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We report on the partial skull of a small juvenile Mammut americanum Kerr from the Monmouth brooks area of New Jersey. Most Pleistocene mammal specimens from the brooks occur as disarticulated fragments. This specimen, the left side of a skull, includes portions of the premaxillae, maxillae, nasals, lacrimals, frontals, and four teeth: three sequential deciduous premolars and the permanent tusk. The skull bones are loosely articulated and essentially unfused, and the reconstructed skull shows gaps representing unossified growth zones between bones. The two anterior left deciduous teeth (DP2 and DP3) are much worn and very fragile, while the posterior left deciduous tooth (DP4) is essentially unworn. The crypt for the left first molar (M1) is partially preserved. The interior of the braincase is characterized by shallow pitting; it is neither smooth nor does it show molding against gyri and sulci of the brain. The pits are not characteristic of the inner surface of a normal mammalian skull, and a...

The holotype specimen of Atlantochelys mortoni, a large sea turtle of Cretaceous age, consisted of only the proximal half of a humerus. Remarkably, the distal half of the same bone has now been recovered, 163 years after the holotype was first described. Besides clarification of the type locality, the size of the complete humerus suggests that this is among the largest turtles known. Circumstances of the discovery suggest that multiple periods of deposition and erosion took place at the discovery site.

A lower jaw and associated postcranial remains from the Late Cretaceous–early Paleocene Hornerstown Formation of New Jersey form the basis of a new crocodyliform species, Borealosuchus threeensis. Although one of the oldest known species of Borealosuchus, phylogenetic analysis supports a closer relationship to Borealosuchus from the early Eocene than with other Late Cretaceous or early Paleocene forms. This is based on the shared presence of a short mandibular symphysis excluding the splenial, a small external mandibular fenestra, and ventral osteoderms composed of two sutured ossifications. It is also similar to Borealosuchus material from the Paleocene of western Texas, though conspecificity cannot be demonstrated at present. A close relationship with the basal alligatoroids Leidyosuchus or Diplocynodontinae is not supported. The distribution of lower jaws with very small slit-like external mandibular fenestrae, or no fenestrae at all, among basal crocodylian lineages (including Borealosuchus) ...

We describe the first record of Terminonaris cf. T. browni Osborn, 1904 (Reptilia: Crocodyliformes) from the Fairport Chalk Member of the Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous: lower Middle Turonian) in Russell County, Kansas. The specimen is a partial rostrum consisting of fused nasals with parts of co-ossified maxillae. This new fossil record is significant because it is the geologically youngest Terminonaris specimen, the first Terminonaris specimen from Kansas, the sixth known specimen of the genus, and the southernmost occurrence in North America. Because Terminonaris is thought to have been a nearshore inhabitant, its occurrence in the Fairport Chalk, which is an offshore deposit, suggests that the specimen was transported for a long distance before its deposition.

Rare earth elements were analyzed from fossil marine reptile (Mosasauridae) bones collected from five superposed members (Sharon Springs, Gregory, Crow Creek, DeGrey, and Verendrye) of the upper Cretaceous Pierre Shale at localities along the Missouri River in Brule, Buffalo, Hughes, and Hyde counties in central South Dakota. Fossil bones from each member of the Pierre Shale have different rare earth element (REE) signatures that may be distinctive over wide geographic areas. Fossils from the Sharon Springs Member have distinctive REE signatures that may be further subdivided into three superposed groups that correspond with the upper, middle, and lower Sharon Springs Member. REE signatures are distinctive from each stratigraphic unit; therefore, fossils eroded from their stratigraphic context may be assigned to their proper depositional unit based on REE signature comparisons. Differences in REE compositions of bones among members appear to result from differential mixing of oxygenated and anoxic seawaters. If differences in mixing are interpreted as depth differences, the lower Sharon Springs Member was deposited in deep, anoxic water; water depths decrease in the middle and upper Sharon Springs, and the overlying Gregory and Crow Creek Members were deposited in even more shallow water. Finally, according to this interpretation, the overlying DeGrey and Verendrye members were deposited in progressively deeper marine waters, but not as deep as the lower Sharon Springs. These interpretations are generally consistent with those based on faunal diversity and eustatic sea level curves.

The Late Irvingtonian fauna of Port Kennedy Cave, Pennsylvania, includes four species of turtles. Terrapene carolina is the most common species; Clemmys insculpta is present. A nearly complete plastron of Emydoidea blandingii from Port Kennedy and two specimens from New Jersey sites indicate that the species ranged through the Delaware Valley region during much of the Quaternary. The type material of Clemmys percrassa Cope is reidentified as Geochelone (Hesperotestudo) percrassa Cope, and becomes one of the more northeasterly records of the genus in North America.

Discoveries at the Ellisdale Site (Campanian, Marshalltown Formation) in New Jersey add significantly to knowledge of vertebrate microfaunas east of the Cretaceous Interior Seaway. Lizard and amphibian remains from Ellisdale appear congeneric with taxa known from western sites. Mammals in the Ellisdale Local Fauna include multituberculates and a marsupial. Two of the teeth thus far recovered are indistinguishable from specimens referred to Alphadon lulli (Marsupialia) and Cimolomys cf. C. clarki (Multituberculata), species known from western faunas of Judithian age.

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the marine crocodilian Hyposaurus in North America. The fossil genus Hyposaurus, a longirostrine mesosuchian crocodilian, is a characteristic and relatively common fossil from marine sediments of Maastrichtian through Danian ages. Its geographic range in the United States now extends from New Jersey to Alabama, in glauconite and chalk facies. A specimen that comprises the most perfectly preserved skull and jaws of Hyposaurus rogersii is analyzed. A diminutive seventh mandibular tooth is present only in the right dentary and it is completely absent from the left. This reduction of the seventh mandibular tooth is a synapomorphy of the Dyrosauridae. The edge of each dentary is slightly festooned. The mandibular symphysis varies from quadrangular to oval in transverse section, and is slightly wider than high. The type specimen of Hyposaurus fraterculus Cope is now known to be a juvenile Thoracosaurus, leaving H. rogersii Owen as the only North American species. It is notable as a marine guide fossil of short stratigraphic range, which does, however, span the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary. It is found that one well-preserved specimen has yielded remarkably large gastroliths, prompting comparison to those of elasmosaurs, with potential contributions to stability in marine environments.

In order to reconstruct the diet of various occupations of Middle Woodland Amerindians at Abbott Farm, New Jersey, nine different trace-element analyses were performed on bone specimens from the site. Contemporary bone specimens were also used as controls. Specimens of human bone from the site exhibited lower strontium levels and strontium-to-calcium ratios than deer specimens from the same site, reinforcing paleodemographic evidence that the human populations that inhabited this site included substantial amounts of meat in their diets. Strong evidence for diagenetic enrichment of strontium was also found. Copper levels were not affected by diagenesis, but dietary discrimination was not clear for this element. The results for lead were too inconsistent to permit conclusions. Magnesium levels were clearly depleted by diagenesis, suggesting that this element is less useful than others in dietary reconstruction studies. Manganese concentrations were greatly enriched by diagenesis, rendering this element useless in dietary reconstruction. Molybdenum was absent from virtually every specimen. Excellent dietary discrimination was found for sodium, despite significant leaching. Zinc was not affected by diagenesis, but interpretation of results was hampered by its complex metabolism in mammals. The results also suggest that the Middle Woodland aboriginal residents of Abbott Farm ate little seafood and utilized grain or other plants that contain phytate as a food source.