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A list of the fossil species from the Coleraine formation that have been found at Hill Annex Mine and other sites.

Note: Text and images are modified from wikipedia and used under a Creative Commons License.

Species described in the paper: A NEW OCCURANCE OF DROMAEOSAUR FROM THE LATE CRETACEOUS COLERAINE FORMATION (CENOMANIAN) FROM THE MESABI IRON RANGE HANKS, H. Douglas, WESTGAARD, John, ERICKSON, Bruce R. and HAIRE, Scott A. Science Museum of Minnesota, 120 West Kellogg Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55102, Poster PDF Link Session No. 17--Booth# 3 Paleontology (Posters) Monday, 18 April 2016 Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 5 doi: 10.1130/abs/2016NC-275090

Family: Dromaeosauridae Dromaeosauridae is a family of feathered theropod dinosaurs. They were small to medium-sized feathered carnivores that flourished in the Cretaceous Period. The name Dromaeosauridae means 'running lizards', from Greek dromeus meaning 'runner' and sauros meaning 'lizard'. In informal usage they are often called raptors after Velociraptor a term popularized by the film Jurassic Park; a few types include the term "raptor" directly in their name and have come to emphasize their supposed bird-like habits. It is now known that at least some, and probably all, dromaeosaurids were covered in feathers, including large, vaned, wing and tail feathers. This development, first hypothesized in the mid-late 1980s and confirmed by fossil discoveries in 1999, represents a significant change in the way dromaeosaurids have historically been depicted in art and film. Like other theropods, dromaeosaurids were bipedal; that is, they walked on their hind legs. However, whereas most theropods walked with three toes contacting the ground, fossilized footprint tracks confirm that many early paravian groups, including the dromaeosaurids, held the second toe off the ground in a hyperextended position, with only the third and fourth toes bearing the weight of the animal. The enlarged second toe bore an unusually large, curved, falciform (sickle-shaped, alt. drepanoid) claw (held off the ground or 'retracted' when walking), which is thought to have been used in capturing prey and climbing trees. Species Description Unknown Dromaeosaur species Dromaeosaur claw fossil found in Calumet, MN in 2015 An artist's conception of a similar small Dromaeosaur species discovered in Alberta, Canada Image credit: Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Hesperonychus_elizabethae.jpg

Species described in the paper: Cretaceous of the Mesabi Iron Range, Minnesota Harlan R. Bergquist Journal of Paleontology Vol. 18, No. 1 (Jan., 1944), pp. 1-30 http://www.jstor.org/stable/1299188

Phylum: Annelida The annelids (Annelida, from Latin anellus, "little ring"), also known as the ringed worms or segmented worms, are a large phylum, with over 17,000 extant species including ragworms, earthworms, and leeches. The species exist in and have adapted to various ecologies - some in marine environments as distinct as tidal zones and hydrothermal vents, others in fresh water, and yet others in moist terrestrial environments. Family: Serpulidae The Serpulidae are a family of sessile, tube-building annelid worms in the class Polychaeta. The members of this family differ from the sabellid tube worms in that they have a specialized operculum that blocks the entrance of their tubes when they withdraw into the tubes. In addition, serpulids secrete tubes of calcium carbonate. These tubes can be fossilized. Species Description Images Serpula bicarinata Serpula Note: It appears this is no longer a valid species according to the World Register of Marine Species The still living genus Serpula is a genus of marine annelid tube worms. The most distinctive feature of worms of the Serpula genus is their colorful fan-shaped "crown". Image credit: Steve Lonhart / MBNMS - http://www.mbnms-simon.org/other/photos/photo_info.php?photoID=2956, Public Domain, Link Image credit: ClipArt ETC - from S. G. Goodrich Animal Kingdom Illustrated Vol 2 (New York, NY: Derby & Jackson, 1859)

Species described in the paper: A new selachian fauna from the Coleraine Formation (Upper Cretaceous/ Cenomanian) of Minnesota. CASE, G.R. (2001) Palaeontographica, Abt. A, 261 (4–6): 103–112, 2 pl. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/286885828_A_new_selachian_fauna_from_the_Coleraine_Formation_Upper_CretaceousCenomanian_of_Minnesota Species list: Hybodus rajkovicki n. sp., Protolamna gigantea n. sp., Squalicorax baharijensis, Carcharias amonensis, Cenocarcharias tenuiplicatus, Cretolamna appendiculata, Cretodus semiplicatus, Cretodus sp., Onchopristis dunklei, Ichyodus sp.

