Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) and European belemnitellids

[Fossilsforever]

Hello all,

 

I am a new member and really interested in belemnites (prehistoric 'squid'). 

 

In the United States of America, belemnites (Belemnitida) can be collected at specific locations.

I know that around Delaware (Canal) and New Jersey (Big Brook area) the belemnitellid Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) occurs. 

I am interested if anyone has some photo's of that american belemnite species.

The Navesink formation and other Cretaceous layers are around 70-66 million years old. Is this correct?

I have read that New Jersey was under water during the late Cretaceous (shallow sea). 

How deep was the water that surrounded New Jersey? (Big Brook area)?

 

In the Netherlands, belemnites can be collected in South-Limburg around Maastricht and Gulpen (late Campanien and Maastrichtien). 

The Netherlands were under water (whole), Limburg was covered by a (shallow) sea. 

The belemnites in Limburg are around 73-66 million years old (some Belemnitella and Belemnella specimens are around 68-69 million years old).

Only with very specific methods is it possible to determine the exact age.

 

I have added a picture of belemnites that I collected in Limburg. They are of late Campanian, earliest or early Maastrichtien age.

The species are Belemnitella cf. minor II (Christensen, 1995) or Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913). Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) obtusa (Schulz, 1979) can also be found but they have a somewhat different form and based on the literature many belemnites belong to minor II or junior. 

Belemnitella cf. minor II (Christensen, 1995) are quite stout and can be big (around 9.5-9.6 cm for the example(s) in the image). 

I know that complex methods are available to determine belemnite species (Schatzky distance, etc.) but sometimes, it is possible to identify belemnites from 'the outside'. 

 

Does anyone know why only Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) occurs in the above mentioned locations? 

Why are there no representatives of Belemnella?

I find it interesting because in Europe during the Cretaceous there were two genus that lived in the (shallow) Cretaceous sea: Belemnitella and Belemnella. 

 

Kind regards,

Ruben

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Fossilsforever

[Ludwigia]

I'm afraid that I can't answer most of your questions, but I can at least show you a couple of photos of Belemnitella americana from Monmouth County, New Jersey which I recieved on a trade. Maybe @TqB has some insight on the subject?

 

 

 

I also thought I'd mention Belemnitella mucronata from the Campanian in Hannover, Germany which adds to the picture here.

 

[Fossilsforever]

Very nice pictures Ludwigia!

I don't have any representatives of Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830). 

So I will summarize my questions (added some more). 

 

-The Navesink formation and other Cretaceous layers are around 70-66 million years old. Is this correct?

-How deep was the water that surrounded New Jersey? (Big Brook area)?

-Does anyone know why only Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) occurs in the above mentioned locations?

-Why are there no representatives of Belemnella?

-How old (in mya) are the bottom layers / surrounding sediment at Big Brook? Bottom (in the water) is late Campanian/Maastrichtien or better definition?

-In which aspects is Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) different from lets say Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913)? The internal aspects (Schatzky, distance parameters etc.)? From the image (and other photo's) it would appear that americana is somewhat longer (more pencil like). But other examples are somewhat thicker too.

-Could it be that Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) is in fact a (sub)species or a variant of a species that occurs in Europe too? (for example: B. mucronata (Schlotheim, 1813), or is it a real separate species? 

 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Fossilsforever
More information

[doushantuo]

hoi

this(peer-reviewed) might or might not provide at least some insight

10.1.1.511.9562.pdf

 

 

 

misschien lezenswaardig:

 

keutgenjagtcretacmolluscbelemnvijlen.pdf

[Fossilsforever]

Thanks for the reply!

I am working on a article about belemnites (I have read the article from Keutgen & Jagt). 

The article about sea levels: very interesting. Thank you!

 

In a table/summary in the paper you can see the waters/Sea around New Jersey/Delaware was about 50-100 meters deep.

At 66-65 mya it is around 30-50 meters or 30-70 meters, at 78-80 mya it is around 20-80 meters. 

In another table I see that the sea was between 50-100 meters deep between 70-60 mya. 

The peak sea level was 75-110 meters (according to the authors). 

 

I really hope someone can answer my other questions. 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Fossilsforever
New information.

