Permian fish spines in coprolite

[GeschWhat]

Hi all,

 

I have been going through some of the coprolites in my collection in order to catalog them. I have two different specimens that have fish spine and scale inclusions. They are from Waurika, Oklahoma (Permian).  

 

1. I want to verify that this is a fish spine. If so, could it be from a Xenacanthus?. Does anyone know if Xenacanthus had scales?

 

 

The coprolite contains numerous scales. Of those that are visible, this is the best preserved.

 

2. This coprolite has a different type of fish spine. Any idea what type of fish it is from? That may be a tooth poking out above the spine.  Based on the size of the coprolites, I'm assuming the coprolite producers were feeding on fry. 

 

As always, thanks for you help!

[JohnJ]

@dinodigger

@Carl

@oilshale

[fossilcrazy]

Hi GeschWhat,

 

It looks like you do have Shark spines. The scales are probably from fish in the same environment. Linton, Ohio lagerstatten, has shown many teeth and spines from it's Chondrichthyes. No large scales present (of sharks) and I believe any kind of protective surface would be very small in size. The book "Lower Permian Vertebrates of Oklahoma Volume 1 - Waurika by Kieran Davis, only shows spines, bone material and denticles. Both locations of different age are excellent fossil records. I am not recognizing the fish species belonging to your scale specimen. Continued Happy Hunting!  -John

[GeschWhat]

Thanks, @fossilcrazy! I'm not very familiar with Permian fossils, so that is helpful. I figured the scale would not be identifiable unless the spine was associated with the same fish. 

[oilshale]

Morphology and histology of dorsal spines of the xenacanthid shark Orthacanthus platypternus from the Lower Permian of Texas, USA: Palaeobiological and palaeoenvironmental implications.

Link:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269698877_Morphology_and_histology_of_dorsal_spines_of_Orthacanthus_platypternus_Chondrichthyes_Xenacanthiformes_from_the_Lower_Permian_Craddock_Bone_Bed_north-central_Texas_USA_palaeobiological_and_palaeoenvir

 

Orthacanthus platypternus( Cope, 1883) (Chondrichthyes: Xenacanthiformes) teeth and other isolated vertebrate remains from a single horizon in the early Permian (Artinskian) Craddock Bonebed, lower Clear Fork Group, Baylor County, Texas, USA

Link. https://geojournals.pgi.gov.pl/agp/article/view/26055/17820

 

[digit]

13 hours ago, GeschWhat said:

The coprolite contains numerous scales. Of those that are visible, this is the best preserved.

This ganoid scale looks remarkably like the gar scales we find quite often here in Florida (and that I've found from the Cretaceous in Wyoming). Checked online to see how far back gars go in the fossil record and they only date back to the Late Jurassic so it is something else that preceded it by a good stretch of time.

 

Very cool inclusions.

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

[fossilcrazy]

GeschWhat,

 

Your spine shows some of the same ornamentation as this complete Orthacanthus spine from Linton, Ohio. Keep looking, strange new things could show up. 

[GeschWhat]

The articles are very helpful, @oilshale. Now I can't wait to go through my box of Permian poo to see what else I can find. 

 

Ken, this scale is from a different Permian coprolite (a large spiral), but it reminds me even more of a gar scale. I think it is because it has its basal layer. The same large spiral also has this beautiful scale.

 

 

That is a beautiful specimen, John. 

[oilshale]

Orthacanthus was a top predator and cannibal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthacanthus

 

Fish and tetrapod communities across a marine to brackish salinity gradient in the Pennsylvanian (early Moscovian) Minto Formation of New Brunswick, Canada, and their palaeoecological and palaeogeographic implications. Link: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/399371/1/Palaeontology%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf

Check page 40 about cannibalism.

[mstimson29]

On 20/03/2020 at 3:16 PM, oilshale said:

Orthacanthus was a top predator and cannibal:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthacanthus

 

Fish and tetrapod communities across a marine to brackish salinity gradient in the Pennsylvanian (early Moscovian) Minto Formation of New Brunswick, Canada, and their palaeoecological and palaeogeographic implications. Link: https://eprints.soton.ac.uk/399371/1/Palaeontology%20Accepted%20Manuscript.pdf

Check page 40 about cannibalism.

Good paper