An Invertebrate Macrofauna From The Upper Cretaceous Of Delaware
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Date
1963-07
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Publisher
Newark, DE: Delaware Geological Survey, University of Delaware
Abstract
Recent erosion along the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal has exposed an unusually rich Upper Cretaceous fossiliferous outcrop at the Biggs Farm, near the eastern end of the Canal. Some III species of mollusks representing 72 genera have been identified. Coelenterata, Porifera, Annelida, Brachiopoda, Crustacea, and a few fragmentary vertebrate remains have also been found. Five species are being described as new, and there are 54 new records for the Cretaceous of Delaware.
The preservation of the material suggests that the animals lived on a sandy bottom in water between 50 and 100 feet in depth, possibly near the mouth of a bay.
Inasmuch as there is a mixing of some species characteristic of the Matawan Group and other species characteristic of the Monmouth Group, it is believed that the fauna at this locality lies near the Matawan-Monmouth boundary, perhaps in the lower part of the Monmouth Group.
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Keywords
Invertebrate, Macrofauna, Upper Cretaceous, Delaware