Paranursallia gutturosa (Arambourg, 1954)

Taxonomy

Pycnodont

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata Haeckel 1874
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Pycnodontiformes Berg, 1937 sensu Nursall, 2010
Family: Pycnodontidae Agassiz, 1833
Genus: Paranursallia
Species: Paranursallia gutturosa
Author Citation (Arambourg, 1954)

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Cretaceous
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Cenomanian / Turonian

Stratigraphy

"Continental intercalaire" Group
Akrabou Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 7 cm

Location

Gara es Sbâa
Tafraoute
Tiznit Province
Morocco

• akrabou formation
• gara es sbâa
• morocco
• nursallia
• palaeobalistum
• paranursallia

Comments

Taxonomy from Taverne et al. 2015.

Palaeobalistum gutturosum, originally described by Arambourg in 1954 from the Cenomanian deposits of Jebel Tselfat in Morocco, was doubtfully ranged in the genus Nursallia by PoyatoAriza & Wenz in 2002. Taverne et al. 2015 established the new genus Paranursallia for "Nursallia" gutturosa.

Etymology. — From the Greek para, near, close to, and the generic name Nursallia.

Diagnosis for the genus Paranursallia from Taverne et al. 2015, p. 2018: "Nursalliinae with a large head, a wide orbit and a very short snout. Paired broad prefrontals present. Short mesethmoid. Parasphenoid short and straight. Mandible triangular and as deep as long. Wide dermosphenotic. A large and deep “V”-shaped notch at the ventral junction between the skull and the cleithrum. First neural arches fused in a large synarcual articulated on the rear of the skull. First 7 or 8 neural spines autogenous. 27 to 30 vertebral segments before the epichordal series. Neural and haemal arches interlocked by two pre- and two postzygapophyses. Dorsal and anal fin with about 70 pterygiophores each."

Line drawing of the head from Taverne et al. 2015, p. 223:

 

Identified by Prof. L. Capasso, Università degli Studi G. d'Annunzio Chieti e Pescara, Italy.

References:
Arambourg C. (1954) Les poissons crétacés du Jebel Tselfat. Notes et mémoires du Service Géologique du Maroc, 118: 1-188.

Poyato-Ariza F. J. & Wenz S. (2002) A new insight into pycnodontiform fishes. Geodiversitas 24 (1): 139-248.

Taverne L., Layeb M., Layeb-Tounsi Y. & Gaudant J. (2015) Paranursallia spinosa n. gen., n. sp., a new Upper Cretaceous pycnodontiform fish from the Eurafrican Mesogea. Geodiversitas 37 (2): 215-227. http://dx.doi.org/10.5252/g2015n2a3

Capasso, L. (2020) SEGNALAZIONE DEL PICNODONTIFORME PARANURSALLIA GUTTUROSA (ARAMBOURG, 1954) NEI CALCARI DOLOMITICI DEL CRETACEO SUPERIORE DI GARA SBAA, MAROCCO SUDORIENTALE. Atti Mus. Civ. St. Nat. Trieste 61, p. 153-162.