Systematics, biodiversity, and paleoecology of an early Danian decapod crustacean assemblage from Alabama, United States

This dataset contains the digitized treatments in Plazi based on the original journal article Klompmaker, Adiël A., Martin, P. George, Hyžný, Matúš, Bowman, Andrew R., Phillips, George E., Portell, Roger W. (2025): Systematics, biodiversity, and paleoecology of an early Danian decapod crustacean assemblage from Alabama, United States. Geodiversitas 47 (13): 577-622, DOI: 10.5252/geodiversitas2024v47a13, URL: sciencepress.mnhn.fr/sites/default/files/articles/pdf/geodiversitas2025v47a13.pdf ABSTRACT The extent to which the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event impacted decapod crustaceans has yet to be tested rigorously due to a lack of studies at the outcrop scale.

We comprehensively describe an early but not earliest Danian assemblage from Mussel Creek, central Alabama, United States, based on collecting of decapod carapaces and appendage remains at the roadcut part of this site since 2010. The specimens were recovered chiefly from silty, micaceous mudstones of the Pine Barren Member within the Clayton Formation, c. 8 m above the K-Pg boundary. Microfossil analysis indicates that the decapods originate from the lower middle part of the NP2 nannofossil zone, c. 600-700 ka after the K-Pg boundary.