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Zitteliana
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ISSN (Print) 0373-9627
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[58 journals]

A possible terrestrial egg cluster in driftwood from the Lower Jurassic
(Late Pliensbachian) of Buttenheim (Franconia, Germany)
- Abstract: Zitteliana 96: 135-143
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.96.84493
  Authors : Franz-Josef Scharfenberg, Helmut Keupp, Johann Schobert : Our paper shows several clusters of circular fossil egg capsules from the Franconian Amaltheenton Facies (Lower Jurassic, Upper Pliensbachian), mostly found in the clay pit south of Buttenheim. The egg capsules are scatteredly and irregularly arranged on various substrates like calcareous nodules, mollusk shells, or sunken driftwoods. Marine gastropods have been presumed as their producers spawning their eggs autochthonous. Only one specimen exhibits a regular honeycomb-like pattern of small pyritized eggs deposited seemingly within driftwood but originally lead in a small deadwood break. We interpret it as representing a possible allochthonous insect spawn drifted off from the about 70 km removed coastal region. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Mon, 27 Jun 2022 11:55:35 +030
Lanternfish otoliths (Myctophidae, Teleostei) from the Miocene of
Japan
- Abstract: Zitteliana 96: 103-134
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.96.83571
  Authors : Werner Schwarzhans, Fumio Ohe, Yuki Tsuchiya, Atsushi Ujihara : Lanternfishes (Myctophidae) are one of the most common groups of fishes in the mesopelagic zone of the world ocean, and their otoliths have been dominant in pelagic sediments since at least Miocene times. Many species have a wide geographic distribution, with several being circumglobal. This wide distribution makes myctophid otoliths potentially useful for supraregional stratigraphic purposes. The Sea of Japan and the Northwest Pacific is an important region for investigations into the diversity and evolution of the Myctophidae. Here, we describe a large collection of myctophid otoliths from the late early to early middle Miocene (late Burdigalian to early Langhian) from six localities on western and central Honshu, which were under warm water influence during that time. A total of 22 species are recognized, of which eight are new. In the order in which they are described, the new species are Bolinichthys higashibesshoensis sp. nov., Ceratoscopelus brevis sp. nov., Lampadena exima sp. nov., Lampanyctus lenticularis sp. nov., Lampanyctus tsuyamaensis sp. nov., Stenobrachius ohashii sp. nov., Diaphus epipedus sp. nov., and Diaphus watatsumi sp. nov. At least nine species are also known from coeval sediments outside of Japan, most notably New Zealand and Europe. This distribution reflects the extraordinary geographic spread of myctophid species already in the early Miocene and indicates the potential for their future use for biostratigraphic purposes. The paleoecological and paleobiogeographical implications of the studied myctophid otolith assemblages are discussed. Furthermore, the stratigraphic ranges of the observed species are discussed and compared with data from other regions of the world in an attempt to outline the potential future application of myctophid otoliths for supraregional biostratigraphic purposes. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Fri, 10 Jun 2022 08:02:33 +030
Ammonites and stratigraphy of the Achdorf Formation (Braunjura Group;
Aalenian) at the Wochenberg hill near Schömberg-Schörzingen (W Swabian
Alb, SW Germany)
- Abstract: Zitteliana 96: 69-101
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.96.82835
  Authors : Volker Dietze, Andreas Hofbauer, Hans Rieber, Norbert Wannenmacher, Günter Schweigert : In sections of the Achdorf Formation at the Wochenberg hill (western Swabian Alb, SW Germany), a succession of five ammonite biohorizons is distinguished (from bottom to top): the crassicostatum and viallii biohorizons of the Lower Aalenian (Bifidatum Subzone, Opalinum Zone) and the latiumbilicus, discoidea α and discoidea β biohorizons of the Upper Aalenian (Murchisonae Subzone, Murchisonae Zone). The herein newly introduced viallii biohorizon is the youngest hitherto identified biohorizon of the Opalinum Zone (Bifidatum Subzone). A lectotype is designated for Staufenia latiumbilicus (Quenstedt, 1886), the index ammonite of the latiumbilicus biohorizon. The succession of biohorizons of the Murchisonae Subzone reflects the evolution of the graphoceratid late Aalenian ammonite genera Staufenia and Ludwigia. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Wed, 11 May 2022 08:36:44 +030
Early teleost otolith morphogenesis observed in the Jurassic of
Franconia, Bavaria, southern Germany
- Abstract: Zitteliana 96: 51-67
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.96.81737
