A large marine gar fish (Ginglymodi, Lepisosteiformes) from the Turonian Akrabou Formation of Asfla, Morocco

Fossil marine vertebrates (Chondrichthyes, Actinopterygii, Reptilia) from the Upper Cretaceous of Akkermanovka (Orenburg Oblast, Southern Urals, Russia)

“…Scales are tentatively assigned to Lepisosteidae as this is the only family of the ganoid-scaled Ginglymodi known to have survived after the Cenomanian–Turonian boundary and to persist up to the modern day ( Grande, 2010 ; Brito et al, 2017 ). Generally, lepisosteiform scales are not suitable for reliably diagnosing individual gar species ( Grande, 2010 ; Cooper et al, 2021 ) and several scale morphologies can occur within the same individual ( Yang et al, 2013 ). Although it is very possible that the three morphologies identified in our sample are derived from a single lepisosteiform species, the absence of any associated material cannot prove or disprove this hypothesis, and hence we opt to describe each morphology separately (Lepisosteidae indet.…”

“…All extant lepisosteiforms, with occasional exception of the Alligator gar Atractosteus spatula ( La Cepède, 1803 ), are restricted to terrestrial fresh and brackish water environments. However, rare gar fossils have been reported in fully marine deposits from the Upper Jurassic to Upper Cretaceous of Mexico ( Alvarado-Ortega et al, 2014 ; Brito et al, 2017 ), and the Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) of Morocco ( Cooper et al, 2021 ). It is possible that two or more scale morphologies originate from a single taxon, albeit from different regions of the squamation, although this would be impossible to detect in the absence of articulated material.…”

Giant gar from directly above the Cretaceous–Palaeogene boundary suggests healthy freshwater ecosystems existed within thousands of years of the asteroid impact

“…The skeleton was found at the base of a 30 cm thick grey, blocky siltstone interpreted to be a ponded water deposit (See electronic supplementary material for more geological and palaeoenvironmental details).Etymology—The specific epithet, grandei , in honour of Lance Grande for his contributions to the study of holostean fishes.Diagnosis—Distinguished from other Atractosteus species by the following: poorly ornamented skull roof bones; anterior triangular vomerine tooth plate with reduced fangs; vomerine teeth rows mediolaterally restricted to single line; low number of ectopterygoid teeth (nine instead of 12–13 in other species).Remarks—† A. grandei is assignable to Atractosteus among lepisosteids based on the medially curved symphyses of the dentary and the shape of the vomerine heads approximately forming a triangle (figure 1; [34]). The skull is robust, resembling the largest two Atractosteus species A. spatula and † A. atrox and an unnamed form from the Cretaceous of Morocco [34,44] rather than A. tristoechus , A. tropicus , † A. simplex , † A. messelensis and † A. falipoui . The skull of † A. grandei also matches the crania of individuals of the largest extant species ( A. spatula ) in size and was likely approximately 400 mm when complete.…”

“…Remarks—† A. grandei is assignable to Atractosteus among lepisosteids based on the medially curved symphyses of the dentary and the shape of the vomerine heads approximately forming a triangle (figure 1; [34]). The skull is robust, resembling the largest two Atractosteus species A. spatula and † A. atrox and an unnamed form from the Cretaceous of Morocco [34,44] rather than A. tristoechus , A. tropicus , † A. simplex , † A. messelensis and † A. falipoui . The skull of † A. grandei also matches the crania of individuals of the largest extant species ( A. spatula ) in size and was likely approximately 400 mm when complete.…”

“…The skull is robust, resembling the largest two Atractosteus species A. spatula and †A. atrox and an unnamed form from the Cretaceous of Morocco[34,44] rather than A. tristoechus, A. tropicus, †A. simplex, †A.…”