Scattered across eastern North Carolina are a number of mines that quarry the Eocene limestones of the Castle Hayne Formation. These operations have two features in common:

Stratigraphy and Depositional Environment

The Castle Hayne Formation includes Lutetian, Bartonian and Priabonian depositional sequences in North Carolina. These sediments were first described by Miller (1910) and the formation in Miller (1912) as: "calcareous marls, fossiliferous limestones, and conglomerates that are extensively developed in Onslow, Pender, and New Hanover counties."

In the 1978, two papers Ward et al and Baum et al tendered different perspectives of these sediments. Ward et al was skewed to lithology and Baum et al to the paleo-biota. These two interpretations led to diverging opinions on the dating of various horizons present at different locations. The paleo-biota arguments presented in Baum et al (1978) and later supplemented by Hazel et al (1984) and Zullo & Harris (1987) proved much more persuasive than Ward et al (1978) and are the underlying basis for the below summary. Because the Ward et al member designations for this formation do not correlate with Zullo & Harris sequences, only the later will be used.

Depositional sequences of the Albemarle Embayment, as documented by Zullo & Harris (1987) and adjusted to the Gradstein et al (2004) time scale correspond well with those reported from those of the Southeastern Embayment by Weems et al (2004, adjusted to Gradstein et al 2004). More western exposures as seen in the limestone mines of Duplin County tend to represent Sequences 1 & 2 (Lutetian), while the eastern quarries (Onslow, New Hanover & Pender counties), such as the well known Castle Hayne (Ideal Cement) also include Sequences 3 & 4 (Bartonian/Priabonian). Weems et al (2004) were unconvinced that the Castle Hayne extended into the Priabonian and limited the formation to the Middle Eocene.

The accompanying stratigraphic chart attempts to summarize the North Carolina Sequences of Baum et al (1978) and place them in perspective with other South Eastern formations and global dating.

Invertebrate Fauna

The Castle Hayne Formation is best known for its echinoids which tend to serve as index fossils. Ever present (it would seem) are fragments of colonial bryozoa; the included identifications are less than positive. The assemblage zones most relevant to this paper are the Protoscutella conradi (Sequence 2) and Periarchus lyelli (Seq. 3); the accompanying images include taxa associated with these zones.

Vertebrate Fauna

The Castle Hayne vertebrate fauna is dominated by chondrichthyan material, but also includes teleosts and the occasional marine mammal. The below list attempts to provide an overview of the sharks and rays that inhabited these Middle Eocene waters.

