Where: Bavaria, Germany (48.7° N, 12.8° E: paleocoordinates 40.0° N, 20.7° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

When: Kelsbach Member (Solnhofen Formation), Early/Lower Tithonian (150.8 - 145.0 Ma)

• For the time being the sequence of Ettling is exclusively subdivided lithostratigraphically since a biostratigraphical subdivision is not yet possible (Fig. 2). Patzelt (1963) and Schnitzer (1965) classified the 10 m thick Plattenkalk between the lower slump and the upper slump unit as “Kelsbach-Schiefer”. They grouped it within the “Malm Zeta 2 a”, possibly comparable in age with the lower Solnhofen Formation of Eichstatt (Lower Tithonian, hybonotum Zone, riedense Subzone; Schweigert 2007). According to Patzelt (1963) and Schnitzer (1965) the Plattenkalk beds above the upper slum unit are part of their “Untere Bankkalke” of the Hartheim Basin and belong to the Malm Zeta 2 b of the upper Solnhofen Formation (possibly comparable to the Plattenkalk of Solnhofen / Langenaltheim: Lower Tithonian, hybonotum Zone, ruppellianus Subzone; Schweigert 2007). Zeiss (1977) also grouped the Plattenkalk between the lower and the upper slump unit within the lower Solnhofen Formation, referring to it as “Kelsbach member”. After Meyer (2001, 2003) the “Kelsbach-Schiefer” and the adjacent beds are characteristic members of the Hartheim Basin; he suggested a younger age. He placed the “Kelsbach-Schiefer” within his “Malm Zeta 2 K” (comparable to the upper part of the Solnhofen Formation) and the 15 m thick beds above the upper slump unit to the “Malm Zeta 3 H” (comparable to the Mrnsheim Formation: Lower Tithonian, hybonotum Zone, moernsheimensis Subzone; cf. Schweigert 2007). To present date, the Plattenkalk of Ettling have not yielded determinable ammonites. Therefore a detailed biostratigraphical analysis is missing. Schweigert (2007) assumed that the environment was too shallow and thus unfavourable for ammonites.

• member-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shallow subtidal; dolomite and argillaceous marl

Size class: macrofossils

• It is an almost complete specimen missing the distal tips of the paired fins and anal fin rays (Figs 4A, B).

Collected by Holl family

• Originally, the layers supposedly did not contain noteworthy fossils (Patzelt 1963). Beginning in 1990, some private collectors discovered a few fossils, but due to their poor preservation not much interest was gathered (Tischlinger 1992), but in 1996 this changed when more remains of fishes were assembled by collectors. After a painstaking and extremely time consuming preparation, these specimens revealed an outstanding state of preservation (Tischlinger 1998)...The specimen was collected by the Hll family (Bitz, Bavaria), who sold it to the Friends of the Jura-Museum, and whose members donated it to the Jura-Museum Eichst tt to be studied.

Primary reference: G. Arratia and H. Tischlinger. 2010. The first record of Late Jurassic crossognathiform fishes from Europe and their phylogenetic importance for teleostean phylogeny. Fossil Record 13(2):317-341 [G. Lloyd/G. Lloyd]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 123739: authorized by Graeme Lloyd, entered by Graeme Lloyd on 28.01.2012

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)