Gerdemann clay pit, Gronau: Late/Upper Berriasian, Germany
collected by Presented by Herren Gerdemann and Bertelsmann (quarry owners) 1910
List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Gastropoda
- Cassiopidae
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Glauconia sp.
Stoliczka 1868
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Wegner 1914 | |||||||||
invalid subgroup of Cassiopidae | ||||||||||
Bivalvia
- Pholadida
- Corbulidae
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Corbula sp.
Bruguière 1789
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
Bivalvia
- Cardiida
- Cyrenidae
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Cyrena sp.
Lamarck
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Wegner 1914 | |||||||||
Reptilia
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Desmemys bertelmanni n. gen., n. sp.
Wegner 1911
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Wegner 1914 | 1 individual | ||||||||
nomen dubium belonging to Paracryptodira | ||||||||||
(holotype) | ||||||||||
Reptilia
- Pleurosternidae
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Testudines indet.
Batsch 1788
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1 individual | |||||||||
= Desmemys sp.
Wegner 1911
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Sachs 1997 | |||||||||
Reptilia
- Plesiosauria
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Plesiosauria sp.
(de Blainville 1835)
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Wegner 1914 | 3 specimens | ||||||||
Iguanodon sp.
Mantell 1825
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Hosius 1893 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
Hosius (1893) described a clavicula of the ornithopod dinosaur ‘‘Iguanodon’’ from the Gronau pit. However, this element belongs to the distal propodial part of a large plesiosaurid according to Wegner (1914). | ||||||||||
= Plesiosauria indet.
de Blainville 1835
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Wegner 1914 | |||||||||
Plesiosaurus degenhardti
Koken 1887
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Koken 1905 | |||||||||
nomen vanum belonging to Plesiosauria | ||||||||||
Vertebrae from the collection of an official of the local public health authority | ||||||||||
Plesiosaurus kanzleri n. sp.
Koken 1905
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Koken 1905 | |||||||||
nomen vanum belonging to Plesiosauria | ||||||||||
Dorsal vertebra | ||||||||||
Plesiosaurus limnophilus
Koken 1887
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Koken 1905 | |||||||||
nomen dubium belonging to Plesiosauroidea | ||||||||||
Vertebrae from the collection of an official of the local public health authority | ||||||||||
Reptilia
- Plesiosauria
- Elasmosauridae
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Plesiosauria informal species B
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Wegner 1914 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
GWWU A3.B2, partial postcranial skeleton from "alpha", as the Berriasian-Valanginian boundary interval (latest Berriasian) | ||||||||||
= Gronausaurus wegneri n. gen., n. sp.
Hampe 2013
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
GMM-A3B.2 - holotype (partial skeleton comprising three isolated teeth, jaw and skull roof fragments, braincase, 6 cervical, 4 pectoral, 16 dorsal, 4 sacral, and 22 caudal vertebrae, rib fragments, pectoral girdle with left coracoid, glenoid ramus of the left scapula, fragments of the right proximal coracoid, pelvic girdle containing both pubes, left ischium and ilium, shaft of right ilium, propodials with right humerus, distal end of left humerus, both femora, several epipodial and autopodial elements) | ||||||||||
= Elasmosauridae sp.
Cope 1869
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Benson and Druckenmiller 2014 | |||||||||
Reptilia
- Plesiosauria
- Leptocleididae
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Brancasaurus brancai n. gen., n. sp.
Wegner 1914
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Wegner 1914 | 1 individual | ||||||||
GWWU A3.B4 (skeleton with skull) from the "subcretaceous fauna" level (mid-Berriasian) | ||||||||||
Plesiosaurus valdensis
(Lydekker 1889)
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Koken 1905 | |||||||||
recombined as Hastanectes valdensis | ||||||||||
Vertebrae from the collection of an official of the local public health authority | ||||||||||
Reptilia
- Crocodylia
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Crocodylia indet.
