The Mooreville Chalk is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi, which were part of the subcontinent of Appalachia. The strata date back to the early Santonian to the early Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The chalk was formed by pelagic sediments deposited along the eastern edge of the Mississippi embayment. It is a unit of the Selma Group and consists of the upper Arcola Limestone Member and an unnamed lower member. Dinosaur, mosasaur, and primitive bird remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Mooreville Chalk Formation.Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Cretaceous, North America)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 574-588. .
Fish
Cartilaginous fish Cartilaginous fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images CretolamnaC. appendiculata A lamniform CretoxyrhinaC. mantelli A lamniformEdaphodonE. barberi ChimaeriformsE. mirificusIschyodusI. williamsae A chimaeriformOdontaspisO. cuspidata A lamniformPropenserP. hewletti LamniformesPtychodusP. mammillaris ?Neoselachian incertae sedisP. mortoniP. polygyrusPseudocoraxP. affinis LamniformesP. laevisSerratolamnaS. serrata A lamniformScapanorhynchusS. rhaphiodon LamniformesS. texanusSqualicoraxS. falcatus LamniformesS. kaupi
Bony fish Bony fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images AlbulaA. dunklei An albuliform BananogmiusB. crieleyi A tselfatiiform CimolichthysC. nepaholica An aulopiformEnchodusE. petrosus An aulopiformE. saevus HoplopteryxHoplopteryx sp. A trachichthyiformIchthyodectesI. ctenodon An ichthyodectiformMoorevilliaM. hardi A tselfatiiformPachyrhizodusP. caninus A crossognathiformProtosphyraenaP. gladiusA pachycormid SaurodonS. leanus An ichthyodectiform StratodusS. apicalis An aulopiform XiphactinusX. audax An ichthyodectiform
Reptiles
Dinosaurs Indeterminate hadrosaurid, nodosaurid, dinosaur egg, and ornithomimosaur fossils are known from Mooreville Chalk outcrops in Alabama. The nodosaurid remains most likely belong to a new taxon.
Dinosaurs reported from the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes ImagesAngelinornisA. antecessorA. antecessor was originally described as Plegadornis antecessor, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar. EotrachodonAlbert Prieto-Márquez, Gregory M. Erickson & Jun A. Ebersole, 2016, "A primitive hadrosaurid from southeastern North America and the origin and early evolution of ‘duck-billed’ dinosaurs", Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology DOI:10.1080/02724634.2015.1054495E. orientalis Alabama. A hadrosaurid known from a nearly complete skeleton and nearly complete skull. HalimornisH. thompsoni Alabama. "Vertebrae and limb elements.""Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 213.An enantiornithine IchthyornisI. antecessorThe species I. antecessor was made the type species of the genus Angelinornis in 1962. Later, I. antecessor and Angelinornis were shown to be junior synonyms of the Ichthyornis type species, I. disparI. dispar Alabama. An ichthyornithine. LophorhothonL. atopus Alabama. A primitive species of hadrosaurid known from only a few skull fragments.SaurornitholestesS. sp.A dromaeosaurid.PlegadornisP. antecessorThe name Plegadornis antecessor was applied to a fossil believed to represent a new bird species, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the "new" species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthtyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.
Mosasaurs Mosasaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images ClidastesC. liodontus MosasaurinesC. "moorevillensis"C. propythonEctenosaurusE. shannoniA plioplatecarpine Eonatator E. sternbergi (sic) A halisaurine E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergiiE. zangerli GlobidensG. alabamaensis A mosasaurineMosasaurusM. missouriensis A mosasaurinePlatecarpusP. tympaniticus A plioplatecarpinePrognathodonP. rapax A mosasaurine SelmasaurusS. russelli A plioplatecarpineTylosaurusT. proriger A tylosaurine
Plesiosaurs Very rare elasmosaurs are present in this formation. Plesiosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images TrinacromerumTrinacromerum sp. PolycotylidsPolycotylusPolycotylus latipinnis Alabama Polycotylids
Pterosaurs Pterosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images PteranodonPteranodon sp. Pteranodontids.
Turtles Turtles of the Mooreville Chalk Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Abundance Notes Images BothremysB. barberi A pelomedusid. CorsochelysC. haliniches A dermochelyid. ProtostegaP. gigas A protostegid. ToxochelysT. moorevillensis A toxochelyid.
See also
List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations List of fossil sites
References