Gram Brick Works (Miocene of Denmark)

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)

•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)

•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 Gram Formation was deposited in a marine environment at a depth between 50 and 100 m, as indicated by the marine flora associated with terrestrial material, foraminifera and the marine fauna (Rasmussen, 1958, 1966; Laursen & Kristofferson, 1999; Dybkjær & Piasecki, 2010). Fine-grained storm beds similar to the extant coastal layers in the North Sea suggest a progradation of the shoreline (Rasmussen, 2005).

•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).

• SPECIFIC LITHOLOGY: Silty, dark, micaceous clay. LITHIFICATION: Poorly-lithified, on the basis of figured specimens. (AH)

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

• Whale specimens are housed in the Geological Museum, Copenhagen. Molluscs originally published in Rasmussen, 1976.

•COVERAGE: Exhaustive for molluscs. NOMENCLATURE: Modern nomenclature, with species-resolution identifications. (AH)

unclassified
  -
Gastropoda
 Cerithioidea - Turritellidae
 Neogastropoda - Borsoniidae
Bathytoma cataphracta Brocchi 1814 snail
 Neogastropoda - Turridae
 Neogastropoda - Costellariidae
Uromitra cimbrica ribbed mitre
 Neogastropoda - Muricidae
"Sipho distinctus" = Trophon (Sipho)
"Sipho distinctus" = Trophon (Sipho) murex snail
 Sorbeoconcha - Xenophoridae
? Xenophora sp. Fischer von Waldheim 1807 carrier shell
 Sorbeoconcha - Naticidae
Natica sp. Scopoli 1777 moon snail
 Heterostropha - Ringiculidae
Ringicula buccinea Sowerby 1823 snail
 Heterostropha - Pyramidellidae
Odostomia conoidea Brocchi 1814 snail
Bivalvia
 Poromyida - Cuspidariidae
Cuspidaria sp. Dall 1886 clam
 Thraciida - Periplomatidae
Cochlodesma sp. Couthouy 1839 clam
 Cardiida - Glossidae
 Cardiida - Semelidae
 Carditida - Astartidae
Astarte vetula, "Carinastarte vetula" = Astarte (Carinastarte)3
Astarte vetula clam
A. vetula reimersi
"Carinastarte vetula" = Astarte (Carinastarte)3 clam
subspecies reinersi
 Nuculida - Nuculidae
Nucula sp. Lamarck 1799 nut clam
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
? Nuculana pygmaea pointed nut clam
 Nuculanida - Yoldiidae
"Yoldia glaberrima" = Yoldia (Yoldia) glaberrima
"Yoldia glaberrima" = Yoldia (Yoldia) glaberrima von Münster 1837 clam
Chondrichthyes
 Hexanchiformes - Hexanchidae
"Notidanus primigenius" = Notorhynchus primigenius
"Notidanus primigenius" = Notorhynchus primigenius Agassiz 1835 sevengill shark
teeth
 Carcharhiniformes - Galeocerdidae
Galeocerdo sp. Müller and Henle 1837 tiger shark
teeth
 Lamniformes - Odontaspididae
Odontaspis sp. Agassiz 1838 sand tiger shark
teeth
 Lamniformes - Lamnidae
Isurus sp., "Oxyrhina hastalis" = Carcharodon hastalis
Isurus sp. Rafinesque 1810 mackerel shark
teeth
"Oxyrhina hastalis" = Carcharodon hastalis Agassiz 1838 white shark
O. hastalis escheri, teeth
 Lamniformes - Cetorhinidae
Cetorhinus sp. de Blainville 1816 basking shark
vertebrae
Osteichthyes
 Acipenseriformes - Acipenseridae
Acipenser sp. Linnaeus 1758 sturgeon
scutes, vertebrae
Mammalia
 Cetacea - Ziphiidae
Ziphiidae indet.4 Gray 1850 beaked whale
Dagonodum mojnum n. gen. n. sp.3 Ramassamy 2016 beaked whale
 Cetacea -
Graamocetus longicollis n. gen. n. sp.1, "Isocetus depauwii" = Isocetus depauwi6
Graamocetus longicollis n. gen. n. sp.1 Hoch 2004 toothed whale
"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
 Cetacea - Cetotheriidae
"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.
 Cetacea -
Uranocetus gramensis n. gen. n. sp.5
Uranocetus gramensis n. gen. n. sp.5 Steeman 2009 whale
 Carnivora - Phocidae
Phocidae indet. Gray 1821 seal
limb bones reminiscent of Pagophilus groenlandicus and Erignathus barbatus
Pontophoca jutlandica n. sp.2 Koretsky et al. 2014 seal
Gryphoca nordica2 Koretsky et al. 2014 seal
Reptilia
 Testudines - Dermochelyidae
Psephophorus sp. von Meyer 1847 leatherback
Actinopteri
 Gadiformes - Gadidae
"Gadus luscus" = Trisopterus luscus
"Gadus luscus" = Trisopterus luscus Linnaeus 1758
otoliths
 Acanthuriformes - Sciaenidae
Sciaena holsatica Koken 1891
otoliths