Copyright (c) 2012 All rights reserved. http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti Recent documents in Harry L. Fierstine en-us Sat, 24 Nov 2012 10:22:41 PST 3600 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/34 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/34 Mon, 25 Jan 2010 11:15:06 PST A partial rostrum of Propristis schweinfurthi Dames, 1883 was collected in the Bartonian strata of northeastern Spain. The specimen represents the second record of the species from Europe, and the second occurrence of a sawfish (Mesopristis osonensis Farrés, 2003) from the Vic-Manlleu Marls Formation. In spite of some evidence to the contrary, Propristis probably preferred ecological conditions similar to extant sawfishes, i.e., inhabiting near shore tropical to subtropical seas with occasional excursions into freshwater.

]]> Francesc Farrés et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/33 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/33 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:59 PDT A nearly complete rostrum (USNM 358534) similar in morphology to the extant bluc marlin, Makaira nigricans Lacepede 1802, is identified from the GaUln Formation (late Miocene, Panama). Identification is based on comparison with a large series of Recent istiophorid species and with fossil species of the genus Makaira. The Gatlin specimen and additional examples from other fossil vertebrates provide evidence that the ancient Panama Seaway probably was a travel route between the Atlantic and Indo-Pacific for large marine vertebrates during the middle Miocene to earliest Pliocene. This is the first record of an istiophorid billfish from the Gatlin Fonnation and the second record of a fossil marlin from Panama.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/32 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/32 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:57 PDT An incomplete, disarticulated skull (USNM 375733) is described and referred to Makaira sp., d. M. nigricalls, and a rostrum, tIstiophonls call'ertensis Berry. 1917 (USNM 9344. holotype). is re-identified as IstiopllOrus sp., cf. I. platypterus. Both specimens are from the Eastover Formation (early late Miocene, Virginia) and are the oldest records in. deposits bordering the western North Atlantic Ocean. Istioplwrus sp.. cf. I. p/atvpterus (= tlstiophorus ca/vertensls ) IS the oldest record of the specIes. Based on ecological requirements of Recent species. the prescnce of Istiophorus sp., cL I. p/arypterus and Makaira sp., cf. M. nigricans in the Eastover Formation indicates that deep, warm water probably eXisted at or near the collection sites for at least part of the year.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/31 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/31 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:55 PDT An anterior (distal) rostrum (MMNS 2957) from the Moodys Branch Formation (late middle Eocene). Tesheva Creek, Yazoo County, Mississippi, U.S.A., is described and identified as Xiphiorhynchus cf. X. eocaenicus. The specimen is compared to various species of Xiphiorhynchus, especially the holotype of X. eocaenicl.ls (BMNH 25744), Braeklesham Group, early middle Eocene, England. This represents the first record of a species of Xiphiorhynchl.ls in deposits on both sides of the North Atlantic Ocean. Xiphiorhynchus eocaenicus is thought to have had similar environmental prtoferences and habits as the extant swordfish, Xiphias gladius. Since the swordfish prefers oceanic water and makes transatlantic movements, then distribution of a xiphiorhynchin on both sides of the Atlantic is not unexpected. The environment at Tesheva Creek and the type locality in England were both shallow, nearshore, tropical to subtropical habitats. The holotype was probably transported into shallow water either as stomach contents or by ocean currents, whereas the Tesheva Creek specimen was either the remains of a stranded individual or of an animal that died in shallow water after being impaled.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/30 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/30 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:53 PDT A partial fish skull with a nearly complete rostrum, a cup-shaped sclerotic hone, and cycloid scales (UCMP 123170) from the Yaquina Formation (late Oligocene, Oregon) is described and identified as Aglyptorhynchus maxillaris, sp. nov. Unusual features of the rostrum include a fused premaxillary segment with a low dorsal keel, and a maxilla with both a flat flange on its postero-ventral margin and a large condyle that presumably allowed dorsoventral movement of the rostrum to increase the gape. The Yaquina Formation was estimated to have been deposited at a water depth of over 100m and a sea surface temperature of at least 20°C, conditions that are similar to the preferred habitats of extant billfish and postulated paleoenvironments of blochiids from the Ashley River Formation, Belgian Basin, London Clay, and Monte Bolea. This is the first record of a blochiid from a deposit bordering the Pacific Ocean. It is hypothesized that A. maxilmaris or its ancestor emigrated from the warm Gulf Stream of the Atlantic into the Pacific via the Panama Seaway.