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR GENUS INFORMATION
—   Indicates that species not currently linked to a genus page.
HEXANCHIFORMES Buen 1926
		Hexanchus agassizi CAPPETTA 1976 - Extinct sixgilled shark. These teeth are rare and the single specimen recovered was from Sequence 2 tailings.
HETERODONTIFORMES Berg 1937
		"Heterodontus" cf elongatus CASE & BORODIN 2000 Extinct heterodontid shark. Case & Borodin erected this taxon for Castle Hayne teeth found in Sequence 2 & 3. The pictured specimen is quite distinct from other horn sharks and may represent an undescribed genus. Scarce in the Castle Hayne.
		Heterodontus cf lerichei CASIER 1943 - Extinct bullhead shark. Very similar to the teeth present in the Ypresian of Virginia -- scarce in the Castle Hayne.
ORECTOLOBIFORMES Applegate 1972
		Nebrius aff thielensis (WINKLER 1873) - Extinct tawny nurse shark. . Only two examples (Sequence 2 & 3) are known to the authors -- scarce.
		Nebrius cf obliquus (LEIDY, 1877) - Extinct tawny nurse shark. Scarce in the Castle Hayne, these teeth when found usually have highly eroded roots; known from Sequences 2 & 3.
LAMNIFORMES Berg 1958
In 2005, Cappetta and Nolf released Revision de quelques Odontaspidae (Neoselachii: Lamniformes) du Paleocene et de l'Eocene du Bassin de la mer du Nord. The impact of this paper greatly effects the naming of many of the North American taxa as well. In order to judge it's relevancy and allow others to evaluate their determinations, elasmo.com provides a review of this paper.
		Anomotodon sheppyensis (CASIER 1966) - Extinct goblin shark genus. Known only from Castle Hayne Sequence 2; currently considered scarce to rare.
		Odontaspis carolinensis CASE & BORODIN, 2000 - Smalltooth sand tiger. A common design in Sequence 2 & 3. Case & Borodin (2000:21) erected this species based on an intermediate & 3 damaged specimens; however, they do differ from winkleri.
		Striatolamia macrota AGASSIZ 1843 - Extinct sand tiger genus. The shark that ate the Paleogene — these strongly striated teeth are the most abundant shark teeth in Castle Hayne tailings.
		"Sylvestrilamia teretidens" (WHITE, 1931) - Extinct sand tiger genus. These teeth, which are strongly striated, are common in Castle Hayne sediments (Seq. 2 & 3) that yield shark teeth. The lack of an upper A1 tooth-design from these sediments requires this determination to be questioned.
		cf Carcharias sp - Sand tiger A singular example is known from Sequence 3 tailings. Without additional specimens no entry has been made for this tooth-design in the genus pages.
		Brachycarcharias lerichei (CASIER, 1946) - Extinct sand tiger genus. Common in certain Castle Hayne horizons (mainly Sequence 2) this design has been previously ascribed to Serratolamna on this website. Case & Borodin (2000:24) ascribed this genus to "Cretolamna".
		Brachycarcharias aff lerichei (CASIER, 1946) - Extinct sand tiger genus. A second tooth-design with multi-cuspleted shoulders is present in the Castle Hayne (most commonly Sequence 3). These teeth are similarly-sized as B. lerichei (above).
		Serratolamna koerti (STROMER 1910) - Extinct shark family. Fairly common in Castle Hayne tailings. These teeth were previously attributed to Carcharias but no longer fall into the Cappetta & Nolf (2005) tightened definition. Case (1981) referred to this tooth-design as "Cretolamna twiggsensis".
		Carcharocles sokolowi (JAEKEL, 1895) - Extinct mega-toothed shark chronogenus. Relatively common at some Castle Hayne sites (Sequences 2 & 3), tooth-designs range from the auriculatus (BLAINVILLE, 1818) through angustidens (AGASSIZ, 1843) morphospecies.
		Macrorhizodus americana (LERICHE, 1942) - Extinct lamnid shark genus. Common in Castle Hayne Sequence 2 & 3 sediments, more than one species is likely present in the fauna; included as Isurus praecursor (LERICHE, 1905) by Case & Borodin (2000:26).
		Alopias latidens (LERICHE, 1909) - Extinct thresher shark. Present but uncommon in Castle Hayne (Sequence 2 & 3) sediments.
		?Xiphodolamia sp - Extinct mackerel shark. Reported by Case & Borodin (2000:24) these teeth appear to be rare in Castle Hayne sediments; the conditions of known specimens is too poor for positive identification.
CARCHARINIFORMES Compagno 1973
Case & Borodin (2000:28-30) included Negaprion kraussei (PROBST) and erected Paragaleus duplinensis as carcharhiniforms of the fauna. In developing this page, we considered these determinations suspect and include them in the highly variable Physogaleus "secundus".
		Galeorhinus aff ypresiensis CASIER, 1946 - Tope Shark Because of their small size, these teeth are rarely collected but are present in Sequences 2 & 3. Case & Borodin (2000:26) included Galeorhinus galeus as present in the fauna; but that tooth-design is included below.
