paleonet Cretaceous fish in NW Iowa

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This message never appeared on paleonet but since paleonet seems to be working now, here is a retry. Actually I think I had a word in the subject line of my message that made the software think I was sending a message to the software and not the list. In any case here is a retry.

Folks,

This past summer I was involved in uncovering a big icthyodectid fish from the softer clay/mud in the Greenhorn formation (Bridge Creek Member) here in NW Iowa. Then a couple week ago, I was leading a field trip to local Cretaceous outcrops and one of the members found a large scale. I assume it also belongs to an icthyodectid.

Two questions.

1. Can we identify the scale (see url: http://homepages.dordt.edu/~mahaffy/paleo/fish/fishscale.html) any further than icthyodectid?

2. When the collector (a former paleontology student of mine) and I get the big fish uncovered (it is articulated but may be a bit messed up by predation), which are the best keys to look at to identify the fish? Also are there some good Cretaceous fish experts that I could go to check ID? The reason for my asking is I am trained more as Pennsylvanian palynologist than a vertebrate paleontologist and just don't know the Cretaceous fish workers. Since Dordt is smaller I teach paleontology and it was fun getting out the big skeleton. Depending on what it is, I am told by one of our state geologists that it may be a significant find. I have a copy of John Chorn and Gloria Arratia's article in vertebrate palenotology (1998) of a fish from the Greenhorn.

James Mahaffy (mahaffy@dordt.edu) Phone: 712 722-6279
Biology Department FAX : 712 722-1198
Dordt College, Sioux Center IA 51250