Species Description Images Meristodonoides rajkovichi (was Hybodus rajkovichi) Meristodonoides (was Hybodus) (Note: It seems possibly misspelled Hybodus rajkovicki in the online version of the abstract.) Meristodonoides rajkovichi was a new species first discovered in the Coleraine formation described by G.R. Case in the 2001 paper. M. rajkovichi is the type species for the genus Meristodonoides. The species, along with other Hybodus species such as H. butleri and H. montanensis, was reassigned to a new genus Meristodonoides by Charlie J. Underwood and Stephen L. Cumbaa in 2010 based on unique tooth characteristics. (See: Chondrichthyans from a Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) bonebed, Saskatchewan, Canada) Hybodus ("humped tooth") is an extinct genus of Chondrichthyans. Hybodus species grew to about 2 metres in length, and are believed to have been opportunist predators. They had several distinct features that made them stand apart from other primitive sharks. Firstly, they had two different types of teeth, suggesting a wide diet. The sharper teeth would have been used to catch slippery prey, while the flatter teeth probably helped them crush shelled creatures. Secondly, they had a bony blade on their dorsal fin that probably served a defensive function. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meristodonoides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hybodus Image credit: Nobu Tamura (http://spinops.blogspot.com) https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hybodus_NT.jpg By User:Haplochromis - Self-photographed, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Protolamna gigantea The genus Protolamna is in the family Cretoxyrhinidae Protolamna gigantea was a new species first discovered in the Coleraine formation described by G.R. Case in the 2001 paper. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cretoxyrhina_mantelli_21DB.jpg Squalicorax baharijensis Squalicorax Squalicorax is a genus of extinct lamniform shark known to have lived during the Cretaceous period. These sharks are of medium size, up to 5 m (usually around 2 m) in length. Their bodies were similar to the modern gray sharks, but the shape of the teeth is strikingly similar to that of a tiger shark. The teeth are numerous, relatively small, with a curved crown and serrated, up to 2.5 – 3 cm in height (the only representative of the Mesozoic Lamniformes with serrated teeth). Large numbers of fossil teeth have been found in Europe, North Africa, and North America. Squalicorax was a coastal predator, but also scavenged as evidenced by a Squalicorax tooth found embedded in the foot bone of a duck-billed dinosaur that most likely died on land and ended up in the water. Other food sources included turtles, mosasaurs, ichthyodectes, and other bony fishes and sea creatures. Image credit: Dmitry Bogdanov - dmitrchel@mail.ru, CC BY 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4838853 Carcharias amonensis Carcharias The still living genus Carcharias is a genus of Sand Tiger Sharks and are 2.5m long on average. Extinct species date back to the Cretaceous period. Carcharias species hunt bony fish, small sharks, rays, squids, crabs, and lobsters Image credit: By Jeff Kubina from Columbia, Maryland - Shark, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link Carcharius tenuiplicatus was Cenocarcharias tenuiplicatus Shark-references.com: Cenocarcharias tenuiplicatus Carcharias Eostriatolamia Odontaspis According to shark-references.com Synonyms / new combinations and misspellings are Carcharias tenuiplicatus Eostriatolamia tenuiplicatus Odontaspis tenuiplicatus Image credit: By Richard Ling CC BY-SA 3.0, Link Cretolamna appendiculata Cretolamna Cretolamna is a genus of extinct mackerel shark. The genus name Cretolamna means Cretaceous Lamna, as the first specimens of these Lamniformes sharks have been found in Cretaceous aged sediments. These sharks lived from the Barremian of the Cretaceous period to the Mid Miocene epoch, approximately from 130.0 to 13.65 million years ago. It is considered by many to be the ancestor of many of the famous shark genera, such as the mako, great white, Angustidens, and Megalodon sharks. Most estimates put the shark's length at about 2–3 m long with the largest specimens being about 3.6 m in length. Image credit: By © Citron / CC BY-SA 3.0 Cretodus semiplicatus Cretodus - Oceans of Kansas Cretodus was one of the largest lamniformes sharks of the Cretaceous. See also: Direct evidence of trophic interaction between a large lamniform shark, Cretodus sp., and a marine turtle from the Cretaceous of northeastern Italy First Record of a Large Lamniform Shark Cretodus semiplicatus in the Pacific Region, from the Mikasa Formation (Lower Cenomanian), Hokkaido, Japan Cretodus sp. Cretodus - Oceans of Kansas Cretodus was one of the largest lamniformes sharks of the Cretaceous. Note: Books and articles sometimes intentionally do not identify species fully and use the abbreviation "sp.". This commonly occurs when authors are confident that some individuals belong to a particular genus but are not sure to which exact species they belong, as is common in paleontology. Onchopristis dunklei Onchopristis Onchopristis is a genus of extinct giant sawfish that lived in the Cretaceous. It was very large, up to 8 m (26.2 ft) long when fully grown. As with modern sawfish, Onchopristis's eyes were on top of its head, to spot predators rather than prey, and its mouth and gills were under its body. The rostrum, or snout, was around 2.5 m (8.2 ft) long, lined with barbed teeth. Image credit: Flavio Ferrari - [1], CC BY-SA 2.0, Link Ischyodus sp. Ischyodus Note: It seems possibly misspelled Ichyodus in the online version of the abstract. Ischyodus is an extinct genus of cartilaginous fish belonging to the subclass Holocephali, which includes the modern-day chimaeras. Ischyodus was rather similar to the present-day chimaera Chimaera monstrosa, which is found in the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea. Just like C. monstrosa, Ischyodus had large eyes, a long whip-like tail, small lips, large pectoral fins and dorsal fin, and a dorsal spike attached to the front of the dorsal fin. The spike probably served as a method of protection against predators, and may have been venomous, as it is in modern chimaeras. Dental plates of at least two species, Ischyodus rayhaasi and Ischyodus dolloi, have been found at several sites in North Dakota. Image credit: By P. J. Smit (1893) - Link