Pseudocorax is an Upper Cretaceous (Turonian to Maastrichtian) genus known from the sediments of Western Europe, North Africa and North America. Species ascribed to this genus include:

  • P. affinis (AGASSIZ 1843) serrate cutting edge, Maastrichtian of Western Europe & Morocco
  • P. granti CAPPETTA & CASE 1975 Coniacian - Campanian Texas and Santonian of Kansas
  • P. laevis (LERICHE 1906) Turonian & Campanian Western Europe and Turonian Western Europe & Alabama. Stewart (1990) and others reported this species from the Smoky Hill Chalk.

    In general, the teeth have strongly bilobate roots and a deep nutrient groove. The cusp is thin, elongated and overhangs the root with a distinct labial bulge. Anterior teeth are mesio-distally compressed with relatively erect cusps. Distally, the teeth elongate and the cusp becomes more inclined. The distal heel is separated from the main cusp by a notch and may be flat, rounded or pointed (cusplet-like) depending on species and file position. In P. laevis, the mesial heel is also clearly differentiated from the cusp. The cutting-edge may be serrate or smooth, depending on species.

    Some recent/relevant reports of this genus in North America include:
  • Appelgate (1970:395) - P. affinis from the Campanian of Alabama.
  • Cappetta & Case (1975: 304-05, fig 1) - P. granti nov. sp. from the Campanian of Texas.
  • Lauginger & Hartstein (1983: 7) - P. granti from the Marshalltown (M. Camp.) & Mount Laural (L. Camp) Formations of Delaware.
  • Case & Schwimmer (1988) reported P. affinis from the Blufftown Formation (Campanian) of Western Georgia.
  • Case (1991) - P. granti from the Coffee Sand (?Middle Campanian) of Mississippi.
  • Welton & Farish (1993: 123 fig 1-3) P. granti from the Coniacian-Campanian of Texas.
  • Case & Cappetta (1997: 139-40, pl 3.3-4) P. granti from the Maastrichtian of Texas.
  • Cappetta & Case (1999) included P. granti (pg 16 pl 8 1-4) from the Campanian and P aff granti ( pg 16, pl 8 5-11) from the Turonian-Coniacian of Texas.
  • Hamm (2001) in his abstract included teeth from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of western Kansas as Pseudocorax laevis.
  • Case & Cappetta (2004: 9-10) reported P. aff. affinis from the Early Maastrichtian of New Jersey.
  • Shimada & Fielitz (2006: 196) include as Pseudocorax laevis, teeth from the Smoky Hill Chalk, Niobrara Fm.of Kansas.
  • Hamm & Shimada (2007) synonymized North American teeth attributed to P granti and P. affinis) with P. laevis. The underlying reasoning for this determination was not clearly argued; commenting only that the Leriche (1906) text description of P. laevis applied to the Smoky Hill Chalk teeth and that the latter were indistinguishable from Texas material. They made no mention of comparing their teeth with specimens from the type locale or compiling representative tooth-positions as a comparative benchmark. Cappetta would certainly be familiar with P. laevis and a substantive argument-set would need to be constructed to challenge P. granti. The accompanying Texas teeth (figures - ) do appear to differ from the P. laevis teeth illustrated in Herman (1977: plate IV, fig 4). Hamm & Shimada might prove correct in their ascertains, but a more substantial set of arguments is most certainly required.
  • Hamm & Cicimurri (2011) included Pseudocorax laevis in the Atco Formation (Early Coniacian) of Texas.


