Research and Publications - Alabama Museum of Natural History

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    Checklist of fossil decapod crustaceans from tropical America. Part I: Anomura and Brachyura
    (Sociedade Brasileira de Carcinologia, 2017) Luque, Javier; Schweitzer, Carrie E.; Santana, William; Portell, Roger W.; Vega, Francisco J.; Klompmaker, Adiel A.; University of Alberta; Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute; University System of Ohio; Kent State University; Kent State University Stark; Universidade do Sagrado Coracao; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Our knowledge of fossil crustaceans from the tropics has increased considerably during recent decades, thanks to novel findings and the reexamination of museum specimens. However, several previous records have been misidentified, numerous museum specimens have never been reported, and many new discoveries are yet to be published. Here, we present a detailed, up-to-date, and revised checklist for every marine, terrestrial, or freshwater fossil decapod crustacean occurrence from tropical America known to us, including their age, geographic occurrences, and related literature. We recognize the occurrence of at least 32 superfamilies, 69 families, 190 genera, and 415 species of brachyurans ('true' crabs), and anomurans ('false' crabs, hermit crabs, squat lobsters, and allies), several of them previously unknown. The checklist comprises records from three main geographic regions: 1) northern South America (Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Venezuela); 2) Central America and southern North America (Belize, Costa Rica, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, southern and central Florida); and 3) the Caribbean Islands + Bermuda (Anguilla, Antigua, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bonaire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominican Republic, The Grenadines, Haiti, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Saint Bartelemy, Saint Martin, Trinidad). Previous findings, new occurrences, and the revised systematic placement for several problematic/misidentified records, indicate that the fossil record of anomurans and brachyurans in tropical America is more diverse than previously envisioned, with a considerable degree of endemism at the genus- and species-levels.
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    The first record of a paguroid shield (Decapoda, Anomura, Annuntidiogenidae) from the Miocene of Cyprus
    (2020) Wallaard, Jonathan J.W.; Fraaije, René H. B.; Jagt, John W.M.; Klompmaker, Adiël A.; van Bakel, Barry W.M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    For the first time, a paguroid shield is recorded from upper Miocene reefal strata (Koronia Member, Pakhna Formation) that crop out along the northern margin of the Troodos Massif, north of the village of Mitsero, Cyprus. Described here as Paguristes joecollinsi sp. nov., it constitutes the first paguroid shield known from Miocene deposits. The paucity of Cenozoic paguroid shields can probably be linked to a collecting bias in view of their relatively small size; in addition, suitable gastropod shells and internal moulds of such should be screened for ‘hidden’ hermit crabs.
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    Growth, inter- and intraspecific variation, palaeobiogeography, taphonomy and systematics of the Cenozoic ghost shrimp Glypturus
    (Taylor & Francis, 2015) Klompmaker, Adiel A.; Hyzny, Matus; Portell, Roger W.; Kowalewski, Michal; State University System of Florida; University of Florida; Comenius University Bratislava; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Studies in systematic palaeontology are greatly aided when numerous, well-preserved specimens are available so that quantitative methods can be used to substantiate qualitative observations. This is often not the case for fossil decapod crustaceans due to their relatively low preservation potential. Here, we examined primarily two large collections of the well-preserved ghost shrimp Glypturus from the Holo-Pleistocene of Panama and the late Miocene of Florida. Using descriptive, bivariate, multivariate and geometric morphometric methods, two new species are described based on appendage material: Glypturus panamacanalensis sp. nov. and G. sikesi sp. nov. New characters are identified, and size-related and intraspecific variation are assessed for these taxa and modern G. acanthochirus. Taxonomic placement of single specimens from other localities was confirmed by multivariate methods. Furthermore, Glypturus is revised, especially with regard to Western Atlantic species that inhabited both carbonate and siliciclastic environments. Callianassa anguillensis, C. latidigata, and Neocallichirus? quisquellanus are referred to as Glypturus sp. until more material is available to determine the validity of these species. Diversity within Glypturus may thus be underestimated, thereby also impacting the assessment of phylogenetic relationships. Minor propodi appear under-represented relative to major propodi, suggesting a taphonomic bias. Single specimens of interest include a specimen of G. panamacanalensis sp. nov. exhibiting a peculiar swelling in the fixed finger and another showing damage on the propodal upper margin, suggesting failed predation or antagonistic behaviour. Glypturus is first found in the Oligocene in the Western Atlantic and may have expanded its palaeobiogeographical range since the Miocene. The genus was still present on the Pacific side of the Isthmus of Panama in the Holo-Pleistocene, but is only known from the Western Atlantic today, suggesting a relatively recent extinction on the Pacific side.http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:C7F0C071-F2AD-4684-B277-037B6F91BF0E
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    A late Paleocene fauna from shallow-water chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, Spitsbergen, Svalbard
    (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2019) Hryniewicz, Krzysztof; Amano, Kazutaka; Bitner, Maria Aleksandra; Hagstrom, Jonas; Kiel, Steffen; Klompmaker, Adiel A.; Mors, Thomas; Robins, Cristina M.; Kaim, Andrzej; Polish Academy of Sciences; Institute of Paleobiology of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Joetsu University Education; Swedish Museum of Natural History; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    We present a systematic study of late Paleocene macrofauna from methane seep carbonates and associated driftwood in the shallow marine Basilika Formation, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. The fauna is composed of 22 taxa, comprising one brachiopod, 14 bivalves, three gastropods, three crustaceans, and one bony fish. The reported fish remains are among the first vertebrate body fossils from the Paleogene of Spitsbergen. One genus is new: the munidid decapod Valamunida Klompmaker and Robins gen. nov. Four new species are described: the terebratulide brachiopod Neoliothyrina nakremi Bitner sp. nov., the protobranch bivalve Yoldiella spitsbergensis Amano sp. nov., the xylophagain bivalve Xylophagella littlei Hryniewicz sp. nov., and the munidid decapod Valamunida haeggi Klompmaker and Robins gen. et sp. nov. New combinations are provided for the mytilid bivalve Inoperna plenicostata, the thyasirid bivalve Rhacothyas spitzbergensis, the ampullinid gastropod Globularia isfjordensis, and the munidid decapod Protomunida spitzbergica. Thirteen taxa are left in open nomenclature. The fauna contains a few last occurrences of Cretaceous survivors into the Paleocene, as well as first occurrences of Cenozoic taxa. It is composed of chemosymbiotic thyasirid bivalves and background species common in the northern Atlantic and Arctic during the Paleocene. Our results provide no evidence for a Paleocene origin of vesicomyid and bathymodiolin bivalves typical for Eocene and younger seep environments; instead, the Paleocene seeps of the Basilika Formation are more similar to their Late Cretaceous equi valents rich in thyasirids.