[doushantuo]

about 7 MB

Acta Geologica Polonica, Vol. 62 (2012), No. 3, pp. 495–533

The Belemnella stratigraphy of the Campanian–Maastrichtian boundary; a new methodological
and taxonomic approach

 

some of you may like:

 

"Avondklok" Ben

[TqB]

@Fossilsforever Hi and welcome to the forum - always nice to see a belemnite fan.  

 

I don't know much about belemnitellids (my collection is mostly Jurassic) but here are a couple of small, rather weathered B. americana from the Prairie Bluff Chalk of Mississippi, given to me many years ago.

 

This is a good summary paper that might help, though you may have read it: Christensen 1997

Belemnitellidae…taxonomy and evolutionary history

 

Essentially, the centre of evolution was in the North European province. Ten genera are recorded here but only Praeactinocamax and Belemnitella made it to the North American Province.

 

 

[Caverat]

Thanks for this post! I have exactly ONE Belemnite in my collection of thousands of specimens and was very happy when I found it. The specimen is from the Cretaceous Saratoga Chalk south of Saratoga, Arkansas. The outcrop was mostly pelecypods, so I was happy to find something different. I've identified it as Belemnitella americana, please correct me if I've misidentified! The light blue grid is one inch.

[erose]

Here is a small, extremely rare, specimen from the Albian of Central Texas.   This one was found in the Walnut Formation and I know of one other from the older Glen Rose Formation.  These were both in calcareous sediments of the Western Interior Seaway, relatively shallow waters.  I have no idea what the species would be let alone the genera. There is no literature on them. 

[FossilDAWG]

5 hours ago, erose said:

Here is a small, extremely rare, specimen from the Albian of Central Texas.   This one was found in the Walnut Formation and I know of one other from the older Glen Rose Formation.  These were both in calcareous sediments of the Western Interior Seaway, relatively shallow waters.  I have no idea what the species would be let alone the genera. There is no literature on them. 

 

Is there anything left of the alveolar part where the phragmocone would have been inserted?  That is where the diagnostic characters are to be found.

 

Don

[Fossilsforever]

Thank you all for the replies! 

The photo's are really interesting. 

More photo's would be very cool!

 

@TqB thanks for your link. 

I did read the paper (parts), but I skipped the info about the European evolution.

So here we have the information.

The majority of the belemnitellids of the Nord American Province are endemic, derived from species from the North European Province. 

Later: "These taxa evolved from European species by allopatric speciation." 

(in Dutch): het ontstaan van dochtersoorten uit één vooroudersoort door ruimtelijke scheiding. 

 

"The majority of the belemnitellids of the North American Province are endemic, have a punctuated, strongly discontinuous stratigraphical distribution and are derived from species from the North European Province (Christensen 1993b). The endemic taxa include the Middle Turonian-Early Santonian species of Praeactinocamax and the Late Campanian-Maastrichtian species of Belemnitella. These taxa evolved from European species by allopatric speciation. Three European taxa, Actinocamax verusl, Belemnitella praecursor and B. ex gr. alpha/praecursor, occur in the uppermost Santonian-basal Early Campanian. 78 Bulletin of the Geological Society of Denmark Since most of the belemnitellid species of the North American Province are endemic intercontinental correlation based on belemnites is not possible.'"

 

So, Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) is a separate species but has its origins in European specimens of the Belemnitella genus. 

Some of the Belemnitella species/animals made it to North America and were (later) different than the original/parent species. 

Very interesting!

 

Some of my questions are answered. 

 

-The Navesink formation and other Cretaceous layers are around 70-66 million years old. Is this correct? I read the following information (Sugerman et al., 1995). "The Maastrichtian unconformity-bounded sequence in the NJ coastal plain, here informally termed the Navesink sequence, includes the Navesink Formation, the Sandy Hook and Shrewsbury Members of the Red Bank Formation, and the Tinton Formation and ranges in age from 69.3 to 65 Ma based on Sr-isotope age estimates."  So around 69.3 and 65 million years ago (mya). Info in a paper (Sugerman et al., 1995) mentions between 70 and 66 mya (see literature). 

-How deep was the water that surrounded New Jersey? (Big Brook area)? The waters/sea around New Jersey/Delaware was about 50-100 meters deep.

