10.5061/DRYAD.VMCVDNCRW
Dudgeon, Thomas
0000-0002-0976-8599
Canadian Museum of Nature
Landry, Zoe
Carleton University
Callahan, Wayne
0000-0001-6314-603X
New Jersey State Museum
Mehling, Carl
American Museum of Natural History
Ballwanz, Steven
New Jersey State Museum
Data from: An Appalachian population of neochoristoderes (Diapsida:
Choristodera) elucidated through fossil evidence and ecological niche
modeling
Dryad
dataset
2021
Neochoristodera
<i>Champsosaurus</i>
Appalachia
Atlantic coastal plain
FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
2021-06-19T00:00:00Z
2021-06-19T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.1111/pala.12545
19417977 bytes
5
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Four neochoristoderan vertebral centra are described from the latest
Cretaceous of New Jersey. One specimen was recovered from the basal
transgressive lag of the Navesink Formation in the area of Holmdel Park,
New Jersey, and two others were recovered nearby and likely were derived
from the same horizon. The fourth was recovered from the Marshalltown
sequence in the vicinity of the Ellisdale Dinosaur Site. These vertebrae
expand the geographic range of Late Cretaceous neochoristoderes in North
America by over 2000 km further east, and represent the first
neochoristoderan remains from the Atlantic coastal plain. To discern
whether neochoristodere remains are to be expected in New Jersey, and
elucidate why neochoristoderes are apparently so rare in Appalachia, we
implemented ecological niche modeling to predict the range of suitable
habitat for Champsosaurus, the only known genus of Late Cretaceous
neochoristoderes. We found that in Appalachia, the ideal habitat of
Champsosaurus likely existed slightly further north and west than the
Atlantic coastal plain, and New Jersey is likely on or near the margin of
this suitable habitat space. These results suggest that the occurrence of
neochoristoderes in New Jersey is consistent with the habitat requirements
of known Late Cretaceous neochoristoderes. These vertebrae therefore may
represent the southern margin of a population of neochoristoderes that
lived further inland, where latest Cretaceous sediments are not preserved.
The continued recovery of material from Late Cretaceous deposits along the
Atlantic coast, and review of existing collections, is encouraged to
clarify the true distribution of neochoristoderes in Appalachia.
The occurrence datasets from the Palaeobiology Database (PBDB) were
downloaded on the 18th of February 2020. These are: (1) occurrence
datasets for Champsosaurus from the Campanian and Maastrichtian; and (2)
fossil occurrences from the Campanian Maastrichtian (for the
reconstruction of sedimentary outcrop). Please refer to the details listed
at the top of each document for a breakdown of how the data were searched,
and what variables they contain.