  Authors : Werner Schwarzhans, Helmut Keupp : The otoliths described in this study are from the late Pliensbachian of the Buttenheim clay pit near Bamberg, Franconia, northern Bavaria, and represent one of the earliest teleost otolith assemblages known so far. A total of 351 otoliths have been recovered, many of which are well-preserved and of sizes that indicate they originated from adult specimens and can be considered morphologically mature. The assemblage contains seven species, four of them stem teleosts of the genus Leptolepis and three from the enigmatic otolith-based genus Archaeotolithus, which cannot be attributed to a firm systematic position. We describe three species as new: Leptolepis buttenheimensis sp. nov., Leptolepis steberae sp. nov. and Archaeotolithus doppelsteini sp. nov. In addition, we review 49 otoliths from the original material of Schröder’s (1956) publication that were uncovered at the University of Erlangen. This material stems from the late Toarcian/early Aalenian and early Callovian of Franconia. In this review, we accept only a few of the species described by Schröder as valid. The otolith associations from the Early and Middle Jurassic of Franconia, in combination with previously published material, allow for an assessment of the morphogenesis of early teleost otoliths. Early Jurassic teleost otoliths are represented by a few common and long-ranging species. A sudden burst in otolith diversity seems to have occurred during the Middle Jurassic and is first evident in the Bathonian. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Tue, 12 Apr 2022 18:33:06 +030
First population-level study of the ammonite genus Hildoglochiceras
Spath, and the Lower Tithonian record of the Hildoglochiceras Horizon in
the Kachchh Basin, India
- Abstract: Zitteliana 96: 1-49
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.96.73892
  Authors : Dhirendra Kumar Pandey, Franz T. Fürsich, Matthias Alberti, Ranajit Das, Federico Olóriz Sáez : A Hildoglochiceras-rich horizon is reported from a thin carbonate intercalation within the siliciclastic Upper Jurassic Jhuran Formation of the Jara Dome, western Kachchh Mainland. The Hildoglochiceras specimens have been used for the first population-level study of the genus based on a multivariate analysis. High phenotype instability in the large sample confirms the occurrence of transient forms between morphospecies. Key morphological traits for interpreting Hildoglochiceras are stated, and the morphospecies Hildoglochiceras kobelli (Oppel) and H. kobelliforme (Bonarelli) are interpreted as a dimorphic pair. The ammonite-rich level is interpreted as a Hildoglochiceras Horizon, which is related to a transgressive pulse and maximum flooding zone interrupting largely restrictive conditions for ammonites. The endemic character of Hildoglochiceras is confirmed and related to its environmental restriction to shelf areas on the palaeomargins of the Trans-Erythraean Trough. A comprehensive review of biostratigraphic interpretations of Hildoglochiceras shows the influence of natural and experimental forcing factors. The uppermost Kimmeridgian to lowermost Upper Tithonian interval is the widest biostratigraphic range assumable for Hildoglochiceras based on existing reports, but most probably it was restricted to, or at least better represented in, Lower Tithonian horizons. The Hildoglochiceras Horizon described here is correlated with a lower part of the Albertinum/Darwini Zone in the Secondary Standard Scale for ammonite-based bio-chronostratigraphy in European and West-Tethyan areas. According to the current state of knowledge, a local rather than wide regional significance is favoured for Hildoglochiceras records before its significance for precise correlation across the Trans-Erythraean Trough. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Wed, 2 Mar 2022 19:01:48 +0200
In search for the unlikely: Leaf-mining caterpillars (Gracillariidae,
Lepidoptera) from Upper Cretaceous and Eocene ambers
- Abstract: Zitteliana 95: 135-145
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.95.63317
  Authors : Thilo C. Fischer : Fossil leaf-mining caterpillars from amber are firstly described as the new species Phyllocnistis cretacea from Upper Cretaceous Myanmar amber and Phyllonorycter inopinata from Eocene Baltic amber. Both show typical traits of leaf-miners, and specifically, of later instars of caterpillars of their respective genera. The findings give further evidence for these being quite old and conservative genera of Gracillariidae. These are basal Ditrysia which retained the larval feeding and mining live mode. The findings also represent direct fossil evidence of individual stages of hypermetamorphosis known from extant Gracillariidae. The finds from the Upper Cretaceous and their putative identifications give direct evidence for a minimal geological age for the genus Phyllocnistis (Phyllocnistinae) and, by indirect conclusion based on their divergence, also for the genus Phyllonorycter in a sister clade (Lithocolletinae). It also predates mining habit closer to the time of radiation of their angiospermous host plants. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Wed, 8 Dec 2021 07:00:18 +0200
Paleontological inventory of Paleozoic, Late Mesozoic, and Cenozoic plant,
invertebrate, and vertebrate fossil species from Big Bend National Park,
Texas, USA - over a century of paleontological discovery
- Abstract: Zitteliana 95: 95-134
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.95.73026
  Authors : Steven L. Wick : The extraordinary paleontological record from Big Bend National Park (BIBE), Texas chronicles nearly 120 million years of largely uninterrupted deposition through Late Cretaceous, Paleogene and Neogene time. Therefore, the park records one of the most complete and continuous fossil records of its kind in North America, if not the world. Paleontologists have collected and studied fossils from BIBE for over a century and nearly 1400 fossil species have been reported thus far. The BIBE paleontological record includes type specimens representing 44 scientifically valid species (five plants, nine invertebrates, and 30 vertebrates). Numerous other reported specimens are very likely new to science but have yet to be formally named. The present catalog presents the currently known assemblage of fossil plant, invertebrate, and vertebrate species from BIBE within a single, comprehensive record with significant references for each. This work is designed and written to be a research and resource management tool for scientists and non-scientists alike. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Fri, 19 Nov 2021 07:42:06 +020
