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GEOREF RECORD

Lungfish burrows from the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar

Madeline S. Marshall and Raymond R. Rogers
Lungfish burrows from the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar
Palaios (December 2012) 27 (12): 857-866

Abstract

An assemblage of large-diameter vertical burrows interpreted as lungfish estivation burrows is documented from the Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Maevarano Formation of northwestern Madagascar. These burrows suggest that lungfish were present in the Maevarano Formation paleofauna, and they are the first lungfish estivation burrows described from the rock record of Gondwana. Over 100 large-diameter burrows penetrate a pervasively cross-stratified fluvial sandstone body intercalated near the top of the Masorobe Member. The surface of this sandstone body was mapped and 74 burrows were documented in an area spanning approximately 110 m (super 2) . Burrows cut through and deform surrounding foreset laminae, and in some cases impact surrounding strata up to 8 cm from the edges of individual burrows. In map view, the burrows exhibit three distinctive morphologies: circular, elliptical, and figure-eight shaped. These three map view cross sections are very similar to the modern burrow morphology of the African lungfish Protopterus when its burrow is exhumed along its full vertical expanse. Combined, these transverse-section views provide indication of lungfish estivation, and they are supplemented by several additional key characteristics, including spatial clustering (reflecting gregarious behavior), possible fin traces, and oxidized burrow margins. The localized occurrence of 100+ lungfish estivation burrows is consistent with previous reconstructions that posit a dryland paleoenvironment with a markedly seasonal wet-dry climate for the Maevarano Formation.


ISSN: 0883-1351
Serial Title: Palaios
Serial Volume: 27
Serial Issue: 12
Title: Lungfish burrows from the Upper Cretaceous Maevarano Formation, Mahajanga Basin, northwestern Madagascar
Affiliation: Macalester College, Geology Department, Saint Paul, MN, United States
Pages: 857-866
Published: 201212
Text Language: English
Publisher: Society for Sedimentary Geology, Tulsa, OK, United States
References: 59
Accession Number: 2013-016260
Categories: Vertebrate paleontology
Document Type: Serial
Bibliographic Level: Analytic
Annotation: NSF Grant EAR-0446488 and EAR-1123642
Illustration Description: illus. incl. strat. cols., 1 table, geol. sketch map
S15°46'60" - S15°46'60", E46°40'00" - E46°40'00"
Country of Publication: United States
Secondary Affiliation: GeoRef, Copyright 2017, American Geosciences Institute. Reference includes data from GeoScienceWorld, Alexandria, VA, United States. Reference includes data supplied by SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology), Tulsa, OK, United States
Update Code: 201311
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