A new Late Jurassic ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur Cryopterygius kielanae sp. nov. is described from carbonate deposits of Owadów-Brzezinki Quarry, Central Poland, corresponding in
High resolution oxygen isotopes profiles of well-preserved uppermost Jurassic oyster shells and vertebrate (ichthyosaur and fish) teeth from Central Poland were obtained using a microdrill and an ion microprobe (SHRIMP IIe/MC). Internal variability of δ18O values of oyster shells (-1.7 to 1.3‰ VPDB) collected from the offshore interval of the studied section is greater than that determined previously from bulk oysters. Relatively high δ18O values of the studied oysters may be linked to a slight increase in the salinity of the mid-Polish basin. Low δ18O values of co-occurring ichthyosaur tooth enamel substantiate endothermy of these reptiles. An observed ontogenetic increase in the ichthyosaur enamel δ18O values (from ∼ 19.4 to ∼ 21.6‰ VSMOW) may be a result of long distance migrations although the effect of metabolic factors at rising body mass cannot be completely excluded. It is postulated that δ18O values of the latest portion of the ichthyosaur tooth enamel can be used for the calculation of ancient water oxygen isotope composition and verification of oxygen isotope temperatures. High δ18O values of the enameloid of Caturus lungfishes (23.6 to 26.5‰ VSMOW) collected from an upper part of the studied section, which was deposited in a restricted lagoonal environment after a marine regression, are probably a result of a high evaporation rate. The fishes could have breathed atmospheric air and withstood episodes of water hypoxia. Internal oxygen isotope records of the shells and teeth are promising proxies for studies of the paleoenvironment and activity of animals.
Although Western Europe has yielded numerous Jurassic turtle taxa, several represented by cranial material or complete skeletons, the fossil record of the Jurassic turtles remains scarce to the north and east from Germany. Although some Late Jurassic testudinates were historically described from Poland, they were, thus far, represented by fragmentary remains that never were properly figured or described in detail. Therefore, very little is known about the mid‐Mesozoic diversity of turtles in that region of the continent. A new pancryptodiran turtle genus and species, Owadowia borsukbialynickae, is described from the uppermost Jurassic (Tithonian, ca. 148 Ma) carbonate sediments of the Kcynia Formation in Owadów‐Brzezinki Quarry, near Tomaszów Mazowiecki in central Poland. The lower jaw morphology and palaeoecological setting inhabited by the new genus and species, together with the trophic relationships of the Jurassic pancryptodiran turtles, are discussed in an attempt to determine the potential range of mode of life of O. borsukbialynickae. We propose that the new specimen belongs to a new durophagous pancryptodiran turtle taxon. O. borsukbialynickae might have spent considerable time in the marine environment and specialized on eating hard‐shelled invertebrates like bivalves and decapod crustaceans, common to that setting.
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