Mooreville Chalk

The Mooreville Chalk is a geological formation in North America, within the U.S. states of Alabama and Mississippi, which were part of the subcontinent of Appalachia. The strata date back to the early Santonian to the early Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous. The chalk was formed by pelagic sediments deposited along the eastern edge of the Mississippi embayment. It is a unit of the Selma Group and consists of the upper Arcola Limestone Member and an unnamed lower member. Dinosaur, mosasaur, and primitive bird remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the Mooreville Chalk Formation.

Fish

Cartilaginous fish

Cartilaginous fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Cretolamna	C. appendiculata				A lamniform	File:Cretoxyrhina mantelli 21DB.jpg Cretoxyrhina mantelli File:Squalicorax2DB.jpg Squalicorax sp.
Cretoxyrhina	C. mantelli				A lamniform
Edaphodon	E. barberi				Chimaeriforms
	E. mirificus
Ischyodus	I. williamsae				A chimaeriform
Odontaspis	O. cuspidata				A lamniform
Propenser	P. hewletti				Lamniformes
Ptychodus	P. mammillaris				?Neoselachian incertae sedis
	P. mortoni
	P. polygyrus
Pseudocorax	P. affinis				Lamniformes
	P. laevis
Serratolamna	S. serrata				A lamniform
Scapanorhynchus	S. rhaphiodon				Lamniformes
	S. texanus
Squalicorax	S. falcatus				Lamniformes
	S. kaupi

Bony fish

Bony fish of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Albula	A. dunklei				An albuliform	File:Enchodus petrosus.jpg Enchodus petrosus File:Saurodon BW.jpg Saurodon leanus File:XiphactinusDB.jpg Xiphactinus audax
Bananogmius	B. crieleyi				A tselfatiiform
Cimolichthys	C. nepaholica				An aulopiform
Enchodus	E. petrosus				An aulopiform
	E. saevus
Hoplopteryx	Hoplopteryx sp.				A trachichthyiform
Ichthyodectes	I. ctenodon				An ichthyodectiform
Moorevillia	M. hardi				A tselfatiiform
Pachyrhizodus	P. caninus				A crossognathiform
Protosphyraena	P. gladius				A pachycormid
Saurodon	S. leanus				An ichthyodectiform
Stratodus	S. apicalis				An aulopiform
Xiphactinus	X. audax				An ichthyodectiform

Reptiles

Dinosaurs

Indeterminate hadrosaurid, nodosaurid, dinosaur egg, and ornithomimosaur fossils are known from Mooreville Chalk outcrops in Alabama. The nodosaurid remains most likely belong to a new taxon. Template:Paleobiota-key-compact

Dinosaurs reported from the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Angelinornis	A. antecessor				A. antecessor was originally described as Plegadornis antecessor, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.	File:Eotrachodon NT small.jpg Eotrachodon File:Ichthyornis restoration.jpeg Ichthyornis dispar File:Saurornitholestes digging Burrows wahweap.jpg Saurornitholestes
Eotrachodon	E. orientalis	Alabama.			A hadrosaurid known from a nearly complete skeleton and nearly complete skull.
Halimornis	H. thompsoni	Alabama.		"Vertebrae and limb elements."	An enantiornithine
Ichthyornis	I. antecessor				The species I. antecessor was made the type species of the genus Angelinornis in 1962. Later, I. antecessor and Angelinornis were shown to be junior synonyms of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar
	I. dispar	Alabama.			An ichthyornithine.
Lophorhothon	L. atopus	Alabama.			A primitive species of hadrosaurid known from only a few skull fragments.
Saurornitholestes	S. sp.				A dromaeosaurid.
Plegadornis	P. antecessor				The name Plegadornis antecessor was applied to a fossil believed to represent a new bird species, but the generic name Plegadornis was preoccupied, so the genus Angelinornis was erected to contain the "new" species. It was later demonstrated that Angelinornis was a junior synonym of Ichthyornis, although the new combination I. antecessor was held to be valid for a while following the sinking of Angelinornis into Ichthtyornis. Later the species would later be considered a junior synonym of the Ichthyornis type species, I. dispar.

Mosasaurs

Mosasaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Clidastes	C. liodontus				Mosasaurines	File:Clidastes proph1DB.jpg Clidastes propython File:Eonatator BW.jpg Eonatator sternbergii File:GlobidensDB2.jpg Globidens alabamaensis File:Platecarpus tympaniticus.jpg Platecarpus tympaniticus File:Selmasaurus life.png Selmasaurus russelli File:Bunker tylosaur22.jpg Tylosaurus proriger
	C. "moorevillensis"
	C. propython
Ectenosaurus	E. shannoni				A plioplatecarpine
Eonatator	E. sternbergi (sic)				A halisaurine E. sternbergii was formerly classified as Halisaurus sternbergii
	E. zangerli
Globidens	G. alabamaensis				A mosasaurine
Mosasaurus	M. missouriensis				A mosasaurine
Platecarpus	P. tympaniticus				A plioplatecarpine
Prognathodon	P. rapax				A mosasaurine
Selmasaurus	S. russelli				A plioplatecarpine
Tylosaurus	T. proriger				A tylosaurine

Plesiosaurs

Very rare elasmosaurs are present in this formation.

Plesiosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Trinacromerum	Trinacromerum sp.				Polycotylids	File:Trinacromerum BW.jpg Trinacromerum sp.
Polycotylus	Polycotylus latipinnis	Alabama			Polycotylids

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Pteranodon	Pteranodon sp.				Pteranodontids.	File:Pteranodon longiceps mmartyniuk wiki.png Pteranodon sp.

Turtles

Turtles of the Mooreville Chalk Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Abundance	Notes	Images
Bothremys	B. barberi				A pelomedusid.	File:Protostega gigas.jpg Protostega gigas
Corsochelys	C. haliniches				A dermochelyid.
Protostega	P. gigas				A protostegid.
Toxochelys	T. moorevillensis				A toxochelyid.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• List of fossil sites