Biostratigraphy and sequence stratigraphy of the Toarcian Ludwigskanal
section (Franconian Alb, Southern Germany)
- Abstract: Zitteliana 95: 57-94
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.95.56222
  Authors : Gernot Arp, Sebastian Gropengießer, Christian Schulbert, Dietmar Jung, Andreas Reimer : Extensive construction work at the canal cutting of the Ludwigskanal near Dörlbach, Franconian Alb, provided the opportunity to re-investigate a scientific-historical and biostratigraphically important reference section of the South-German Toarcian. The 16 m thick section, described bed by bed with respect to lithology and macrofossils, starts within the Upper Pliensbachian Amaltheenton Formation, covers the Toarcian Posidonienschiefer and Jurensismergel Formation, and ends in basal parts of the Opalinuston Formation. Carbonate contents are high in the Posidonienschiefer and successively decline within the Jurensismergel to basal parts of the Opalinuston. The high carbonate contents in the Posidonienschiefer are associated with comparatively low organic carbon contents. However, organic carbon contents normalized to the silicate fraction are similarily high if compared to other regions in Germany. Only the persistence of high organic carbon levels into middle parts of the Upper Toarcian differs from those of most regions in central Europe. Ammonite biostratigraphy indicates a thickness of >9 m for the Upper Pliensbachian, 1.15–1.20 m for the Lower Toarcian, 5.04 m for the Upper Toarcian, and >0.5 m for the Lower Aalenian. Despite the low sediment thickness, all Toarcian ammonite zones and almost all subzones are present, except for major parts of the Tenuicostatum Zone and the Fallaciosum Subzone. On the basis of discontinuities, condensed beds, and correlations with neighbouring sections in Southern Germany, a sequence stratigraphic interpretation is proposed for the Toarcian of this region: (i) The Posidonienschiefer Formation corresponds to one 3rd order T-R sequence, from the top of the Hawskerense Subzone to a fucoid bed at the top of the Variabilis Subzone, with a maximum flooding surface at the top of the Falciferum Zone. (ii) The Jurensismergel Formation exhibits two 3rd order T-R sequences: The first ranges from the basis of the Illustris Subzone (i.e., the Intra-Variabilis-Discontinuity) to the top of the Thouarsense Zone, with a maximum flooding surface within the Thouarsense Zone. The “belemnite battlefield” reflects a transgressive “ravinement surface” within the first Jurensismergel Sequence, not a maximum regression surface at its basis. The second sequence extents from the erosive basis of the Dispansum Zone to the top of the Aalensis Subzone, with a maximum flooding surface at the Pseudoradiosa-Aalensis Zone boundary. Finally, the Opalinuston starts with a new sequence at the basis of the Torulosum Subzone. Transgressive system tracts of these 3rd order T-R sequences are commonly phosphoritic, while some regressive system tracts show pyrite preservation of ammonites. The maximum regression surfaces at the basis of the Toarcian and within the Variabilis Zone reflect a significant submarine erosion and relief formation by seawater currents, while this effect is less pronounced at the basis of the Dispansum Zone and basis of the Torulosum Subzone (i.e., the boundary Jurensismergel-Opalinuston Formation). HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Thu, 17 Jun 2021 17:46:46 +030
New records of ostracods and ammonites from the Aalenian (mainly Concavum
Zone) of the Zollernalb (Swabian Alb, SW Germany)
- Abstract: Zitteliana 95: 1-55
  DOI : 10.3897/zitteliana.95.56296
  Authors : Norbert Wannenmacher, Volker Dietze, Matthias Franz, Günter Schweigert : The lithostratigraphy and ammonite/ostracod biostratigraphy and the accompanying fauna of several sections and outcrops around the Hohenzollern (Zollernalb, SW Germany), ranging from the topmost Opalinuston Formation (uppermost Lower Aalenian) to the basal Wedelsandstein Formation (lowermost Lower Bajocian) are described and analyzed. The study of ostracods from 41 samples from the Aalenian and Lower Bajocian of the Heiligenbach, Hausterberg and Roschbach sections has yielded approximately 4,100 specimens. Significant changes in the ostracod assemblage occur at the base of the Lower Aalenian “Comptum” Subzone, at the Bradfordensis/Gigantea subzonal boundary, at the Bradfordensis/Concavum zonal boundary and at the Aalenian/Bajocian boundary (Concavum/Discites zones). A minor change occurs above the Calceola-Bank within the Concavum Zone. The following new ostracod species are described: Cytheropterina crassicostata sp. nov., Eucytherura eberti sp. nov. and Eucytherura foveolata sp. nov. In addition, 15 presumably new species are briefly described; 10 ‘incertae sedis’ taxa are figured, but left in open nomenclature. The ammonite faunas of the Inopernabank and Konglomeratbank beds (Upper Aalenian, Bradfordensis Zone, Gigantea Subzone) as well as the ammonite faunas from the Calceolabank and Rostrote Kalkbank beds (Upper Aalenian, Concavum Zone, Concavum Subzone, cavatum biohorizon) are described and correlated with those of other areas. HTML XML PDF
  PubDate: Thu, 17 Jun 2021 16:35:30 +030