During the Cretaceous Period 



229 



Fig. 31. Chirothrix lihanicus, a soft-finned or actinopterygian 

 marine fish from Upper Cretaceous rocks of Sahel Alma, Mount 

 Lebanon. About two-thirds natural size. (After Woodward). 



Now it deserves to be pointed out that the above very 

 rich and also finely preserved remains of Cretaceous fishes 

 occur in what seems to be nearly the same horizon, viz. in 

 the beds of the Benton-Niobrara in Central America, in 

 the upper or Terebratulina-Holaster-Micraster beds of the 

 Middle Chalk of England {157), the top of the Mittel 

 planer (Mittel-quader) or base of the Ober-planer (Plat- 

 tenkalk) of Germany, and in the upper Turonian beds of 

 Mount Lebanon. All of these represent the Upper Turo- 

 nian zone with the characteristic Inoceramus labiatus, and 

 while it would be premature as yet to suggest that they form 

 a continuous and coeval sheet of deposit, it can at least be 

 said that similar or even identical genera of fishes extended 

 over the above area, and were so similarly destroyed in 

 preservative material that delicate fishes, as well as soft 

 tissues of large fishes, stand out in clear detail. Such also 

 would suggest that some common environal factors were 

 at work to produce like results. 



Attention might here be drawn to the valuable correla- 

 tion-papers by Marck {158: ss)^ Woodward {I6'/^.^'^l) 