    Selected References

    Agassiz, J., 1833-43. Recherches sur les poisons fossils, 3. Imprimerie de Petitpierre, Neuchatel, 390 + 32 pp.
    Applegate, S., 1990. The vertebrate dauna of the Selma Formation of Alabama; Part VIII, The fishes: Fieldiana Geology Memoires, v. 3, pp 385-433.
    Cappetta, H., 1987. Chondrichthyes II. Mesozoic and Cenozoic Elasmobranchii. In: Handbook of Paleoichthyologie, vol. 3b, Gustav Fischer Verleg, Stuttgart, 193 pp.
    Cappetta, H. and Case, G., 1975. Sélachians nouveaux du Crétacé du Texas. Geobios 8: 303-307.
    Cappetta, H. and Case, G., 1999. Additions aux faunes de sélaciens du Crétacé du Texas (Albien supérieur-Campanien). Palaeoichthyologica, 9, 5-111.
    Case, G. and Cappetta, H.. 1997. A new selachian fauna from the late Maastrichtian of Texas. Münchener Geowissenschaften Abhandungen 34:131-189.
    Case, G., 1991. Selachians (sharks) from the Tupelo Tongue of the Coffee Sand (Campanian, Upper Cretaceous) in northern Lee County, Mississippi. Mississippi Geology 11(3):1-8.
    Case, G., and H. Cappetta,2004. Additions to the elasmobranch fauna from the Upper Cretaceous of New Jersey (Middle Maastrichtian, Navesink Formation). Palaeovertebrata 33.
    Case, G and Schwimmer, D., 1988. Late Cretaceous fish from the Blufftown Formation (Campanian) in Western Georgia.Journal of Paleontology., 62(2). pp 290-301.
    Hamm, S., 2001. A note on the occurence of the anacoracid shark Pseudocorax laevis from the Smoky Hill Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of western Kansas (abs). Kansas Academy of Sciences, Abstracts, v20, p33.
    Hamm, S.A. and D.J. Cicimurri, 2011. Early Coniacian (Late Cretaceous) selachian fauna from the basal Atco Formation, Lower Austin Group, north central Texas; Paludicola [Rochester Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology] 8(3):107-127.
    Hamm, S. and Shimada, K., 2007. The Late Cretaceous anacoracid shark, Pseudocorax laevis (Leriche), from the Niobrara Chalk of western Kansas. Transactions o the Kan Acad Sci, vol. 110, no 1/2, pp 44-52.
    Herman, J., 1977. Les sélaciens des terrains néocrétacés et paléocènes de Belgique et des contrées limitrophes. Eléments d'une biostratigraphie intercontinentale. Mémoires pour servir à l'explication des Cartes géologiques et minières de la Belgique, 1975 (paru 1977), 15: 401 pp.
    Lauginger, E. and Hartstein, E., 1983. A guide to fossil sharks, skates and rays from the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal area, Delaware. Delaware Geological Survey Open File Report 21, pp 1-64.
    Leriche, M. 1906. Contribution à l'étude des poissons fossiles du Nord de la France et des régions voisines. Mémoires de la Société géologique du Nord, 5: 1-430.
    Manning, E., 2006. Late Campanian vertebrate fauna of the Frankstown site, Prentiss County, Mississippi; systematics, paleoecology, taphonomy, sequence stratigraphy. Unpub. PhD dissertation, Tulane Univ., New Orleans, xvii+419 p., 16 pls.
    Shimada, K. and Fielitz, C., 2006. Annotated checklist of fossil fishes from the Smoky Hill Chalk of the Niobrara Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas. Bulletin of the NM Mus. Nat His. & Sc., 35:193-213.
    Stewart, J., 1990a. Niobrara Formation vertebrate stratigraphy; in Bennett, S, ed., Niobrara Chalk Excursion Guidebook, Univ Kan. Mus. Nat. Hist. and Kan. Geo. Surv. pp 19-30.
    Welton, B. and Farish, R., 1993. The Collector's Guide to Fossil Sharks and Rays from the Cretaceous of Texas. Before Time, Texas. 204 pp.
    Woodward, A. S., 1911. The fossil fishes of the English Chalk. Part 6 [chimaeroids, sharks and rays], pp. 185-224, pls. 39-46. The Palaeontographical Society, London.

     

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