Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Maastrichtian) marine
actinopterygians from the southern Tethys platform
are underreported and understudied in comparison to
chondrichthyans from this region. Exposures of the
Duwi Formation near the Dakhla, Kharga and Baris
oases preserve a diverse assortment of
actinopterygian fishes not previously reported from
this unit. Horizons yielding fossils represent shallow
marine deposits of upper Campanian-lower
Maastrichtian age. The actinopterygian assemblage
includes representatives of several groups of largebodied, predatory fishes, all of which belong to the
teleost total group: †Pachycormiformes
(†Pachycormidae), †Pachyrhizodontiformes
(†Pachyrhizodontidae), †Ichthyodectiformes
(†Saurodontidae), and Aulopiformes
(†Enchodontidae, † Dercetidae and
†Cimolichthyidae). The presence of saurodontids in
the Duwi Formation is noteworthy as the first
confidently identified fossils for this group from
Africa. Specimens are based on and diagnosed from
isolated and fragmentary elements, implying
significant disarticulation prior to burial.
Palaeobiogeographically, actinopterygians of the
Duwi Formation show compositional similarity with
assemblages from the Northern Tethys Platform and
the Western Interior Seaway of North America,
consistent with mounting evidence for
communication across the Tethys Ocean. Additional
exploration of the uppermost Cretaceous units in
southern Egypt promises potential for the discovery
of important fossils to better characterize the
composition and paleogeographic distribution of the
latest Cretaceous ichthyofauna of the Tethys region. |