		"Paragaleus" sp - Weasel Shark Known only from Sequence 2, these small teeth are seldomly collected so the actual abundance is unknown. Case & Borodin (2000) ascribed this tooth-design to G. galeus, and should not be confused with the tooth-design they refered to as Paragaleus duplinensis.
		Abdounia recticona (WINKLER 1873) - Extinct requiem genus. Common in Castle Hayne Sequence 2 & 3 tailings.
		Abdounia enniskilleni (WHITE, 1956) - Extinct requiem genus. Generally common in studied Castle Hayne tailings, more abundant in Sequence 2 sediments.
		Abdounia ?beaugei (ARAMBOURG, 1935) - Extinct requiem genus. Scarce, known only from Castle Hayne Sequence 2 tailings.
		Physogaleus "secundus" (WINKLER, 1874) - Extinct requiem shark genus. Teeth of this taxa (or at least paleo-bucket) are relatively common in Castle Hayne Sequence 2 and 3 sediments.
		"Physogaleus" rosehillensis (CASE & BORODIN 2000) - Extinct requiem shark genus. Case & Borodin described this tooth-design as Physogaleus based on a single tooth. The cusp-design suggests that Rhizoprionodon should also be considered. Recovered from Sequence 2 only.
		"Rhizoprionodon" sp - Extinct sharpnose shark. Known from Sequence 2; these teeth are uncommon and represent the tooth-design that Case & Borodin (2000: 26-27) ascribed to Physogaleus (fig 48, 49). The overall design is more reminiscent of Rhizoprionodon/Sphyrna.
		Galeocerdo cf latidens (AGASSIZ, 1843) - Extinct tiger shark. Common in Castle Hayne Sequence 2 tailings, less so in Sequence 3.
		Galeocerdo eaglesomei (WHITE, 1955) - Extinct tiger shark. Common in Castle Hayne Sequence 2 tailings, less so in Sequence 3.
PRISTIFORMES Nelson 1994
		Pristis lathami GALEOTTI, 1837 - Sawfish Sawfish rostral spines are Common in Castle Hayne sediments.
MYLIOBATIFORMES Compagno 1973
Isolated and worn myliobatid teeth are abundant in the Castle Hayne; however, unless these teeth have diagnostic characteristics or are part of complete tooth plates, identifications are questionable -- numerous species are undoubtedly represented. Case & Borodin (2000:31) included Aetobatis sp based on a small fragment and Rhinoptera is likely present as well. However, without complete teeth, attempting to ascribe particular teeth to the fauna is dangerous.
		? Dasyatid sp - Whiptail Ray Possibly due to its size, these teeth are rare in the Castle Hayne.
		cf "Myliobatis" latidens WOODWARD, 1888 - Eagle ray genus The strongly sutured teeth of this taxon are quite distinct but are seldomly found in Castle Hayne sediments.
		"Myliobatis" sp - Eagle ray genus Identifiable teeth of this design are only known from toothplates.
		"Myliobatis" cf dixoni AGASSIZ, 1843 - Eagle ray genus The deep teeth of this tooth-design are scarce in Castle Hayne tailings.
		Rhinoptera - Cownose ray genus Rhinoptera teeth are probably common in these sediments, but the condition is usually too poor to positively assign them to this genus.
Reworked Material
Castle Hayne sediments often contain teeth reworked from earlier horizons. When collecting tailings, these may often be attributed to the mining operation, however some specimens such as the below were collected above a caprock that separates Sequences 2 & 3 in Onslow County. Squalicorax is a particularly common example and readily identified as such.
		Squalicorax kaupi AGASSIZ, 1843 - Extinct crow shark. These Cretaceous teeth are found with remarkable consistency in the Castle Hayne.
		Otodus obliquus AGASSIZ, 1843 - Mega-toothed shark. The Lutetian/Bartonian is the age of the C. auriculatus-sokolowi chronospecies; however, the obliquus morphospecies may occasionally be found. The single mega-toothed specimen reported by Case & Borodin (2000:26) was of the Otodus obliquus-design.

Acknowledgements

Although two names may appear on the top of this webpage, its creation extends well beyond our time and efforts. Others who participated in this cyber-venture (intentionally or not) include Ron Blakey, Howie Cohn, Steve Cunningham, Gilles Cuny, Ron & Sharron Edwards, Kim Greene, Joy Herrington, Anne Lineberry, Fabrice Moreau, Eric Sadorf, Dave Sanderson, Charlie Underwood, Dewayne Varnam, David Ward and Pat Young. W. Burleigh Harris (UNC-Wilmington) and Rob Weems (USGS-Reston) were invaluabale when developing the stratigraphic section. Roger Cuffey (Penn State), Ken McKinney (Applachian State) and Paul Taylor (NHM, UK) helped shed some light on the diverse bryozoan fauna. We sincerely appreciate the assistance of all.

References

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