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/29 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/29 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:52 PDT A partial rostrum with an attachcd lower jaw, a posterior neurocranium, and a proximal hyomandibular from the Lincoln Creek Formation (late Oligocene, Washington) arc described and identified as Aglyptorhynchlls coillmhianlls sp, nov. In addition. ten articulated anterior caudal vertebrae presumably from the Lincoln Creek Formation arc described and identified as Aglyptorhyllchlls sp. This is a second record of an Aglyptorhynchus from a deposit bordering the Pacific Ocean, The specimens are compared with other billfishes (Perciformes: Scombroidei), both extant and extinct. Unusual features include a tripartite celous occipital condyle composed equally of the basioccipital and cxoccipitals, a lower jaw that is nearly twice as deep as the corresponding section of the rostrum, a subtemporal fossa, an oval-shaped fossa in the parasphenoid, two sphenotic ridges separated by a fossa, a bifurcated pterotic ridge. and a hyomandibular with a laterally curved posterior margin. With the exception of the deep lower jaw. these features have never been recorded before in extinct or extant scombroid fish, Heretofore. a tripartite occipital condyle was unknown in a non-beryciform percomorph fish, AglyplOrhynchlls is placed in the Scombroidei. family incertae sedis, because of the paucity of shared characters with other scombroid taxa.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/28 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/28 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:49 PDT Vincent P. Schneider et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/27 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/27 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:47 PDT Until recently, Histiophorus rotundus Woodward 1901, was known from a single, poorly preserved rostrum from the Tertiary phosphate beds near Charleston, South Carolina, an area from which many fossils have been described. The specimen is relatively featureless externally; its internal anatomy is unknown and the documentation of its geological provenance was poor. In an earlier revision the species was transferred to the fossil billfish genus Xiphiorhynchus Van Beneden, 1871. Here we confirm this designation, supported by new morphological studies of the holotype, recently found specimens of tXiphiorhynchus rotundus (Woodward, 1901), and the stratigraphic record of tXiphiorhynchus. The systematic paleontology we present is a contribution to the taxonomic revision of billfishes world-wide. Because the holotype is heavily phosphatized and the type locality was vaguely described, we discuss the geology of the phosphate mining districts of the Charleston region. Based on our studies, we can narrow the possible age of the holotype to late Oligocene or early Miocene. We suggest X. rotundus was extinct by the Burdigalian.

]]> Kenneth A. Monsch et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/26 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/26 Tue, 16 Jun 2009 09:00:45 PDT Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/25 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/25 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:05 PDT Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/24 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/24 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:04 PDT Seven species of the family Istiophoridae and Xiphias gladiu6 were identified using only features of their rostrum. In the Istiophoridae, two rostral regions were emphasized, one-fourth and one·half the distance between the distal tip and the orbital margin of the lateral ethmoid bone. Characters studied in each region were the depth and width of rostrum and height, width, and position of nutrient canals (as seen in cross-section). Characters studied without reference to region were the distribution of denticles on both dorsal and ventral surfaces of the bilI and position of the prenasal bone. In the Xiphiidae, the only characters studied were the depth and width of the rostrum at the level of the dermethmoid bone and the presence and placement of central chambers as seen in radiographs. A total of 32 characters were analyzed as ratios using both multivariate and univariate statistics. The rostrum of X. gladius was separated from the Istiophoridae by its flat shape, Tetrapturus angwtirostris from all other istiophorids by its widely separated nutrient canals, and the complex of T. audax/T. pfluegeri/Makaira nigricans/M. indica from the complex of lstiophorus platypterus/T. albidus by having a smaller area of denticles on the dorsal surface. Tetrapturus pfluegeri was separated from T. audux, M. nigricans, and M. indica by having a longer denticle-free midline on the ventral surface of the rostrum. Tetrapturus audux was separated from M. nigricans and M. indica by the location of its nutrient canals. The complexes of Makaira nigricand/M. indica and I. platypterus/T. albidus were each separated using multivariate discriminant analysis. We show the study has application in identifying rostral fragments found as fossils and impaled in animate and inanimate objects such as marine turtles and wooden ships and should have application wherever rostral fragments are found.