Ein Flugsaurier-Rest aus dem Posidonienschiefer (Unter-Toarcium) von Schandelah bei Braunschweig

A detailed stratigraphic section of the Lower Toarcian Posidonienschiefer of Schandelah near Braunschweig (Niedersachsen, West Germany) is presented, and a pterosaur pelvis from that locality referred to asCampylognathoides sp. is described. It is the first record of this genus in North West Germany. A restoration of the pelvis indicates a laterally, slightly upwardly directed orientation of the acetabula which does not support a bird-like bipedal locomotion of this pterosaur as has been suggested elsewhere.     

First diagnostic marine reptile remains from the aalenian (middle jurassic): a new ichthyosaur from southwestern Germany

Background

The Middle Jurassic was a critical time in the evolutionary history of ichthyosaurs. During this time interval, the diverse, well-studied faunas of the Lower Jurassic were entirely replaced by ophthalmosaurids, a new group that arose sometime prior to the Aalenian-Bajocian boundary and by the latest middle Jurassic comprised the only surviving group of ichthyosaurs. Thus, the Middle Jurassic Aalenian-Bathonian interval (176–165 million years ago) comprises the time frame during which ophthalmosaurids not only originated but also achieved taxonomic dominance. However, diagnostic ichthyosaur remains have been described previously from only a single locality from this interval, from the Bajocian of Argentina.

Methodology/Principal Findings

In this paper, we describe a new species of ichthyosaur based on a partial articulated specimen from the Middle Jurassic of southwestern Germany. This specimen was recovered from the Opalinuston Formation (early Aalenian) and is referable to Stenopterygius aaleniensis sp. nov. reflecting features of the skull and forefin. The genus Stenopterygius is diverse and abundant in the Lower Jurassic of Europe, but its presence has not previously been confirmed in younger (Middle Jurassic) rocks from the northern hemisphere.

Conclusions/Significance

This specimen represents the only diagnostic ichthyosaur remains reported from the Aalenian. It bears numerous similarities in size and in morphology to the Lower Jurassic species of the genus Stenopterygius and provides additional evidence that the major ecological changes hypothesized to have occurred at the end of the Toarcian took place sometime after this point and most likely did not occur suddenly. There is currently no evidence for the presence of ophthalmosaurids in the northern hemisphere during the Aalenian-Bathonian interval.     

The oldest giant lacewings (Neuroptera: Kalligrammatidae) from the Lower Jurassic of Germany

We describe the oldest Kalligrammatidae, two distantly related species of different subfamilies from the Lower Jurassic (lower Toarcian) of Germany: Liassopsychops curvatus Bode, 1953, sit. nov. (Liassopsychopinae n. subfam.) and Ophtalmogramma klopschari n. gen. n. sp. (Kallihemerobiinae). They lived in warm and relatively dry conditions. Subfamily Liassopsychopinae includes the Jurassic genera Liassopsychops and Huiyingogramma, sit. nov., which bear forewings characterized by Sc and RA not fused distally; MP, CuA, CuP, and A1 dichotomously branched; and a well-developed central eye-spot. The forewing of Ophtalmogramma n. gen. is most similar to that of Apochrysogramma Yang et al., 2011. The diversity of early Toarcian kalligrammatids indicates a late Triassic–earliest Jurassic origin of the family. A modified classification of the central eye-spots is proposed based on the presence/absence of four main components, i.e., the central pigmented disc (A), swellings (B), ocules (C), and outer rings (D). The function of the swellings is unclear, but they may have served as pheromone containers.     

A new record of the enigmatic lobster genus Stenodactylina Beurlen, 1928 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Erymidae) from the Middle Jurassic of south-western Germany

A second species of the previously monotypic lobster genus Stenodactylina Beurlen, 1928, Stenodactylina rogerfurzei n. sp. is recorded from the upper Aalenian of the Wutach area (Baden-Württemberg, SW Germany). Like the type species, Stenodactylina liasina Beurlen, 1928, the new species is based only on a single chela. Originally the type horizon of S. liasina was erroneously reported as being late Toarcian in age, but it in fact came from a bituminous limestone bed within the lower Toarcian Posidonia Shale. Hence, the known stratigraphical range of Stenodactylina is expanded from the early Toarcian to the late Aalenian.     