At 66-65 mya it is around 30-50 meters or 30-70 meters, at 78-80 mya it is 20-80 meters. Between 60 and 70 mya the sea was around 50-100 meters deep. The peak sea level was 75-110 meters (Kominez et al., 2008). 

-Does anyone know why only Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) occurs in the above mentioned locations? No answer yet. 

-Why are there no representatives of Belemnella? No answer yet. 

-How old (in mya) are the bottom layers / surrounding sediment at Big Brook? Bottom (in the water) is late Campanian/Maastrichtien or better definition? No answer yet. But likely between 70 (or 69.3) and 66 mya (see Sugerman et al., 1995). 

-In which aspects is Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) different from lets say Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913)? The internal aspects (Schatzky, distance parameters etc.)? From the image (and other photo's) it would appear that americana is somewhat longer (more pencil like). But other examples are somewhat thicker too. No answer yet. I think the internal parameters like all other belemnites (Schatzky etc). From the outside, they appear to be more 'pencil-like'. But bigger specimens can occur too. 

-Could it be that Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) is in fact a (sub)species or a variant of a species that occurs in Europe too? (for example: B. mucronata (Schlotheim, 1813), or is it a real separate species? This one has been answered. It is a separate species but has its origins in European Belemnitella species. 

 

Some literature

Kominz, Michelle & Browning, J. & Miller, Kenneth & Sugarman, P. & Mizintseva, Svetlana & Scotese, Christopher. (2008). Late Cretaceous to Miocene Sea-Level estimates from the New Jersey and Delaware coastal plain coreholes: an error analysis. Basin Research. 20. 211 - 226. 10.1111/j.1365-2117.2008.00354.x. 

Sugarman, P.J., Miller, K.G., Bukry, David, and Feigenson, M.D., 1995, Uppermost Campanian-Maestrichtian strontium isotopic, biostratigraphic, and sequence stratigraphic framework of the New Jersey coastal plain: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 107, no. 1, p. 19-37.

 

Interesting website about the fossils of Big Brook (NJ): http://www.njfossils.net/cover.html

Edited February 11, 2021 by Fossilsforever
Better info

[erose]

7 hours ago, FossilDAWG said:

Is there anything left of the alveolar part where the phragmocone would have been inserted?  That is where the diagnostic characters are to be found.

 

Don

Not my specimen. It was found on a club field trip. But no, it was a clean square break

[FossilDAWG]

Unfortunate that the "wrong end" was found.

I know that belemnites are exceptionally rare in many North American Cretaceous formations, with the exception of the Mt Laurel/Peedee and correlative formations.  I suspect that many collectors have a bias towards picking up the "pointy end" fragments, because they look more like a complete belemnite, and they do not realize that the other end contains all the diagnostic characters and are vastly more useful from a scientific perspective.  It is almost impossible to identify the "pointy end" even to genus with any confidence.

 

Don

[Fossilsforever]

Interesting information about the Walnut Formation: https://www.itano.net/fossils/walnut/walnut.htm

 

You say the Albian (113.0 ± 1.0 to 100.5 ± 0.9 Mya) of Central Texas. Hmmm. 

Belemnitella americana (Morton, 1830) did not exist at that time. 

I know that the genus Hibolithes lived during the Albian. The presented fossil looks like a Hibolithes. 

The interesting part is that it looks like a Hibolithes subfusiformis. Could it be that one specimen drifted away from Europe and came in American waters? Or is it picked up by a flying reptile or other animal? 

https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/720576009104863871/

https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/720576009115870383/

https://nl.pinterest.com/pin/720576009115123387/

 

The species Neohibolites is also a good candidate. I see this species on Wikipedia in a article about Texas. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_prehistoric_life_of_Texas

I know that Wikipedia is not the best source. But when I look here (https://www.mindat.org/paleo_strat.php?id=6429) I see this species (Neohibolites sp.) on a list of Texas (Albian) fossil material. Could it be that one specimen from younger layers ended up in older layers and/or lived during that time?

