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Fish species in the Western Interior Seaway

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The Western Interior Seaway, was a large inland sea that started to expand in the early Cretaceous period, though geological evidence suggests it started to expand in the late Jurassic period. It existed at its fullest extent from the mid-late Cretaceous period. At its greatest extent it was 600 miles (970 km) wide, 2,000 miles (3,200 km) long, and had a depth maximum depth of 2,500 feet (760 m).

Various different species of fish existed in the Western Interior Seaway, throughout its 30 million time frame. Examples of which

Class Genus Extent Location
Chondrichthyes Cretolamna Cretaceous-Miocene Kansas
Chondrichthyes Cretoxyrhina Cenomanian-Campanian Kansas
Chondrichthyes Odontaspis Cretaceous Delaware
Chondrichthyes Ptychodus Albian-Maastrichtian Kansas
Chondrichthyes Scapanorhynchus Cretaceous-Miocene Worldwide
Chondrichthyes Squalicorax Cenomanian-Campanian Wyoming
Osteichthyes Micropycnodon Santonian Colorado
Actinopterygii Bananogmius Santonian-Maastrichtian South Dakota
Actinopterygii Belonostomus Cenomanian-Masstrichtian Montana
Actinopterygii Cimolichthys Cenomanian-Masstrichtian Canada
Actinopterygii Elopopsis Cenomanian-Campanian Colorado
Actinopterygii Enchodus Cretaceous-Paleogene Colorado
Actinopterygii Gyrodus Jurassic-Cretaceous Canada
Actinopterygii Leptecodon Santonian Kansas
Actinopterygii Pachyrhizodus Cenomanian-Maastrichtian South Dakota
Actinopterygii Protosphyraena Coniacian-Maastrichtian Kansas
Actinopterygii Saurodon Coniacian-Santonian Tennessee
Actinopterygii Stratodus Santonian-Maastrichtian Alabama
Actinopterygii Xiphactinus Albian-Maastrichtian Colorado

References

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  • Nicholls, Elizabeth L., and Russell, Anthony P. "Paleobiogeography of the Cretaceous Western Interior Seaway of North America: the vertebrate evidence." Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 79(1990):149-169
  • Spencer, Lucas G., and Sullivan M. Robert. Late Cretaceous vertebrates from the Western Interior. Albuquerque: New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, 2006. Bulletin 35 http://econtent.unm.edu/cdm/ref/collection/bulletins/id/710