Peer Review History

Original SubmissionDecember 31, 2021
Decision Letter - Giorgio Carnevale, Editor

PONE-D-21-41103A fossil assemblage from the mid–late Maastrichtian of Gavdos Island, Greece, provides insights into the pre-extinction pelagic ichthyofaunas of the Tethys.PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Argyriou,

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Giorgio Carnevale, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

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Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: N/A

Reviewer #2: N/A

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

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Reviewer #1: I believe that this work offers new information about a fossil association hitherto poorly understood. I recommend that this work be published, but first, the authors should consider the following observations.

I think the authors should reconsider the determination of its ichthyodectiforme, I think it will be more correct to point it out as an indeterminate member of the suborder Ichthyodectoidei. They should also correct this information in the Table 1.

In the attached pdf mark in yellow some writing errors that must be corrected before accepting your work for publication.

Reviewer #2: Dear authors,

I consider your manuscript an important contribution to the knowledge of the ichthyofauna that predates the K/T extinction. In addition to expanding the list of taxa in the Pinos Unit, confirming previous interpretations of an offshore and very deep depositional environment for this unit, you describe two new taxa, which further increase our knowledge of the Maastrichtian fauna.

The article is very clear, well-formulated, with an up-to-date bibliography and good figures.

For this reason, I can only congratulate the authors for their excellent work.

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Reviewer #1: No

Reviewer #2: Yes: Paulo M. Brito

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Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: PONE-D-21-41103_review er JAO.pdf
Revision 1

We are indebted to the reviewers and editor for their careful and positive evaluation of our paper. Below we expand on the main comments made by reviewer 1 in their review letter and on the marked pdf, as well as on the comments made by the editorial stuff of the journal.

Reviewer 1:

General comment on †Ichthyodectoidei: We appreciated and accepted the reviewer’s suggestion to narrow down the attribution of our †Ichthyodectiform indet. We have added the reference of †Ichthyodectoidei and corrected/updated all relevant passages in the text and table 1.

Abstract and main text: We chose to put fishes in quotation marks, in order to make it clear that we refer to them as a paraphyletic assemblage, which includes chondrichthyans and actinopterygians but excludes sarcopterygians. We can remove the quotation marks if the editor wishes us to do so.

Comparative material section: As requested by the reviewer, we listed the naming authorities of various taxa and provided references for them.

In addition to the above, we accepted all writing suggestions made by the reviewer in their annotated pdf.

Additional changes:

Fig 1. We changed the color of the Pindos Unit in Fig 1B to grey, do it is not confused with the Cretaceous-aged platy limestone on Fig1C. The caption was updated accordingly.

Fig4B. We added a label for the dermopterotic ossification in both figure and caption

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response to reviewers.docx
Decision Letter - Giorgio Carnevale, Editor

A fossil assemblage from the mid–late Maastrichtian of Gavdos Island, Greece, provides insights into the pre-extinction pelagic ichthyofaunas of the Tethys.

PONE-D-21-41103R1

Dear Dr. Argyriou,

We’re pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it meets all outstanding technical requirements.

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Kind regards,

Giorgio Carnevale, Ph.D

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

All the issues raised by the reviewers have been addressed and the manuscript is currently suitable for publication.

Reviewers' comments:

Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Giorgio Carnevale, Editor

PONE-D-21-41103R1

A fossil assemblage from the mid–late Maastrichtian of Gavdos Island, Greece, provides insights into the pre-extinction pelagic ichthyofaunas of the Tethys.

Dear Dr. Argyriou:

I'm pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please let them know about your upcoming paper now to help maximize its impact. If they'll be preparing press materials, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

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Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE and supporting open access.

Kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Dr. Giorgio Carnevale

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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