Paleobiology of Late Cretaceous Decapod Crustaceans from James Ross Island, Antarctica

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An extensive collection of decapod crustaceans was made on James Ross Island, Antarctica, which provides the first record of this fossil fauna from Baremmian into Campanian age rocks in the southern high latitudes. This time span is particularly important because several genera with living descendants may have evolved at this time in the Antarctic region. New taxa are also represented in the collections which will make it possible to examine several aspects of paleobiology. In addition to description and classification of the new species, it will be possible to determine the amount of morphological variation within at least two species that are now documented to have existed over a 20 million year time span. Currently these species seem to show remarkably little change with time. It is also probable that some of the new taxa will represent founder species within genera that have subsequently become more widely dispersed. These specimens, combined with those collected from New Zealand, will provide information on the early history of a diverse, deep water, group of decapods that are currently widely dispersed throughout the world.