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/23 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/23 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:02 PDT Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/22 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/22 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:01 PDT Billfishes (Istiophoridae and Xiphiidae) are notorious for driving their rostra into animate and inanimate objects, a behavior usually resulting in transverse fracture of the bill and leaving the distal segment embedded (Gudger, 1940; Frazier et aI., 1994). Some billfishes recover from this loss because there are records ofapparently healthy fish with missing rostra (Frazier et aI., 1994). Generally only one rostral fragment is found in each object, but multiple stabbings have been reported. For example, fragments of three swordfish bills were discovered in a whale during flensing (Jonsgard, 1962), several "marlin" spears were found impaled in bales of rubber that were floating at sea (Smith, 1956), and two istiophorid rostra were identified in the timber of a vessel that was brought in for repair (Gudger, 1940; Fierstine and Crimmen, 1996). The following is a detailed account of a large Atlantic blue marlin with two rostral fragments embedded in its head and is the first record of a fish with multiple wounds. I briefly discuss whether impalement was the result of a predator-prey interaction, if embedded rostra aid in understanding migration patterns in both prey and predator, and the effect of impalement on a predator.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/21 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/21 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:03:00 PDT Billfishes have long been known to impale a great variety of objects, but there are only two brief, obscure records of marine turtles being speared. Details are presented on these two, as well as on two other confirmed records; data from two additional unconfirmed records are also presented. In total, three species of marine turtles are known to have been impaled by three species of billfishes; a fourth species of fish and a fourth species turtle are listed in an unconfirmed case. Records come from the eastern and western Pacific as well as the eastern Atlantic. Of the four confirmed cases, the turtles survived in two, and apparently died as an effect of the spearing in the other two. In three confirmed cases only the impaled rostrum was encountered, and in one confirmed case the entire fish was found, with its rostrum piercing the turtle. There is no obvious advantage - or clear disadvantage - involved in impaling turtles. It is argued that these attacks are accidental, and the result of attempts made by the billfish to capture prey that are near the turtle. These spearings indicate that the chelonians serve as shelters for prey animals on the high seas, and thus, are further evidence of the pelagic existence of marine turtles. The impalings are evidence of a singular ecological role of the turtles - as live fish aggregation devices.

]]> John G. Frazier et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/20 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/20 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:59 PDT A large fossil skull and several rostra of Makaira nigricans Lacépède, 1802 (Perciformes: Istiophoridae), as well as some less diagnostic istiophorid remains, have been recovered from the middle facies of the Trinidad Formation near Rancho Algodones, San José del Cabo Basin, Baja California Sur, México. These are the only bill fish specimens known from fossiliferous deposits located between southern California and Panama. Based on published accounts of the presence of nannofossils and planktonic foraminifera, and additional field work, we conclude that the age of the study area is late Miocene to late Pliocene. Based on the habitat preferences of recent M. nigricans and on the type of sediments, we conclude that the middle facies of the Trinidad Formation was deposited far offshore at a water depth of at least 100 m in a bottom environment that was poorly oxygenated and without currents.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/19 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/19 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:58 PDT A nearly complete fossil skull, including the rostrum, of blue marlin, Makaira nigricans Lacapède, 1802 (Perciformes: Xiphioidei: Istiophoridae), was collected from the Oso Member (latest Miocene) of the Capistrano Formation, Mission Viejo, Orange County, California. The specimen is compared with extant and fossil istiophorids, and 19 of its 20 morphological variables are within the range of values observed for extant M. nigricans, whereas only 13 or less variables are within the observed range of other extant istiophorids. Because extant M. nigricans usually inhabits a water column with a height of about 200 m or more and is the most tropical of all xiphioid species, its presence supports the hypotheses that the Oso Member was deposited at upper bathyal depths or greater and that the coastal paleoclimate of southern California was warmer during the late Miocene than at present.