ABSTRACT. Teleostean otoliths have been recovered from the upper portion of the Woodbury Formation (early-middle Campanian) at the Stone Bridge locality in southern New Jersey, and their occurrence is highly significant for several reasons. First, otoliths are virtually unknown in the New Jersey Cretaceous since most of the formations have been extensively leached, which destroys the aragonitic otoliths. Second, the number of otoliths obtained from the Woodbury Formation is unprecedented with 3,555 specimens recovered, which represents the largest Cretaceous otolith assemblage ever described from North America. Finally, the otoliths are fairly well preserved allowing taxonomic assignment. These factors coupled with the early-middle Campanian age (approximately 83.6 ± 0.2 Ma to 77.9 ± 0.2 Ma) result in one of the oldest, most prolific fish assemblages represented by otoliths, not just in North America, but in the world. Otoliths may indicate the presence of at least 29 teleostean taxa representing 14 families including megalopids, albulids (including pterothrissids), gonostomatids, aulopids, paraulopids, trachichthyids, berycoids, pempherids, and several percomorphs. Sedimentological and paleontological data, including the otoliths, suggest a shallow, marine paleoenvironment (less than 100 m) influenced by major rivers and deltas. The evolutionary implications of the Woodbury otolith assemblage are quite important. Otoliths of percomorphs are present and provide evidence, not yet indicated by skeletal remains, that extend into the Campanian the known time ranges of several taxa. The Woodbury perciform otoliths corroborate several recent major molecular dating studies of teleosts (DNA sequencing of mitochondrial and nuclear genes with fossil age constraints). This study also represents the first systematic study of Cretaceous otoliths from New Jersey and contributes substantially to a better understanding of the Late Cretaceous teleosts in New Jersey.

中文翻译：

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新泽西州伍德伯里组 (Campanian) 产生了北美已知最大的白垩纪硬骨鱼类耳石组合

摘要。硬骨类耳石已从新泽西州南部石桥地区的伍德伯里组（早期-中坎帕阶）的上部恢复，由于多种原因，它们的出现非常重要。首先，耳石在新泽西白垩纪几乎是未知的，因为大部分地层已经被广泛浸出，这破坏了文石耳石。其次，从 Woodbury 地层获得的耳石数量是前所未有的，共回收了 3,555 个标本，这是迄今为止在北美描述过的最大的白垩纪耳石组合。最后，耳石保存得相当好，可以进行分类分配。这些因素加上中早期坎帕尼亚年龄（大约 83.6 ± 0.2 Ma 到 77.9 ± 0.2 Ma）导致了最古老的之一，以耳石为代表的最多产的鱼类组合，不仅在北美，而且在世界上。耳石可能表明存在代表 14 个科的至少 29 个硬骨类动物分类群，包括巨足纲、白鳍足目（包括翼翅目）、生殖口纲、aulopids、paraulopids、trachichthyids、berycoids、pempherids 和几个 percomorphs。包括耳石在内的沉积学和古生物学数据表明受主要河流和三角洲影响的浅海海洋古环境（小于 100 m）。伍德伯里耳石组合的进化意义非常重要。Percomorphs 的耳石存在并提供证据，尚未通过骨骼遗骸表明，延伸到坎帕尼亚几个分类群的已知时间范围。伍德伯里鲈形耳石证实了最近对硬骨鱼进行的几项主要分子测年研究（具有化石年龄限制的线粒体和核基因的 DNA 测序）。这项研究也是对新泽西州白垩纪耳石的首次系统研究，大大有助于更好地了解新泽西州晚白垩世硬骨鱼。