First record of a gladius-bearing coleoid Teudopsis bollensis Voltz (Cephalopoda, Coleoidea) in the Toarcian of the Western Carpathians (Slovakia)

A fairly complete and relatively well-preserved gladius of the vampyropod coleoid cephalopod Teudopsis bollensis Voltz is recorded from the Lower Toarcian succession of the Kysuca Unit in the Pieniny Klippen Belt of Slovakia. These sediments are represented by dark-grey and black shales laid down in an oxygen-depleted environment during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and potentially represent the first Jurassic ??Konservat-Lagerst?tte?? in the Western Carpathians. The first reliable record of the Early Jurassic genus Teudopsis from this area notably extends its palaeogeographic distribution to the northwestern continental margin of the Tethys Ocean. The systematics, palaeogeography and stratigraphy are briefly discussed in a European context.     

Eine neueOtarion-Art (Trilobita, Arthropoda) aus dem Greifensteiner Kalk (unteres Mittel-Devon, Unter-Eifelium) von Greifenstein bei Herborn (Hessen, Deutschland)

en|This paper deals with a new species ofOtarion [Otarion (Otarionella) greifensteinen.se n. sp.] from the ‘Greifenstein Limestone’ of the ‘Wiege’ near Greifenstein, close to the village Greifenstein near Herborn (Lahn-Dill area, Hesse, Germany), which is described, figured and compared with all known species of this subgenus. It is a typical trilobite of the hercynian-bohemian shallow marine facies near the Lower-/Middle Devonian boundary (Upper Emsian / Lower Eifelian), which extends up into the lower part of the Middle Devonian (Lower Eifelian). The trilobites are transported for short distances only and, thus, are parautochthonous elements of the Greifenstein Facies.     

Gastropoden aus dem oberen Toarcium/unteren Aalenium (Jura) von Norddeutschland

Borings from northeastern Germany yielded a gastropod fauna with 31 species from the Upper Toarcian and Lower Aalenian. Eight species have already been described, nine species are new and 14 species are described in open nomenclature. The fauna comes from soft-bottom sediments and is a typical offshore fauna (relatively great distance from the coast, relatively great depth). The fauna has close relationships to faunas of the same age in southern Germany (Franconia).     

A new Lower Jurassic ammonite genusKohaticeras from the Shinawari Formation,Kohat Tribal Belt,Pakistan

From probable Lower Jurassic of Pakistan the new ammonite genusKohaticeras with two new species is described and, despite some remarkable differences, is placed to the subfamily Bouleiceratinae (Toarcian).     

Ophiuroid remains from the Toarcian of Sainte-Verge (Deux-Sèvres, France): paleobiological perspectives

The Toarcian sediments exposed at Sainte-Verge (Deux-Sèvres, France) are especially rich in echinoderm remains. The present paper describes and illustrates the ophiuroids. On the basis of lateral arm plates, 13 species are distinguished, including two new ones: Sinosura fasciata sp. nov. and Sinosura extensa sp. nov. Most of the recognized species have been recorded previously from the Late Toarcian and Aalenian in Germany and, to a lesser extent, from the late Early Jurassic of England and Switzerland. High similarities between the faunas of northwest Europe suggest a boreal provincialism of ophiuroids. The recognition of 13 species is comparable to the diversity known from other stratigraphic levels (Jurassic and Cretaceous) or in the richest stations of recent oceans. The species association of the Toarcian of Sainte-Verge, with two Ophiolepididae, one Ophiacanthidae, four Ophioleucidae, two Ophiodermatidae, two Ophiuridae, and one Hemieuryalidae may be compared with species associations of recent shelf, offshore environments. Such persistence of components of diversity and ecological affinities of species suggests strong evolutionary conservatism of the ophiuroids, after a rapid radiation during the earliest Jurassic. © 2002 Éditions scientifiques et médicales Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.     

Charles de Gerville et les premiers restes de Plesiosauria signalés dans le Jurassique inférieur de France (Hettangien,région de Valognes,Manche)

