Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2009. / "Publication number: AAT 3385841."

<p> Investigation of decapod fossils from the Pawpaw Shale, Albian, Texas, has yielded 17 new species, and seven new genera. In total, 14 brachyuran; 3 astacidean; 4 anomuran; 8 axiidean; 5 palinuridean, and one stomatopod species were described and classified according to the latest classification scheme. Shale samples from a single locality in Fort Worth were analyzed for their grain size, mineral and trace element content. The Pawpaw Shale consists of sediments derived from the Llanos uplift to the southwest of Fort Worth, and represents a fining upward sequence deposited in a restricted lagoonal environment. The decapod fauna of the Pawpaw Shale is one of the richest decapod faunas of Albian age known to date, composed of a population of adult and juvenile crabs and lobsters. The peculiar small size of the individual lobsters of this fauna is attributed to their representing an early ontogenetic stage. No trace elements known to affect the biology an physiology of extant decapods could be found in the shale samples analyzed to indicate an environmental cause for the reduced size of the Pawpaw lobsters.</p>