Fish: Phlyum Chordata

While sampling the lower Miocene Calvert Formation at the Pollack Farm Site, 30 fossil fish taxa were collected, consisting of 24 cartilaginous and 6 osteichthyes fishes. The fossils found in the lower Miocene bed have similar characteristics to an equally aged Formation in southern Delaware suggesting deposition occured in a subtropical, shallow-water, near shore environment.

The early Miocene Fish fossils found in Delaware are of two kinds, Chondrichthyes(consisting mainly of Sharks and rays) and Osteichthyes(commonly known as bony fish).

Paleontologists, at the Pollack Farm, were able to collect a large number of teeth and vertebrae from Chondrichthyes. However, because their bodies do not contain a true bone, full body fossils are very rare to find.

Osteichthyes, differ than Chondrichthyes, in that their skeleton is made of a stiffer bone, compared to their cartilaginous counterparts. Osteichthyes are often associated with dagger-like, isolated teeth

The stingray, dayatis americana, (shown above) is just one of the many Chondrichthyes and fish fauna found at the Pollack Farm Site, in Delaware! Click the image or the link below to view the fish collection.

Reference(s)

Photographs from DGS Special Publication No. 21, 1998, R.N. Benson, ed.
Top left image: http:/www.pbs.org/oceanrealm/seadwellers

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