Decapod Crustacea from the Agrio Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Neuquen Basin, Argentina

作者：Aguirre Urreta Beatriz^*; Lazo Dario G; Rawson Peter F

来源：Palaeontology, 2012, 55: 1091-1103.

DOI：10.1111/j.1475-4983.2012.01175.x

• Crustacea
• Lower Cretaceous
• Argentina
• exceptional preservation
• eyes
• stridulatory structure

Two species of decapod crustacean are recorded from the Agua de la Mula Member of the Agrio Formation (Upper Hauterivian Lower Barremian) of the Neuquen Basin of west-central Argentina, namely Astacodes falcifer Bell and a new species of Palaeohomarus, P. pacificus. The preservation of the specimens is exceptional, some showing delicate compound eyes and a stridulatory apparatus, features rarely found in fossil forms. Many specimens are preserved articulated inside calcareous nodules, within dark-grey shales. The lobster-bearing sediments accumulated in a low-energy marine environment and diagenetic mineralization occurred very rapidly, prior to significant decay, thus allowing exceptional preservation of specimens. Palaeohomarus was a rare genus in the Cretaceous with a palaeogeographic distribution restricted to the Mediterranean Tethys, the eastern USA and Madagascar, while Astacodes falcifer has been recorded only from Speeton (eastern England) and Neuquen.

• 出版日期2012-9