A Synoptic Review of the Cartilaginous Fishes (Chondrichthyes: Holocephali, Elasmobranchii) from the Upper Jurassic Konservat-Lagerstätten of Southern Germany: Taxonomy, Diversity, and Faunal Relationships

Abstract

The Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous (164–100 Ma) represents one of the main transitional periods in life history. Recent studies unveiled a complex scenario in which abiotic and biotic factors and drivers on regional and global scales due to the fragmentation of Pangaea resulted in dramatic faunal and ecological turnovers in terrestrial and marine environments. However, chondrichthyan faunas from this interval have received surprisingly little recognition. The presence of numerous entire skeletons of chondrichthyans preserved in several localities in southern Germany, often referred to as Konservat-Lagerstätten (e.g., Nusplingen and the Solnhofen Archipelago), provides a unique opportunity of to study the taxonomic composition of these assemblages, their ecological distributions and adaptations, and evolutionary histories in detail. However, even after 160 years of study, the current knowledge of southern Germany’s Late Jurassic chondrichthyan diversity remains incomplete. Over the last 20 years, the systematic study and bulk sampling of southern Germany’s Late Jurassic deposits significantly increased the number of known fossil chondrichthyan genera from the region (32 in the present study). In the present work, the fossil record, and the taxonomic composition of Late Jurassic chondrichthyans from southern Germany are reviewed and compared with several contemporaneous assemblages from other sites in Europe. Our results suggest, inter alia, that the Late Jurassic chondrichthyans displayed extended distributions within Europe. However, it nevertheless also is evident that the taxonomy of Late Jurassic chondrichthyans is in urgent need of revision.

Rostral and body shape analyses reveal cryptic diversity of Late Jurassic batomorphs (Chondrichthyes, Elasmobranchii) from Europe

“…187.2023 Asterodermus platypterus Agassiz; Villalobos‐Segura et al ., fig. 31c, e.2023 Spathobatis bugesiacus Thiollière; Villalobos‐Segura et al ., fig. 32 (note that the scale in fig.…”

“…687 and Villalobos‐Segura et al . 2023, fig. 32A) is broad and straight, tapering on both sides towards the fusion points with the scapular processes, which extend dorsally (Fig.…”

“…686.2017 Asterodermus platypterus Agassiz; Moser, fig. 24.2019 Spathobatis bugesiacus Thiollière; Villalobos‐Segura et al ., figs S.1.B., S.5.D.2020 Spathobatis bugesiacus Thiollière; Villalobos‐Segura & Underwood, figs S1B, S4D.2023 Asterodermus platypterus Agassiz; Villalobos‐Segura et al ., fig. 31a, b, d.…”

“…Agassiz 1836; Kriwet & Klug 2004; Thies & Leidner 2011; Kriwet & Klug 2015; Villalobos‐Segura et al . 2023; the UK, e.g. Underwood & Rees 2002; Underwood & Ward 2004; Sweetman et al .…”

“…Kriwet & Klug 2004, 2015; Villalobos‐Segura et al . 2023), Cerin, France (late Kimmeridgian; e.g. Thiollière 1852), Kimmeridge, UK (early Tithonian; e.g.…”