Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories
Scandinavia and its Arctic territories of Svalbard and Greenland represent geographical regions with a long history of Mesozoic palaeontology. However, the last few decades have witnessed a surge of new discoveries. Especially famous are the Triassic and Late Jurassic Lagerstätten of East Greenland and Spitsbergen in the Svalbard Archipelago, together with the Late Cretaceous strata of southern Sweden and the UNESCO World Heritage locality at Stevns Klint in Denmark. The latter records one of the most complete terminal Mesozoic rock successions known globally. Collectively, these deposits encompass the spectrum of Mesozoic biotic evolution, including the explosive radiation of marine faunas after the Permian–Triassic extinction, seminal specialization of amniotes for life in the sea, Late Triassic–Jurassic domination of the land by dinosaurs and the Cretaceous development of modern terrestrial floras and marine ecosystems. This volume, authored by leading experts in the field, encapsulates key aspects of the latest research and will provide a benchmark for future investigations into the Scandinavian Mesozoic world.
Plesiosaurian fossils from Baltic glacial erratics: evidence of Early Jurassic marine amniotes from the southwestern margin of Fennoscandia
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Published:January 01, 2016
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CiteCitation
Sven Sachs, Jahn J. Hornung, Hans-Jürgen Lierl, Benjamin P. Kear, 2016. "Plesiosaurian fossils from Baltic glacial erratics: evidence of Early Jurassic marine amniotes from the southwestern margin of Fennoscandia", Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories, B. P. Kear, J. Lindgren, J. H. Hurum, J. Milàn, V. Vajda
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Abstract
Early Jurassic plesiosaurian fossils are rare in the Scandinavian region, with a few isolated bones and teeth known from Bornholm, and anecdotal finds from East Greenland. The only other identifiable specimens derive from Toarcian-aged (based on ammonites) erratics deposited during Late Pleistocene glacial advances near the town of Ahrensburg, NE of Hamburg in northern Germany. The geographical source of these transported clasts is debated, but reconstructed ice-flow directions and lithofacies comparisons implicate either the offshore Baltic Sea between the Island of Bornholm and Mecklenburg–Vorpommern (Germany) or, less probably, south of the Danish Archipelago (Mecklenburg Bay). These regions collectively bordered the Fennoscandian landmass and adjacent Ringkøbing-Fyn Island in the late Early Jurassic, and were dominated by near-shore marine deltaic to basinal settings. The Ahrensburg plesiosaurian remains include postcranial elements reminiscent of both the microcleidid Seeleyosaurus and the rhomaelosaurid Meyerasaurus. These occur alongside other classic ‘Germanic province’ marine amniotes, such as the teleosaurid crocodyliform Steneosaurus and ichthyosaurian Stenopterygius cf. quadriscissus: thus, advocating faunal continuity between Scandinavia and southern Germany during the Toarcian, and a less pronounced marine reptile faunal provinciality than previously assumed.
- Amniota
- Baltic region
- biogeography
- biostratigraphy
- bones
- Central Europe
- Chordata
- clastic sediments
- Diapsida
- erratics
- Europe
- faunal studies
- Fennoscandia
- fossils
- Germany
- glacial transport
- Jurassic
- lithofacies
- Lower Jurassic
- marine environment
- Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania Germany
- Mesozoic
- morphology
- paleoenvironment
- paleogeography
- Plesiosauria
- provenance
- provinciality
- reconstruction
- Reptilia
- Sauropterygia
- Scandinavia
- Schleswig-Holstein Germany
- sediments
- taxonomy
- teeth
- Tetrapoda
- Toarcian
- transport
- vertebrae
- Vertebrata
- Western Europe
- Grimmen Germany
- Rhomaleosauridae
- Ahrensburg Germany
- Dobbertin Germany
- Meyerasaurus
- Microcleididae
- Grosshansdorf Germany
- Seeleyosaurus
- Consrade Germany