The historian, archaeologist, and naturalist Charles de Gerville (1769–1853) reported as early as January 1816 the presence of fossil bones in the quarries of the region of Valognes, in the department of Manche. These quarries exploited the “Calcaire de Valognes” and the underlying “Argiles et Calcaires d’Huberville”, both formations dated as Lower Hettangian (Lower Jurassic). De Gerville communicated to Jacques-Louis-Marin Defrance a watercolour drawing of one of these fossil bones, discovered in July 1820, in which it is possible to recognize a plesiosaur femur. This femur, as well as a fragment of rib and three vertebrae of Plesiosauria from de Gerville's collection, was then figured in a publication by Arcisse de Caumont, in 1825. The plesiosaur femur was later acquired by Pierre Tesson of Caen, who owned one of the most important collections of fossils in Normandy. The Tesson collection was later purchased in 1857 by the British Museum (now The Natural History Museum, London), where the femur has been rediscovered. This specimen is the first known plesiosaur specimen ever discovered in the Lower Jurassic of France, before the genus Plesiosaurus was established upon material from the Lias of southwestern England. One of the vertebrae figured by de Caumont has been rediscovered in the “Muséum Emmanuel-Liais” (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin), which had acquired part of de Gerville's collection. The interpretation of the “fossil bones of Valognes” by Georges Cuvier, Henri Marie Ducrotay de Blainville, Arcisse de Caumont, Jacques-Amand Eudes-Deslongchamps and Constant Duméril is revealed through unpublished documents.     

A new species of the cleptoparasitic bee genus Thyreus from northern Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia (Hymenoptera,Apidae)

A new species of cleptoparasitic bee of the genus Thyreus Panzer (Apinae: Melectini) is described and figured from northern Yemen and southwestern Saudi Arabia. Thyreus shebicus Engel, sp. n. is a relatively small species superficially similar to the widespread and polytypic species T. ramosus (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau) and T. ramosellus (Cockerell) but more closely allied to various African forms on the basis of the male genitalia. The species is distinguished from its congeners on the basis of coloration pattern, male hind leg structure, and particularly male terminalia.     

Mimosa nanchititlana,a new species from the state of México,Mexico (Mimosaceae)

AMimosa remarkable for the combination of spicate inflorescences and non-articulate pods is described from the southwestern part of the state of México and figured; its known distribution is given and its relationships discussed; diagnostic characters of known sympatric species ofMimosa are listed.     

Isorthid AE (Brachiopoda) du dévonien inférieur du massif armoricain

Three species of Isorthidae are described in the Lower Devonian of the Armorican Massif. Two of them were hitherto badly known, being never adequately described nor figured: Isorthis (Protocortezorthis) miloni from the Gahard Formation (Gedinnian) and Isorthis (Protocortezorthis) trigeri from the Saint-Céneré Formation (Gedinnian-Siegenian). Isorthis oehlertiSolle, 1976 is considered as a synonym of Isorthis (Protocortezorthis) trigeri. The geographic distribution of these species allows to corroborate that until the top of the Lower Devonian (top of Le Faou Formation), two provinces with different faunal associations exist in the Armorican Massif.     

Notes on the phylogeny of the nautiloidea

Critical notes on the monograph “Phylogeny of the Nautiloidea” by J. Dzik (1984), especially with respect to cephalopod material from the Lower Palaeozoic of Bohemia are presented. Oncocerid type of muscle scars in the Lower Devonian genusPtenoceras as well as succession of growth stages of the shell in Silurian genusSphooceras is figured.     

Marine reptiles (Thalattosuchia) from the Early Jurassic of Lombardy (northern Italy)

The fossil remains of two small reptiles recently discovered in the Sogno Formation (Lower Toarcian) near Cesana Brianza (Lecco Province), represent the first mesoeucrocodylians reported for Lombardy and some of the few Jurassic reptiles from Italy. Due to the absence of diagnostic skeletal elements (the skulls are lacking), it is not possible to refer the new specimens at genus level with confidence. Although the well developed dermal armour would characterise Toarcian thalattosuchians of the genera Steneosaurus (Teleosauridae) and Pelagosaurus (Metriorhynchidae), the peculiar morphology of the osteoderms allow to tentatively refer the remains to the latter taxon (cf. Pelagosaurus sp.). The small size, along with the opening of the neurocentral vertebral sutures and, possibly, the non sutured caudal pleurapophyses, indicate that the specimens were morphologically immature at death. These “marine crocodiles” confirm the affinities between the fauna of the Calcare di Sogno Formation and coeval outcrops of central Europe that also share the presence of similar fishes and crustaceans.     

