Ebelsberg Formation

Ebelsberg Formation
Stratigraphic range: Aquitanian 22 Ma
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TypeFormation
UnderliesHall Formation[1]
OverliesEferding Formation[1]
Lithology
PrimaryClaystone, mudstone
Location
CoordinatesN 48° 12′ 22″; E 14° 13′ 27″[2]
RegionUpper Austria
CountryAustria
Type section
Named forEbelsberg
Ebelsberg Formation is located in Austria
Ebelsberg Formation
Ebelsberg Formation (Austria)

The Ebelsberg Formation is a geologic formation in Austria. The section exposed near the town of Pucking are considered to be a Konservat-Lagerstätte. It preserves fossils dated to the Aquitanian age of the Miocene epoch.

History of study

The marine deposits of the Ebelsberg Formation near Pucking were exposed in the 1980s[3] when a hydroelectric power plant was built across the river Traun close to Linz, the capital of Upper Austria. Initial studies considered the Ebelsberg Formation to be Oligocene in age, specifically dating it to the Chattian (Late Oligocene). However, more recent studies have shown this to be false, instead proposing a younger age corresponding with the Aquitanian stage of the Miocene. Locally, this would correspond to the Upper Egerian, making the outcrops about 22 million years old.[2]

Environment

During the Aquitanian this part of Austria was covered by the extensive Paratethys sea, with the Ebelsberg Formation specifically having been formed in the outer neritic zone.[4]

Fauna

Bivalves

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Deletopecten[5] D. sp. Pucking A small pectinid bivalve.
Isognomonidae[5] Pucking A type of clam typically associated with driftwood.
Megaxinus[5] M. bellardianus Pucking A lucinid bivalve. They were found in association with the remains of Austromola.
Nucula[5] N. sp. Pucking A nuculid bivalve.
Perna[5] P. aquitanica Pucking A species of mussle typically associated with driftwood.
Teredinidae[5] Pucking Pieces of lignite at Pucking are often found often completely penetrated by shipworms.

Gastropods

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Clio[5] C. sp. Pucking A pelagic pteropod snail known from mass accumulations. They are diel migrants that use mucous web to capture prey. Blooms of Clio may have been caused by nutrient increases from intensified upswellings or increased coastal runoff.
Euspira[5] E. helicina Pucking A member of the Naticidae, Euspira helicina is among the predominant gastropods at Pucking.
Limacina[5] L. sp. Pucking A pelagic pteropod snail known from mass accumulations. They are diel migrants that use mucous web to capture prey. Blooms of Limacina may have been caused by nutrient increases from intensified upswellings or increased coastal runoff.
Turridae[5] Pucking A single species of turrid is among the predominant gastropods at Pucking.

Cephalopods

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Aturia[5] Possibly a new species Pucking A nautiloid with a shall that is distinctly larger than that of Aturia aturi. Fossils are known from mass occurences and always associated with brown algae. A deep water animal, its possible that remains of the Ebelsberg Aturia first drifted into coastal waters before being washed back out offshore where they were preserved.

Crustaceans

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Lepadidae[5] Two undescribed species Pucking Barnacles that appear attached to driftwood.

Echinoderms

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Linthia[5] L. summesbergeri Pucking A type of sea urchin, only a few specimen have been recovered from Pucking.
Spatangoida[5] Pucking A type of heart urchin, echinoderms are rare at Pucking.

Chondrichthyes

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Alopias[6] A. exigua Pucking, Wallern A thresher shark of the family Alopiidae.
Araloselachus[7] A. cuspidatus Pucking A sand shark of the family Odontaspididae.
Dracipinna[8] D. bracheri Wallern Teeth A squaliform shark of the family Dalatiidae, the kitefin sharks. It was previously known as Bracheria wallerniensis.
Carcharias[9][10] C. acutissimus Pucking A species of sand tiger shark.
Galeocerdo[9] G. aduncus Pucking A species of tigershark.
Heptranchias[5] H. sp. Pucking A hexanchiform shark of the family Hexanchidae. Modern members of this genus are benthic animals that live close to the shelf edge at depths of around 400–1000 m.
Etmopterus[8] Wallern, Pucking, Finklham/Graben A squaliform shark of the family Etmopteridae, the lantern sharks.
Iago[11] I. sp. Wallern A species of hound shark.
Echinorhinus[5][9] E. pollerspoecki Pucking A echinorhiniform shark of the family Echinorhinidae, the bramble sharks. It would have inhabited the deep watter bottom shelf.
Keasius[12] K. sp. Traunpucking An extinct relative of the basking shark.
Palaeocentroscymnus[8][9] P. horvathi Wallern, Pucking, Finklham/Graben Teeth A squaliform shark of the family Somniosidae, the sleeper sharks.