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/18 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/18 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:56 PDT This review characterizes each of the five extinct and extant families of billfishes and discusses the relevant literature. Families include: Hemingwayidae (monotypic; late Paleocene, Turkmenistan), Blochiidae (1 genus, 2 species; middle Eocene, Italy), Palaeorhynchidae (4 genera, ca. 22 species; early Eocene-possibly early Miocene, Europe, Iran, Russia, U.S.A.), Xiphiidae that includes the subfamilies Xiphiorhynchinae (1 genus, 9 species; early Eocene-late Oligocene, Egypt, Europe, U.S.A.) and Xiphiinae (monotypic; middle Miocene-present, world-wide temperate- tropical seas), and the Istiophoridae (3 genera, 13 species; middle Miocene-present; world-wide temperate-tropical seas). Billfishes first appeared in the region of the ancient Tethys Sea (or Paratethys), except for the Xiphiinae that first appeared in the western North Atlantic Ocean. Fossil specimens of all five billfish families are usually considered to have had the same environmental preferences as extant billfishes, however, those with upper and lower jaws of equal length were probably less adapted for spearing than those with a disproportionately longer rostrum. Three genera, Aglyptorhynchus, Palaeorhynchus, and Xiphiorhynchus existed for approximately 27 million yrs (Ma) before extinction, whereas the four extant genera Istiophorus, Makaira, Tetrapturus, and Xiphias have been in existence ca. 11 Ma, 15 Ma, 5 Ma, and 15 Ma, respectively.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/17 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/17 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:55 PDT Five species of the billfish family Istiophoridae (Istiophorus platypterus (Shaw and Nodder), Makaira indica (Cuvier), M. nigricans Lacépède, M. purdyi Fierstine, Tetrapturus albidus Poey) were identified from approximately 500 separate bones collected in the Yorktown Formation (early Pliocene) at Lee Creek Mine, North Carolina. This is the only record of M. purdyi, the first fossil record of the genus Tetrapturus (specifically T. albidus), the second fossil record of I. platypterus and M. indica, and the first record of I. platypterus, M. indica, M. nigricans, and T. albidus from fossil deposits bordering the Atlantic Ocean.

Identification was accomplished by converting length and width measurements of individual fossil elements to ratios (proportions), treating them as variables, and comparing them to ratios computed from a large series ofbones from extant istiophorid species. Ratios of a fossil specimen that fell outside the range of ratios computed for extant species, or that were equivocal as to genus or species, were identified as one of the following: Istiophoridae, genus and species indeterminate; Istiophorus cf. I. platypterus; Makaira cf. M. indica; M. cf. M. nigricans; M. purdyi; cf. Makaira sp.; or Tetrapturus cf. T. albidus. Fifty-three percent of the fossil elements were identified as Istiophoridae, genus and species indeterminate, or as M. nigricans.

Significant differences (P<0.05) exist between the predentary, rostrum, scapula, and vertebrae 1 and 23 of extant Makaira nigricans and M. nigricans from Lee Creek Mine. Features at the extremely significant level (P<0.001) are predentaries that are deeper and rounder, rostra that have rounder cross sections and more ventrally placed nutrient canals, and first vertebrae that have a narrower transverse diameter anteriorly.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/16 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/16 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:54 PDT Makaira panamensis new sp. is described from a single neurocranium found in the Chagres Sandstone (Late Miocene) of the Atlantic coast of Panama. The new species is closely related to and possibly ancestral to the extant M. indica (black marlin) and M. nigricans (blue marlin). It differs from both by possessing a triangular rather than elongate basioccipital foramen, large nutrient canals in the rostrum and probably a more elongate orbit. The fossil is compared to all known fossil Istiophorids as well as to the living marlins. It is suggested that the black marlin is a more recent derivative (than the blue marlin) that was unable to thrive in the Atlantic Ocean because of a temperature barrier.

]]> Harry L. Fierstine Articles http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/15 http://works.bepress.com/hfiersti/15 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 14:02:54 PDT Harry L. Fierstine et al. Articles