New Cretaceous marine vertebrate assemblages from north–western Venezuela and their significance

ABSTRACT

Two new assemblages of fossil fishes are reported from the Cretaceous of Venezuela. One occurs in the Apon Formation (Aptian-Albian) and includes ichthyodectids, pycnodontids, asyet unidentified elopocephalans, plus the aspidorhynchid Vinctifer. The other assemblage is from the La Luna Formation (Cenomanian-Santonian) and includes Squalicorax, Enchodus, Belonostomus, plethodids, and pachyrhizodontids. The occurrence of Vinctifer is of considerable biostratigraphic and biogeographical interest in view of previous claims about its temporal range and distribution. Vinctifer ranged throughout the Aptian and Albian, especially in Brazil, where its occurrence may be of ecological significance in marking a transition from enclosed basinal environments to more open marine conditions.