Ocular shell structures in some Cretaceous trachyleberid Ostracoda

• Published in: Micropaleontology Vol. 44; no. 2; pp. 201 - 206
• Main Authors: Kontrovitz, Mervin, Puckett, T. Markham
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: American Museum of Natural History 1998; Micropaleontology Press, American Museum of Natural History
• Subjects: Alabama; Arthropoda; Axons; Blufftown Formation; Bullock County Alabama; Canals; Concavity; Convexity; Cretaceous; Crustacea; Cytheracea; Cytherocopina; Eutaw Formation; Eyes; Geology; Gulf Coastal Plain; Heart valves; Invertebrata; invertebrate; Mandibulata; Marine; Mesozoic; microfossils; Micropaleontology; Mississippi; occurrence; Ostracoda; Owl Creek Formation; Paleontology; Podocopida; Russell County Alabama; shells; Sinuses; Taxa; Tippah County Mississippi; Trachyleberididae; United States; Upper Cretaceous
• ISSN: 0026-2803; 1937-2795
• DOI: 10.2307/1486072

This is the first study of internal ocular shell structures of Cretaceous ostracodes. Internal molds from eight species of four genera from Santonian, Campanian, and Maastrichtian strata revealed a stalked ocular sinus constricted along its length and distally inflated. The latter part has anterior and posterior lobes and a subcentral concavity. These Cretaceous trachyleberids have ocular shell structures similar to Cenozoic taxa and it is presumed they functioned similarly. However, each taxon has a diagnostic ocular sinus and an inner surface of the eye tubercle that distinguishes each from all other forms examined.