A new family, genus, and species of crab (Crustacea, Decapoda, Brachyura) from the upper Cretaceous (Campanian) of Manitoba, Canada

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences
• Main Authors: Feldmann, Rodney M, Li, Rong-Yu, Schweitzer, Carrie E
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Canadian Science Publishing 2007
• Subjects: General Earth and Planetary Sciences; Canada; Greenland
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1139/e07-046; http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/e07-046

Discovery of a single specimen of brachyuran decapod from the Campanian Millwood Member in southern Manitoba, Canada, permits description of a new genus and species, Cretacocarcinus smithi. Comparison of sternal architecture and general carapace morphology with potentially related taxa documents that the new genus, along with Camarocarcinus Holland and Cvancara, form a new family, Camarocarcinidae, tentatively assigned to the Raninoidea. The Camarocarcinidae are interpreted to have originated in the upper Midcontinental Seaway in the Late Cretaceous, survived the K–T extinction event(s), and dispersed into southern North Dakota, USA; Greenland; and Denmark in the Paleocene.