Middle Permian fish microremains from the Early Capitanian of the Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas, USA

Abstract

A diverse fish microremain assemblage, including the symmoriiform shark Stethacanthulus, jalodontid Texasodus, hybodontiform "Polyacrodus", neoselachian Cooleyella; haplolepid, elonichthyid actinopterygians and Varialepis; as well as undetermined symmoriiforms, euselachians and actinopterygians, is described from the Rader Limestone Member of the Bell Canyon Formation (Capitanian, Middle Permian) of the "Rader Slide" section, the Guadalupe Mountains, West Texas, USA. The assemblage contains widely distributed taxa and one new species Cooleyella duffini found at two Permian localities of Nevada and Texas. The internal structure in the teeth of S. meccaensis is first reconstructed and illustrated using microtomography.