(Owen 1842)
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1 specimen | |||||||||
A crocodilian tooth was identified early by the famous palaeontologist Eberhard Fraas (Landois 1904) | ||||||||||
Reptilia
- Nodosauridae
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? Nodosauridae indet.
Marsh 1890
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1 specimen | |||||||||
= Nodosauridae indet.
Marsh 1890
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Sachs 1997 | |||||||||
distal end of humerus | ||||||||||
= Hylaeosaurus sp.
Mantell 1833
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Sachs and Hornung 2013 | |||||||||
GPMM A3D.3, distal portion of a right humerus and cervico-pectoral lateral spine (DLM 537) | ||||||||||
Reptilia
- Theropoda
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Theropoda indet.
Marsh 1881
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Sachs 1996 | 2 specimens | ||||||||
= ? Theropoda indet.
Marsh 1881
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Sachs 1997 | |||||||||
teeth | ||||||||||
Actinopteri
- Amiiformes
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Ionoscopus sp.
Costa 1853
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Actinopteri
- Amiiformes
- Caturidae
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Caturus sp.
Agassiz 1834
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Actinopteri
- Lepisosteiformes
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Lepidotes sp.
Agassiz 1832
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Actinopteri
- Pycnodontiformes
- Pycnodontidae
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Sphaerodus sp.
Agassiz 1833
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Coelodus sp.
Haeckel
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Ionoscopiformes
- Furidae
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Callopterus sp.
Thollière 1854
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Chondrichthyes
- Hybodontiformes
- Hybodontidae
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Hybodus sp.
Agassiz 1834
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Egertonodus sp.
Maisey 1987
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Chondrichthyes
- Hybodontiformes
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Lissodus sp.
Brough 1935
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
Chondrichthyes
- Hybodontiformes
- Lonchidiidae
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Lonchidion sp.
Estes 1964
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Hampe 2013 | |||||||||
The fish fauna is represented by teeth of hybodont sharks (Hybodus, Egertonodus, Lonchidion, Lissodus) and of actinopterygian genera, such as the amiiform Caturus, the semionodontid Lepidotes, the pycnodontids Coelodus and Sphaerodus and the pholidophoriformes Ionoscopus and Callopterus (Kemper 1976; Nyhuis and Herbig 2009). | ||||||||||
see common names |
Geography
Country: | Germany | State/province: | Nordrhein-Westfalen |
Coordinates: | 52.3° North, 7.0° East (view map) | ||
Paleocoordinates: | 43.4° North, 15.4° East | ||
Basis of coordinate: | based on nearby landmark | ||
Geographic resolution: | outcrop |
Time
Period: | Cretaceous | Epoch: | Early/Lower Cretaceous |
Stage: | Berriasian | 10 m.y. bin: | Cretaceous 1 |
Key time interval: | Late/Upper Berriasian | ||
Age range of interval: | 140.60000 - 139.80000 m.y. ago |
Stratigraphy
Formation: | Bückeberg | ||||
Stratigraphic resolution: | bed | ||||
Stratigraphy comments: Early Cretaceous, latest Berriasian, upper Osterwald Succession, Bückeberg Formation aka "Wealden 6"
Although "Berriasian ("Wealden") and middle Valanginian" shales were quarried, the reported specimen ages in Hampe (2013) are middle-late Berriasian |
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: | "shale" |
Secondary lithology: | claystone |
Includes fossils? | Y |
Lithology description: "...an irregular fissured shale whose fissure surfaces are coloured very characteristically rustybrown and are full of compressed Cyrena [Cyrena is a synonym of the freshwater/estuarine bivalve Corbicula according to the bivalve Treatise]. This shaly bed is underlaid by a 3 cm thick sticky layer of clay which runs far into the outcrop. According to the master, the skeleton (of Brancasaurus) was found immediately above the clay bed in the lowest part of the irregularly fissured top layer of the schist" (Wegner 1914, from a translation). | |