Perhaps that is not the case and the specimen lived DURING the Albian (see https://www.mona.uwi.edu/geoggeol/Staff/SFM-pdfs/SFMBelemnite.pdf) 

In any case, Neohibolites is found in Texas in the Grayson Formation (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0195667182900283)

The Grayson Formation has an early Cenomanian age (so younger then Albian). 

Could it be that the belemnite came from Cenomanian sediments/was picked up or carried by an animal (from The North European Province) and/or lived, perhaps in small numbers, in Texas during the Albian. 

 

@Don: it is possible to determine belemnites by appearance. But often, very difficult. You have to know the internal aspects, but when you know which species can be found at certain locations, you can make a good educated guess. Were I live there are many belemnite species that can be found but when you know in which paper to search and which layer you are searching, you can say this species (name) or perhaps that species (name). If you really dont know then sp. For example. I know that my belemnites (picture) are Belemnitella cf. minor II (Christensen, 1995) or Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913). Perhaps Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) obtusa (Schulz, 1979), but that one has another form (more tear drop and often not so stout, also often no imprints from blood vessels (vascular) and longitudinal grooves) and because of information in a paper, I think (with a certain degree of certainty) that my specimens belong to the two mentioned species. 

Edited February 11, 2021 by Fossilsforever
Better information

[Jeffrey P]

This is a collection of Belmnitella americana I found in one day (probably one hour) in a tributary of Big Brook near Marlboro, N.J. in summer of 2018. This was in the Upper Cretaceous Navesink Formation. You may notice a couple of Choristothyris plicata brachiopods I found there as well. The largest ones are about four inches in length:

[FossilDAWG]

On 2/11/2021 at 12:19 PM, Fossilsforever said:

@Don: it is possible to determine belemnites by appearance. But often, very difficult. You have to know the internal aspects, but when you know which species can be found at certain locations, you can make a good educated guess. Were I live there are many belemnite species that can be found but when you know in which paper to search and which layer you are searching, you can say this species (name) or perhaps that species (name). If you really dont know then sp. For example. I know that my belemnites (picture) are Belemnitella cf. minor II (Christensen, 1995) or Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913). Perhaps Belemnella (Pachybelemnella) obtusa (Schulz, 1979), but that one has another form (more tear drop and often not so stout, also often no imprints from blood vessels (vascular) and longitudinal grooves) and because of information in a paper, I think (with a certain degree of certainty) that my specimens belong to the two mentioned species. 

My point was that in a situation where belemnites are scarce and the fauna is not already well understood, a fragment of the tip of the rostrum is not adequate to ID the species or even the genus with any confidence.  In the case of the specimen Erose shows, for example, there is no literature to indicate the presence of any belemnites in the formation, and it is too old to be a Belemnitella.  Perhaps it could be a Praeactinocamax, which is known from the Late Cenomanian and Early Turonian of the Western Interior seaway (I have collected Praeactinocamax manitobensis and P. cf plenus from the Favel Formation in Manitoba).  However without the "informative" end there is no way to be sure.

 

If belemnites are commonly found complete and the fauna is exhaustively known it certainly is possible to make an "educated guess" about the species from a fragment, as long as the provenance (specific site and layer) is known. 

 

A while ago I was trying to ID some belemites I collected a long time ago (early 1970s) from either the ENCI quarry or t'Rooth, and a couple from the hill below the castle in Valkenburg, all in Limburg Province, the Netherlands.  I assume most of these are Belemnitella junior, but I got the impression that it is hard to ID one or two specimens, you need a population sample.

 

Don

[Fossilsforever]

You are right Don. You can try to identify them, but it is often very difficult (especially without literature and the internal aspects). Yes, many belemnites of the ENCI, 't Rooth and Valkenburg are Belemnitella junior (Nowak, 1913), but (a few) other species can occur too. A long(er) time ago, people thought that most (or all) belemnites in Limburg were Belemnitella mucronata (Von Schlotheim, 1813) but that is not true (more species occur).

 

A paper (Jagt, 2012) mentions: "Belemnitella junior and Belemnitella lwowensis define the upper Maastrichtian, both first appearing in interval 4 of the Vijlen Member."

 

Literature

Jagt, John & Jagt-Yazykova, Elena. (2012). Stratigraphy of the type maastrichtian - a synthesis. Scripta Geologica. 5-32.