Late Eocene gadiform (Teleostei) skull from Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula

• Published in: Antarctic Science
• Main Authors: Eastman, Joseph T., Grande, Lance
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1991
• Subjects: Geology; Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics; Oceanography; Antarc*; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Antarctic Science; Antarctica; Seymour Island
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0954102091000123; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0954102091000123

On the basis of a skull from the late Eocene La Meseta Formation on Seymour Island, Antarctic Peninsula, a gadiform fish is reported from the Antarctic region for the first time. This specimen, the most completely preserved fossil teleost cranium yet described from Antarctica, provides convincing evidence for the presence of Gadiformes in a far southerly location under temperate climatic conditions 40 m.y. ago. The exoccipital condyles, supraoccipital and lambdoidal crests, and post-temporal and supratemporal fossae are well preserved, as are the roofing bones on the posterior half of the skull. Comparative osteological study indicates that these features are very similar in appearance to those of merlucciids (hakes) and gadids (cods).