The late Eocene–early Oligocene ichthyofauna from the Eastend area of the Cypress Hills Formation, Saskatchewan, Canada

Abstract

ABSTRACT—The Eocene through Miocene Cypress Hills Formation of Saskatchewan and Alberta has been the basis of studies on sedimentology, paleobotany, herpetofauna, avifauna, and mammalian local faunas. We describe the ichthyofauna from the Eastend area of the formation, representing late Eocene Chadronian to early Oligocene Whitneyan deposits. This fauna is diverse, including at least 14 fish taxa: Lepisosteus, Amiinae, aff. Hiodon, at least three cypriniforms among which is a Ptychocheilus-like leuciscine and at least one catostomid, two ictalurids, both ascribed to Astephus, a probable salmoniform, an amblyopsid-like percopsiform, Mioplosus, a probable moronid, a centrarchid, and at least one other perciform of uncertain affinity. The formation may therefore represent the first fossil record of the Amblyopsidae, and the first North American occurrence of the Moronidae. The composition of the ichthyofauna suggests higher temperatures during the Eocene–Oligocene transition than at present. Paleotemperatures similar to those of the Gulf Coast of the United States are indicated by the present ranges of several taxa, as well as by the large sizes attained by some of these fishes. The high relative abundance of abraded ictalurid material representing small individuals suggests that much of the formation was deposited in shallow, hypoxic floodplain pools that may have seasonally dried out. However, the large sizes attained by some taxa and the diversity of the fauna as a whole indicate that the neighboring aquatic environments were diverse, with well-oxygenated, vegetated, permanent, and deep-water environments. This suggests the presence of a mosaic of conditions, such as is found in large floodplains.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We thank K. Seymour, ROM, for lending comparative material as well as the fossil material and giving us permission to work on it. Thanks to S. Laframboise, CMN, and D. Nelson, UMMZ, for lending comparative material. We also thank G. Arratia and A. Bentley, KU, for lending additional comparative material (loan to J. Liu), J. Liu for granting access to that material, and L. Ditschun for her assistance with the coating of fossil material in ammonium chloride. We also thank J. Theodor, University of Calgary, and H. Bryant and T. Tokaryk, (Royal Saskatchewan Museum), for their useful correspondence about the stratigraphy of the Cypress Hills Formation. Helpful comments on the manuscript were provided by an anonymous reviewer as well as D. Brinkman, who also helped with several useful conversations.