.

Gastropods

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Tessarolax [9]	T. louellae			An aporrhaid gastropod.

Crustaceans

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Neocallichirus	N. manningi			A callianassid decapod.
Longusorbis	L. cuniculosus			A longusorbiid decapod.
Unnamed raninoid [13]	Unnamed			A raninoid decapod.

Paleoflora

Gymnosperms

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Cunninghamia	C. hornbyensis		Permineralized wigs and leaves.	A member of the extant Cupressaceae genus Cunninghamia. Closely resembles extant species. [14]
Cycadeoidea [15]	C. maccafferyii			A bennettitalean.

Angiosperms

Genus	Species	Location	Abundance	Notes	Images
Atli [16]	A. morinii		Stem	A member of the Ranunculales with a liana-like growth habit.

See also

• Earth sciences portal
• Paleontology portal

• List of pterosaur-bearing stratigraphic units

Footnotes

1. Martin-Silverstone, Elizabeth; Witton, Mark P.; Arbour, Victoria Megan; Currie, Philip J. (2016). "A small azhdarchoid pterosaur from the latest Cretaceous, the age of flying giants". Royal Society Open Science. 3 (8): 160333. Bibcode:2016RSOS....360333M. doi: 10.1098/rsos.160333 . PMC   5108964 . PMID   27853614.
2. Fuchs; Beard; Tanabe; Ross, Dirk; G.; K.; R. (2007-08-17). "Coleoid cephalopods from the Late Cretaceous north eastern Pacific" (PDF). Seventh International Symposium 'Cephalopods - Present & Past'.: 131.
3. Cappetta, Henri; Morrison, Kurt; Adnet, Sylvain (2021-08-03). "A shark fauna from the Campanian of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada: an insight into the diversity of Cretaceous deep-water assemblages" . Historical Biology. 33 (8): 1121–1182. Bibcode:2021HBio...33.1121C. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1681421. ISSN   0891-2963. S2CID   212878837.
4. Cappetta, Henri; Morrison, Kurt; Adnet, Sylvain (2021-08-03). "A shark fauna from the Campanian of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada: an insight into the diversity of Cretaceous deep-water assemblages" . Historical Biology. 33 (8): 1121–1182. Bibcode:2021HBio...33.1121C. doi:10.1080/08912963.2019.1681421. ISSN   0891-2963. S2CID   212878837.
5. Vullo, Romain; Buffetaut, Eric; Everhart, Michael J. (2012). "Reappraisal of Gwawinapterus beardi from the Late Cretaceous of Canada: a saurodontid fish, not a pterosaur" . Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 32 (5): 1198–1201. Bibcode:2012JVPal..32.1198V. doi:10.1080/02724634.2012.681078. ISSN   0272-4634. S2CID   129180570.
6. McLachlan, Sandy M. S.; Kaiser, Gary W.; Longrich, Nicholas R. (2017-12-08). "Maaqwi cascadensis: A large, marine diving bird (Avialae: Ornithurae) from the Upper Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada". PLOS ONE. 12 (12): e0189473. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1289473M. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189473 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   5722380 . PMID   29220405.
7. Mayr, G. (2022). "Basic Terminology and the Broader Phylogenetic and Geological Framework)". Paleogene Fossil Birds. Springer Cham. pp. 3–27. doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87645-6_2.
8. Dyke, Gareth; Wang, Xia; Kaiser, Gary (2011). Sues, Hans-Dieter (ed.). "Large fossil birds from a Late Cretaceous marine turbidite sequence on Hornby Island (British Columbia)" . Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences. 48 (11): 1489–1496. Bibcode:2011CaJES..48.1489D. doi:10.1139/e11-050. ISSN   0008-4077.
9. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
10. McLachlan, Sandy M. S.; Haggart, James W. (2018-12-08). "Reassessment of the late Campanian (Late Cretaceous) heteromorph ammonite fauna from Hornby Island, British Columbia, with implications for the taxonomy of the Diplomoceratidae and Nostoceratidae" . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 16 (15): 1247–1299. Bibcode:2018JSPal..16.1247M. doi:10.1080/14772019.2017.1381651. ISSN   1477-2019. S2CID   134663270.
11. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
12. "PBDB". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-01-23.
13. Nyborg, Torrey; Garassino, Alessandro; Vega, Francisco J.; Ross, Richard L. M. (2024-03-13). "A new fossil frog crab (Brachyura, Raninoidea) from the late Campanian of Hornby Island (British Columbia, Canada)" . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen: 209–217. doi:10.1127/njgpa/2023/1177.
14. Brink, Kirstin S.; Stockey, Ruth A.; Beard, Graham; Wehr, Wesley C. (2009-05-01). "Cunninghamia hornbyensis sp. nov.: Permineralized twigs and leaves from the Upper Cretaceous of Hornby Island, British Columbia, Canada" . Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology. 155 (1): 89–98. Bibcode:2009RPaPa.155...89B. doi:10.1016/j.revpalbo.2009.03.005. ISSN   0034-6667.
15. Rothwell, Gar W.; Stockey, Ruth A. (2002). "Anatomically Preserved Cycadeoidea (Cycadeoidaceae), with a Reevaluation of Systematic Characters for the Seed Cones of Bennettitales" . American Journal of Botany. 89 (9): 1447–1458. doi:10.3732/ajb.89.9.1447. ISSN   0002-9122. JSTOR   4124062. PMID   21665746.
16. Smith, Selena Y.; Little, Stefan A.; Cooper, Ranessa L.; Burnham, Robyn J.; Stockey, Ruth A. (2013). "A Ranunculalean Liana Stem from the Cretaceous of British Columbia, Canada: Atli morinii gen. et sp. nov" . International Journal of Plant Sciences. 174 (5): 818–831. doi:10.1086/669925. ISSN   1058-5893. S2CID   84787422.