PBDB Collection

Shag Point (Cretaceous of New Zealand)

Where: South Island, New Zealand (45.5° S, 170.8° E: paleocoordinates 60.4° S, 153.3° W)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Palaeocystodinium granulatum other zone, Katiki Formation, Haumurian (83.6 - 66.0 Ma)

• "Lower to Middle Katiki Formation. Fossil zones are, for belemnites, the Dimitobelus hectori Zone and, for dinoflagellates, probably the Palaeocystodinium granulatum Subzone of the Alterbidinium acutulum Zone. These place the plesiosaur horizon in the upper part of the local Haumurian Stage, close to the boundary between Upper and Lower Maastrichtian, or 69±70Ma (correlations after Crampton et al. 2000). The unique fossil record number (Fossil Record File, Geological Society of New Zealand)

•for this horizon and site is J43/fl79."

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: deltaic; lithified, massive, gray, sandy siltstone

• "Many of the reptile-bearing strata show some evidence of water activity, such as conspicuous bedding, current-orientated macrofossils, scours, shell or gravel lags, and disarticulated bones. Such features suggest deposition below normal wave base but perhaps within storm wave base; inner shelf settings seem likely. Consistent with this interpretation is the general dearth of oceanic taxa such as planktonic foraminifera and ammonoids"; "Outcrop characteristics of the Katiki Formation (e.g. massively bedded fine-grained sediments, sporadic marine macrofossils and sparse coarse terrigenous clastic grains), suggest deposition in a quiet but not necessarily distal marine setting. The organic-rich nature of the sediment, clusters of agglutinated foraminifera, lack of calcareous foraminifera, and the abundance of subhorizontal traces at the plesiosaur site indicate a soft anoxic substrate in a quiet, inshore estuarine or delta-margin setting."

• "the plesiosaur-bearing Katiki Formation (of McKay 1887) comprises about 100m of gently north to north-east dipping and generally massive, dark grey, indurated, sandy siltstone. The Katiki Formation overlies more proximal marine sandstones of the Herbert Formation and, below that, non-marine quartzose sandy to pebbly coal measures of the Shag Point Group."

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: mold/impression, concretion

Collected by Fordyce in 1983; reposited in the OU

Collection methods: surface (in situ), chemical, mechanical, acetic,

Primary reference: A. R. I. Cruickshank and R. E. Fordyce. 2002. A new marine reptile (Sauropterygia) from New Zealand: further evidence for a Late Cretaceous Austral radiation of cryptoclidid plesiosaurs. Palaeontology 45(3):557-575 [M. Carrano/H. Street]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 104692: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Hallie Street on 08.02.2011, edited by Franco Aspromonte

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names

Cephalopoda
Belemnitida - Dimitobelidae	"Dimitobelus hectori" = Dimitobelus (Dimitocamax) hectori "Dimitobelus hectori" = Dimitobelus (Dimitocamax) hectori Stevens 1965 belemnite
Reptilia
Plesiosauria -	Plesiosauria indet. Plesiosauria indet. de Blainville 1835 plesiosaur OU 21793, parts of a small plesiosaur
Plesiosauria - Elasmosauridae	Kaiwhekea katiki n. gen. n. sp. Kaiwhekea katiki n. gen. n. sp. Cruickshank and Fordyce 2002 elasmosaur OU 12649, n almost complete skull, all cervical, pectoral, thoracic and sacral vertebrae, and anterior caudal vertebrae; much of the right ribcage and parts of the left ribcage; some gastralia; almost complete right hindlimb with associated partial pelvis; fragments of left hindlimb
Squamata - Mosasauridae	Mosasauridae indet. Mosasauridae indet. Gervais 1852 mosasaur
Dinophyceae
Peridiniales - Peridiniaceae	Chatangiella campbellensis Chatangiella campbellensis Lentin and Williams 1976
Peridiniales - Deflandreaceae	Palaeocystodinium granulatum Palaeocystodinium granulatum Lentin and Williams 1976
Gonyaulacales - Gonyaulacaceae	Cribroperidinium edwardsii Cribroperidinium edwardsii Davey 1969

Dinoflagellata -	Palambages indet. Palambages indet. Wetzel 1961