THE TAXONOMIC AND PHYLOGENETIC POSITION OF THE PLESIOSAUROIDEA FROM THE LOWER JURASSIC POSIDONIA SHALE OF SOUTH-WEST GERMANY

Abstract:  The two plesiosauroid species from the Posidonia shale of Holzmaden, ' Plesiosaurus ' guilelmiimperatoris and ' Plesiosaurus ' brachypterygius , do not belong to Plesiosaurus but form new monotypic genera. The new genus Hydrorion is erected for ' P .' brachypterygius , and the genus Seeleyosaurus is re-established for ' P .' guilelmiimperatoris . The recently described species Plesiopterys wildii is regarded as a junior synonym of S. guilelmiimperatoris . A short phylogenetic analysis shows that S. guilelmiimperatoris and Muraenosaurus are basal elasmosaurs. H. brachypterygius , Occitanosaurus tournemirensis from France and Microcleidus homalospondylus from England form a monophyletic clade, which is the sister taxon to the Cretaceous elasmosaurs. A palaeobiogeographical comparison of plesiosaur localities in the Lower Jurassic shows distinct palaeobiogeographical zones for the Toarcian, with different plesiosaur taxa in England, Germany and France.     

Relationships between the early Toarcian anoxic event and organic-walled phytoplankton in central Italy

The integration of palynological and geochemical data from three lower Toarcian successions in central Italy reveals that the composition of organic-walled phytoplankton assemblages were strongly affected by palaeoecological conditions related to bituminous sedimentation which accompanied the global anoxic event. The marked compositional variations of dinoflagellate cysts and prasinophytes, together with geochemical variations, have been linked to changes in surface water habitats during the lower Toarcian transgression. On the basis of the relationships between total organic carbon (TOC) and marine palynomorph assemblage composition, the lower Toarcian evolution of the Umbria-Marche Basin, central Italy, has been divided into four phases. Total organic carbon values rose significantly during the early Toarcian (Lower-middle Dactylioceras tenuicostatum ammonite Zone), and this can be linked to certain dinoflagellate cyst datums, for example the temporary disappearance of Mancodinium semitabulatum and the extinction of Luehndea spinosa. The presence of Umbriadinium mediterraneense and Valvaeodinium spp. accompany these moderately high TOC values. Subsequently, TOC levels increased to over 2% and prasinophytes became abundant in the Middle-upper D. tenuicostatum ammonite Zone. Mancodinium semitabulatum reappeared when TOC values eventually decreased in the Upper D. tenuicostatum ammonite Zone. This analysis has allowed the different sunlight requirements and life strategies of the early Toarcian Tethyan dinoflagellates to be modelled. Due to the cosmopolitan nature of the early Toarcian anoxic event, the principal marine palynological signals observed have been interpreted as sequence stratigraphical and palaeoecological indices. The Transgressive Systems Tract (TST) is accompanied by an increase in dinoflagellate cyst species diversity and a decrease in abundance. The succeeding maximum flooding surface (mfs) corresponds with a prasinophyte acme. During the Highstand Systems Tract (HST), the phytoplankton shows an increase in abundance and a decrease in diversity. The range top of Luehndea spinosa appears to characterise the early Toarcian TST.     

The Liassic ichthyosaur<Emphasis Type="Italic">Stenopterygius</Emphasis> cf.<Emphasis Type="Italic">quadriscissus</Emphasis> from the lower Toarcian of Dobbertin (northeastern Germany) and some considerations on lower Toarcian marine reptile palaeobiogeography

An incomplete skull of the lower Toarcian ichthyosaurStenopterygius cf.quadriscissus is described from the lower Toarcian of Dobbertin (Mecklenburg, northeastern Germany). It represents both the northeasternmost occurrence of this ichthyosaur genus and the first diagnostic specimen from East Germany. It therefore extends the palaeobiogeographic range ofStenopterygius considerably and demonstrates that this ichthyosaur also inhabited the Germanic Basin east of the Rhenish Massif by Early Jurassic times. A palaeobiogeographical pattern is evident within the genusStenopterygius, with the ubiquitous speciesS. longifrons andS. hauffianus on one hand, andS. megalorhinus andS. quadriscissus on the other hand, which appear not to have ranged northwest of the London-Brabant Massif. It is suggested that, whereas the Rhenish Massif was not an effective barrier for dispersal of ichthyosaurs in Western Europe during early Toarcian times, the London-Brabant Massif played a rather significant role, as is also shown by the fossil record of other marine reptile groups. A provincialism of early Toarcian marine reptiles is suggested for Western Europe, with a northwestern province which contains the British occurrences, an intermediate, Subgermanic province in France and the Benelux countries, and a southeastern province in the Germanic Basin. The British and Germanic provinces are each characterized by a typical assemblage of ichthyosaurs, plesiosaurs, and marine crocodiles, wheres the intermediate Subgermanic region shows an intermingling of faunal elements.