Actinopterygii

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Aglyptorhynchus[1] A. sp. Pucking An extinct genus of billfish.
Argyropelecus[5] A. sp. Pucking A species of hatchetfish, a bathypelagic animal.
Austromola[4] A. angerhoferi Pucking Three specimen and skeleton parts, one of which was destroyed during excavation. A large member of the Sunfish family, measuring up to 4 meters from fin tip to fin tip.
Caproidae[5] Pucking Boarfish are distinctly less frequent than mackerel, herring and hakes.
Carangidae[5] Pucking Jack fish are distinctly less frequent than mackerel, herring and hakes.
Clupeidae[5] Pucking Herring are amongst the most common fish at Pucking. Modern members of the family are schooling animals of the pelagic zone.
Istiophoridae[1] Pucking Three specimen including a set of caudal vertebrae. The oldest known record of the family from the Northern Alpine Foreland Basin and one of the earliest records of the group in general after their appearance in the Chandler Bridge Formation.
Merlucciidae[5] Pucking Modern hake are benthic animals that occur between a few tens to a few hundreds of meters and migrate up the water collumn at night to feed. This fits with the offshore environment inferred for the Pucking Lagerstätte. They are common at Pucking.
Myctophidae[5] Pucking Lanternfish are regarded as index taxa for deep waters and live a bathypelagic lifestyle, migratiang up the water collumn at night.
Serranidae[5] Pucking Comber are distinctly less frequent than mackerel, herring and hakes.
Scombridae[5] Pucking Mackerels are open water filter feeders. They are common at Pucking.
Syngnathidae[5] Pucking Pipefish are known from mass occurences at Pucking, but likely did not originate in the offshore environment. Modern pipefish prefer bays and lagoons, thus it is possible that they were washed out to sea after their deaths.
Xiphiidae[1] Pucking One undescribed specimen. An underscribed swordfish.

Birds

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
Petralca[2] P. austriaca Pucking A partial skeleton Originally thought to be a species of auk, later studies have shown it to be an early species of loon.

Mammals

Name Species Locality/Member Material Notes Image
undescribed dolphin[5] Pucking A well preserved skeleton preserving the skull, forelimbs, ribcage and much of the vertebral collumn.
Romaleodelphis[3] R. pollerspoecki Pucking An incomplete skull missing the tip of the rostrum and most the basicranium. Ribs and vertebrae have also been reported, but were split among collectors with their current whereabouts unknown. A basal odontocete and member of the "Chilcacetus-Clade", making it basal to true dolphins and beaked whales.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e De Gracia, C.; Berning, B.; Kriwet, J. (2023). "The origin of modern marlins (Teleostei: Istiophoridae): new fossil evidence from the Lower Miocene of Austria". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 43 (2). doi:10.1080/02724634.2023.2281490.
  2. ^ a b c Ursula B. Göhlich; Gerald Mayr (2018). "The alleged early Miocene Auk Petralca austriaca is a Loon (Aves, Gaviiformes): restudy of a controversial fossil bird". Historical Biology: An International Journal of Paleobiology. 30 (8): 1076–1083. Bibcode:2018HBio...30.1076G. doi:10.1080/08912963.2017.1333610. S2CID 90729728.
  3. ^ a b Sanchez-Posada, C.; Racicot, R. A.; Ruf, I.; Krings, M.; Rössner, G. E. (2024). "Romaleodelphis pollerspoecki, gen. et sp. nov., an archaic dolphin from the Central Paratethys (Early Miocene, Austria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. e2401503. doi:10.1080/02724634.2024.2401503.
  4. ^ a b Gregorova, Ruzena; Schultz, Ortwin; Harzhauser, Mathias; Kroh, Andreas; Ćorić, Stjepan (12 June 2009). "A giant early Miocene sunfish from the North Alpine Foreland Basin (Austria) and its implication for molid phylogeny". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 29 (2): 359–371. Bibcode:2009JVPal..29..359G. doi:10.1671/039.029.0201. S2CID 54774567.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Grunert, P.; Harzhauser, M.; Rögl, F.; Sachsenhofer, R.; Gratzer, R.; Soliman, A.; Piller, W.E. (2010). "Oceanographic conditions as a trigger for the formation of an Early Miocene (Aquitanian) Konservat-Lagerstätte in the Central Paratethys Sea". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 292 (3–4): 425–442. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.04.001.
  6. ^ Feichtinger, I.; Bracher, H.; Unger, E.; Lüdi, E.; Pollersböck, J. (2019–2023). "Alopias exigua". Haie und Rochen der Molasse: Arten, Bestimmung, Verbreitung. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  7. ^ Feichtinger, I.; Bracher, H.; Unger, E.; Lüdi, E.; Pollersböck, J. (2019–2023). "Araloselachus cuspidatus". Haie und Rochen der Molasse: Arten, Bestimmung, Verbreitung. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  8. ^ a b c Pollerspöck, J.; Straube, N. (2021). "Phylogenetic placement and description of an extinct genus and species of kitefin shark based on tooth fossils (Squaliformes: Dalatiidae)". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 19 (15): 1083–1096. doi:10.1080/14772019.2021.2012537.
  9. ^ a b c d Pollerspöck, J.; Flammensbeck, C.K.; Straube, N. (2018). "Palaeocentroscymnus (Chondrichthyes: Somniosidae), a new sleeper shark genus from Miocene deposits of Austria (Europe)". PalZ. 92: 443–456. doi:10.1007/s12542-017-0398-9.
  10. ^ Feichtinger, I.; Bracher, H.; Unger, E.; Lüdi, E.; Pollersböck, J. (2019–2023). "Carcharias acutissimus". Haie und Rochen der Molasse: Arten, Bestimmung, Verbreitung. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  11. ^ Feichtinger, I.; Bracher, H.; Unger, E.; Lüdi, E.; Pollersböck, J. (2019–2023). "Iago sp". Haie und Rochen der Molasse: Arten, Bestimmung, Verbreitung. Retrieved 29 October 2024.
  12. ^ Feichtinger, I.; Bracher, H.; Unger, E.; Lüdi, E.; Pollersböck, J. (2019–2023). "Keasius sp". Haie und Rochen der Molasse: Arten, Bestimmung, Verbreitung. Retrieved 29 October 2024.


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