Oyster Mass Occurrence (OMO) of Ceratostreon texana, in the Early Cretaceous Walnut Formation, Central Texas.
Keywords:
Ceratostreon texana, Cretaceous, Walnut Formation, OMOAbstract
The Cretaceous oyster, Ceratostreon texana, is a large (several cm length) oyster bivalved Mollusc found in rocks dated as Cretaceous: Albian (113 -1005 million) in Central Texas. An outcrop of the Keys Valley Marl Member of the Walnut Formation exposes a concentration of C. texana presenting as the dominant taxon in a paleo-community forming an Oyster Mass Occurrence (OMO), which are are reefy deposits of oysters especially dominant in the Mesozoic. The C. texana OMO studied is characterized by a lack of juvenile individuals, extensive anterior fracturing and extensive macro-boring by other organisms. These indicators of extended time of dead shells on the seafloor pre-burial classify this OMO as an allobiostrome, formed largely of sedimentologic origin.
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