Also known as Gram Clay Pit
Where: Jutland, Denmark (55.3° N, 9.1° E: paleocoordinates 55.6° N, 8.1° E)
• coordinate based on nearby landmark
• outcrop-level geographic resolution
When: Gram Formation, Tortonian (11.6 - 7.2 Ma)
• Tortonian-basal Pliocene, from the middle part of the typical Gram clay (20 m in the type locality section where it was divided into five faunal assemblage zones by Rasmussen (1966))
•conformably overlies the Hodde Fm (Serravallian) and is unconformably overlain by Quaternary deposits (AH, based on Roth and Hoedemakers 2005)
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•The uppermost portion of the Gram Formation correlates with foraminiferal zone N17 (8.6–5.7 Ma [20, 54]) [208] and – within the clay pit –North Sea foraminiferal zone NSB 13b [209] and dinoflagellate zone D19b (8.7–7.5 Ma [54]), as judged from the last appearance of Spiniferites pseudofurcatus [208, 210]. Together, these dates imply a late Tortonian age (8.6–7.5 Ma). (Marx & Fordyce, 2015)
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•Gram Formation, Late Miocene [15]: based on the composition of associated mollusc fauna, the specimen can be accurately identified as belonging to layer 3 or 4 of the Gram Clay Formation [15,16] which are dated to mid-Torto- nian, ca. 9.9–8 mya according to a combined study of geomagnetic variation, dinoflagellates and malacofauna [16–18]. (Gol'din & Steeman, 2015).
• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution
Environment/lithology: marine; poorly lithified, micaceous, silty claystone
•The fauna is typical of a coastal environment with 128 mollusc species and six decapod species (Fraaije, Hansen & Hansen, 2005; Schnetler, 2005). They are associated with shark remains, among others the predator Carcharocles megalodon (Bendix-Almgreen, 1983). Cetaceans are also represented by at least two baleen whale species, Uranocetus gramensis (Stee- man, 2009) and Tranatocetus argillarius (Roth, 1978; Gol’din & Steeman, 2015) and a delphinoid species (Hoch, 2004).
Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils
Collection methods: surface (in situ),
• This was originally reported in Bendix-Almgreen and Roth, 1976, but that reference could not be located in any citation search engines.
Primary reference: F. Roth. 1978. Mesocetus argillarius sp.n. (Cetacea, Mysticeti) from Upper Miocene of Denmark, with remarks on the lower jaw and echolocation system in whale phylogeny. Zoologica Scripta 7:63-79 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]more details
Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis
PaleoDB collection 34521: authorized by John Alroy, entered by Erin Leckey on 04.09.2003, edited by Mark Uhen
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
•COVERAGE: Exhaustive for molluscs. NOMENCLATURE: Modern nomenclature, with species-resolution identifications. (AH)
unclassified | |
Bivalvia | |
"Yoldia glaberrima" = Yoldia (Yoldia) glaberrima
"Yoldia glaberrima" = Yoldia (Yoldia) glaberrima von Münster 1837 clam | |
? Nuculana pygmaea pointed nut clam | |
Nucula sp. Lamarck 1799 nut clam | |
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Cuspidaria sp. Dall 1886 clam | |
Cochlodesma sp. Couthouy 1839 clam | |
? Abra prisma abra | |
Gastropoda | |
Ringicula buccinea Sowerby 1823 snail | |
Odostomia conoidea Brocchi 1814 snail | |
Uromitra cimbrica ribbed mitre | |
"Sipho distinctus" = Trophon (Sipho)
"Sipho distinctus" = Trophon (Sipho) murex snail | |
Bathytoma cataphracta Brocchi 1814 snail | |
? Xenophora sp. Fischer von Waldheim 1807 carrier shell | |
Natica sp. Scopoli 1777 moon snail | |
Archimediella cochlias turret shell | |
Osteichthyes | |
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Reptilia | |
Psephophorus sp. von Meyer 1847 leatherback | |
Mammalia | |
Phocidae indet. Gray 1821 seal limb bones reminiscent of Pagophilus groenlandicus and Erignathus barbatus
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Graamocetus longicollis n. gen. n. sp.1, Uranocetus gramensis n. gen. n. sp.5, "Isocetus depauwii" = Isocetus depauwi6
"Isocetus depauwii" = Isocetus depauwi6 Van Beneden and Gervais 1868 whale Van Beneden did not specify where this animal came from in particular, but McKenna and Bell 1997 say it's from the Gram Formation of Denmark
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"Mesocetus argillarius n. sp." = Tranatocetus argillarius
"Mesocetus argillarius n. sp." = Tranatocetus argillarius Roth 1978 whale postrostral part of the skull, the proximal parts of both lower jaw rami, most of the hyoid bone, thirty three vertebrae, ribs and rib fragments, parts of both scapulae, both humeri and two phalangeal bones.
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Actinopteri | |
"Gadus luscus" = Trisopterus luscus
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Chondrichthyes | |
"Notidanus primigenius" = Notorhynchus primigenius
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Isurus sp., "Oxyrhina hastalis" = Carcharodon hastalis
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