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    Mollusks and a crustacean from early Oligocene methane-seep deposits in the Talara Basin, northern Peru
    (Institute of Paleobiology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 2020) Kiel, Steffen; Hybertsen, Frida; Hyzny, Matus; Klompmaker, Adiel A.; Swedish Museum of Natural History; Comenius University Bratislava; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    A total of 25 species of mollusks and crustaceans are reported from Oligocene seep deposits in the Talara Basin in northern Peru. Among these, 12 arc identified to the species-level, including one new genus, six new species, and three new combinations. Pseudophopsis is introduced for medium-sized, elongate-oval kalenterid bivalves with a strong hinge plate and largely reduced hinge teeth, rough surface sculpture and lacking a pallial sinus. The new species include two bivalves, three gastropods, and one decapod crustacean: the protobranch bivalve Neilo altamirano and the vesicomyid bivalve Pleurophopsis talarensis; among the gastropods, the pyropeltid Pyropelta seca, the provannid Provanna pelada, and the hokkaidoconchid Ascheria salina; the new crustacean is the callianassid Eucalliax capsulasetaea. New combinations include the bivalves Conchocele tessaria, Lucinoma zapotalensis, and Pseudophopsis peruviana. Two species are shared with late Eocene to Oligocene seep faunas in Washington state, USA: Provanna antiqua and Colus sekiuensis; the Talara Basin fauna shares only genera, but no species with Oligocene seep fauna in other regions. Further noteworthy aspects of the molluscan fauna include the remarkable diversity of four limpet species, the oldest record of the cocculinid Coccopigya, and the youngest record of the largely seep-restricted genus Ascheria. Eucalliax is recorded for the first time from a seep and from the Oligocene.
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    Systematics and convergent evolution of multiple reef-associated Jurassic and Cretaceous crabs (Decapoda, Brachyura)
    (Coquina Press, 2020) Klompmaker, Adiel A.; Starzyk, Natalia; Fraaije, Rene H. B.; Schweigert, Gunter; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa; University of California System; University of California Berkeley; Polish Academy of Sciences; Institute of Systematics & Evolution of Animals of the Polish Academy of Sciences
    The Late Jurassic marks the first major radiation among true crabs (Brachyura) in reef environments, followed by another diversification in the mid- to Late Cretaceous in multiple habitats. We studied brachyuran carapaces from Mesozoic sponge- and coralassociated limestones in Europe. Six new taxa are described: Late Jurassic Europrosopon gen. nov., Eodromites bernchrisdomiorum sp. nov., Prosopon josephcollinsi sp. nov., Tanidromites nightwishorum sp. nov., and T weinschenki sp. nov.; and midCretaceous Eodromites cristinarobinsae sp. nov. Furthermore, we recognize four junior synonyms: Eodromites grandis (=E. guenteri), Tanidromites scheffnerae (=T wysokaensis), and Europrosopon aculeatum (=E. verrucosum and E. barbulescuae). Five taxa are reassigned: Eodromites aequilatus to Tanidromites, Tanidromites rotundus to Eodromites, Nodoprosopon dzhafarberdensis to ?Abyssophthalmus, Nodoprosopon from Nodoprosopidae to Homolodromiidae, and Rathbunopon from Glaessneropsidae to Prosopidae. Several other taxa are redescribed. The latter reassignment indicates that Rathbunopon does not represent an example of extreme convergent evolution as implied previously. Conversely, the frontal structure consisting of a rostrum with two diverging spines and outer orbital spines appears a remarkable example of convergent evolution of the goniodromitid Navarradromites toward members of Homolodromiidae, for which this frontal structure is characteristic. Rostral spines represent another example of convergent evolution. Some specimens are extraordinary: A specimen of Abyssophthalmus cf. A. spinosus represents the largest complete reported Jurassic brachyuran thus far and one specimen of Planoprosopon aff. P hystricosus bears one of the largest known parasitic isopod-induced swellings (ichnotaxon Kanthyloma crusta) relative to carapace size. Overall, our results indicate that biodiversity and convergent evolution in Mesozoic brachyurans remain understudied.