Environment: | estuary/bay |
Geology comments: The occurrence of the monotypicmyoid clam Corbula indicates a brackish environment of the Osterwald Succession (Kemper 1976). |
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation: | body |
Size of fossils: | macrofossils,mesofossils |
Preservation of anatomical detail: | variable |
Articulated whole bodies: | some |
Associated major elements: | some |
Disassociated major elements: | some |
Disassociated minor elements: | some |
Fragmentation: | frequent |
Spatial resolution: | parautochthonous |
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes: | some genera,species names | ||
Collection methods: | selective quarrying,mechanical,field collection,survey of museum collection | ||
Reason for describing collection: | taxonomic analysis | ||
Collectors: | Presented by Herren Gerdemann and Bertelsmann (quarry owners) | Collection dates: | 1910 |
Collection method comments: GWWU, Geomuseum der Westfaelischen Wilhems-Universitaet, Münster, Germany collection
At the beginning of the 20th century, the pit of the Gerdemann & Co. brickworks had a depth of 30–40 m that contained Berriasian (‘‘Wealden’’) and middle Valanginian shales (Schleicher 1995). The pit was closed in 1917, because of a water ingress (Thiermann 1968). During a period of water shortage in 1959 the pit was later dewatered but subsequently closed again (Kemper 1961). |
Metadata
Database number: | 45760 | ||
Authorizer: | M. Carrano, R. Benson, P. Mannion | Enterer: | M. Carrano, P. Mannion, R. Benson, J. Tennant |
Modifier: | G. Varnham | Research group: | vertebrate |
Created: | 2004-11-30 13:23:57 | Last modified: | 2022-03-01 09:53:28 |
Access level: | the public | Released: | 2004-11-30 13:23:57 |
Creative Commons license: | CC BY |
Reference information
Primary reference:
12119. | ETE | S. Sachs. 1997. Erster Nachweis eines gepanzerten Dinosauriers (Reptilia, Ornithischia, Thyreophora) aus der Unterkreide (Berrias) von Gronau in Westfalen. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1997(1):56-64 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano] |
Secondary references:
46032 | R. B. J. Benson and P. S. Druckenmiller. 2014. Faunal turnover of marine tetrapods during the Jurassic–Cretaceous transition. Biological Reviews 89(1):1-23 [R. Benson/R. Benson/P. Mannion] | |
46070 | O. Hampe. 2013. The forgotten remains of a leptocleidid plesiosaur (Sauropterygia: Plesiosauroidea) from the Early Cretaceous of Gronau (Münsterland, Westphalia, Germany). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 87:473-491 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/R. Benson] | |
46082 | A. Hosius. 1893. Ueber marine Schichten im Wa¨lderthon von Gronau (Westfalen) und die mit denselben vorkommenden Bildungen (Rhizocorallium Hohendahli, sog. Dreibeine). Zeitschrift der deutschen geologischen Gesellschaft 45:34-53 [R. Benson/R. Benson] | |
46081 | E. Koken. 1905. Neue Plesiosaurierreste aus dem norddeutschen Wealden. Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie 6:681-693 [R. Benson/R. Benson] | |
12121 | ETE | S. Sachs. 1996. Dinosaurier-Funde aus Westfalen. Berliner Naturwissenschaften Verein Bielefeld und Umgegend 37:237-253 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano] |
19329 | ETE | S. Sachs. 1997. Mesozoische Reptilien aus Nordrhein-Westfalen [Mesozoic reptiles from Nordrhein-Westfalen]. In S. Sachs, O. W. M. Rauhut, & A. Weigert (eds.), Terra Nostra. 1. Treffen der deutschsprachigen Paläoherpetologen Düsseldorf 22-27 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano] |
46127 | S. Sachs and J. J. Hornung. 2013. Ankylosaur remains from the Early Cretaceous (Valanginian) of northwestern Germany. PLoS One 8(4):e60571:1-7 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant/M. Carrano] | |
37875 | T. Wegner. 1914. Brancasaurus brancai n. g. n. sp., ein elasmosauride aus dem Wealden Westfalens. In F. Schoendorf (ed.), Branca-Festschrift 235-305 [R. Benson/R. Benson] |