Preservation of exceptional vertebrate assemblages in Middle Permian fluviolacustrine mudstones of Kotel'nich, Russia: stratigraphy, sedimentology, and taphonomy

Benton, Michael J.; Newell, Andrew J.; Khlyupin, Al'bert Yu.; Shumov, I. S.; Price, Gregory D.; Kurkin, Andrey

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2012.01.005

Cited by 36 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 52 publications

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“…Many of such places could turn into mires where animals weakened by a prolonged dry season may have been trapped and died (Benton et al, 2012). The sudden and violent flashfloods typical of the hydrological regimes of mediterranean or monsoonal climates can also be evoked to explain the burial of skeletons and nests.…”

Section: Vertebrates Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lower most Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal – landscapes where dinosaurs walked

2017

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This work, as a fieldtrip guide, aims to provide a glimpse into the palaeoenvironments, palaeontology, and diagenesis of one of the most productive areas for Late Jurassic dinosaurs and other vertebrates in Europe, namely, the sites of the Lourinhã Formation, which is coeval with the Morrison Formation of the midwest USA.The Late Jurassic rifting phase of the Lusitanian Basin created several sub-basins separated by major crustal faults. In the western and central areas of the basin, the Caldas da Rainha structure separates three sub-basins with different subsidence and infill characteristics (Consolação to the west, Bombarral-Alcobaça to the northeast, and Turcifal to the southeast). The Upper Jurassic-lowermost Cretaceous succession exposed in the coastal cliffs located between Nazaré and Santa Cruz belongs to the Consolação Sub-basin, whereas the coastal outcrops between Santa Cruz and Ericeira show units of the Turcifal Sub-basin.To place the stops into a coherent context, selected units of the fieldtrip area are detailed. The stratigraphy of the Upper Jurassic of the Lusitanian Basin is quite complex, and no fully accepted overall proposal exists. Thus, a review of lithostratigraphy, sedimentology, age and environmental interpretations is presented. Interpretations of palaeoclimate, palaeogeography, and taphonomy contribute to establishing an overview of the landscape where dinosaurs lived and to understanding the conditions for their fossilization and preservation. This trip, which takes place from north to south, focuses on the vertebrate content, sedimentology, and stratigraphy of the deposits. The first stop at Consolação examines the upper Kimmeridgian shallow-marine to deltaic Alcobaça Formation, which underlies the Lourinhã Formation. Further south, the Paimogo fort cape gives a scenic view of the Lourinhã Formation: to the north, the Praia da Amoreira and Porto Novo members (lower coastal plain alluvium, including distal fan and meandering fluvial systems; upper Kimmeridgian), and, to the south, the Praia Azul Member (lower coastal plain alluvium with three brackish-marine faunally distinct transgressive carbonate levels; uppermost Kimmeridgian to lowermost Tithonian). In Paimogo, we visit sites where dinosaur eggs and a sauropod skeleton have been found. The stop at the Museum of Lourinhã allows a visit to one of the most important collections of Late Jurassic vertebrates in Europe. The last fieldtrip stop at Porto da Calada examines the top of the Assenta Member of the Lourinhã Formation (meandering fluvial system with intercalations of shallow-marine lagoonal carbonates; upper Tithonian to lowermost Berriasian) and the Porto da Calada Formation (meandering fluvial system with thin levels of estuarine and intertidal flats carbonates; Berriasian) and thus includes the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary.Keywords: Upper Jurassic, Lourinhã Formation, Portugal, Lusitanian Basin, Dinosaurs ResumoEste trabalho, como um guião de campo, visa dar uma visão sobre os paleoambientes, paleontologia e diagénese...

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Section: Vertebrates Taphonomymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lower most Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal – landscapes where dinosaurs walked

2017

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“…Moreover, specimens of Bradysaurus (South Africa) and Deltavjatia (Russia) are frequently discovered as complete articulated skeletons, sometimes preserved in upright positions, suggesting that they may have been trapped in mud (Boonstra, 1969;Ochev, 1995;MacRae, 1999). Contrarily, some authors suggested that pareiasaurs were fully terrestrial browsers (Lee, 1994a,b;Benton et al, 2004Benton et al, , 2012Canoville et al, 2014;Smith et al, 2015;Turner et al, 2015). Such interpretations mostly rely on pareiasaurs limb anatomy and the recovery of numerous footprints attributed to this group (Gubin et al, 2003;Valentini et al, 2009;Voigt et al, 2010;Turner et al, 2015).…”

Section: Tropmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bone Microstructure of Pareiasaurs (Parareptilia) from the Karoo Basin, South Africa: Implications for Growth Strategies and Lifestyle Habits

Canoville

Chinsamy

2017

The Anatomical Record

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Numerous morphological studies have been carried out on pareiasaurs; yet their taxonomy and biology remain incompletely understood. Earlier works have suggested that these herbivorous parareptiles had a short juvenile period as compared to the duration of adulthood. Several studies further suggested an (semi-) aquatic lifestyle for these animals, but more recent investigations have proposed a rather terrestrial habitat. Bone paleohistology is regarded as a powerful tool to assess aspects of tetrapod paleobiology, but few studies have been conducted on pareiasaurs. The present study assesses intra and inter-specific histovariability of pareiasaurs and provides fresh insights into their paleobiology, thereby permitting a re-evaluation of earlier hypotheses. Our sample comprises various skeletal elements and several specimens covering most of the taxonomic and stratigraphic spectrum of South African pareiasaurs, including large and basal forms from the Middle Permian, as well as smaller and more derived forms from the Late Permian. Our results concerning size of elements and histological tissues show that for pareiasaurs, element size is not a good indicator of ontogenetic age, and furthermore, suggest that the specific diversity of the Middle Permian pareiasaurs may have been underestimated. The bone histology of these animals shows that they experienced a relatively rapid growth early in ontogeny. Periosteal growth later slowed down, but seems to have been protracted for several years during adulthood. Pareiasaur bone microanatomy is unusual for continental tetrapods, in having spongious stylopod diaphyses and thin compact cortices. Rigorous paleoecological interpretations are thus limited since no modern analogue exists for these animals. Anat Rec, 300:1039-1066, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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“…Newell et al. (2010) and Benton et al (2012) provide a detailed discussion of Russian stratigraphic terminology and how the local Russian stages (Fig. 4) equate to the International Permian time scale.…”

Section: Kul’chumovo Minibasinmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Gorizonts are the main regional biostratigraphic units identified primarily from their palaeontological characteristics, and may unite several svitas from different basins which are largely lithostratigraphic units given a locality name that is close to their type section. Newell et al (2010) and Benton et al (2012) provide a detailed discussion of Russian stratigraphic terminology and how the local Russian stages ( Fig. 4) equate to the International Permian time scale.…”

Section: Kul'chumovo Minibasinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Calcretes, fluviolacustrine sediments and subsidence patterns in Permo‐Triassic salt‐walled minibasins of the south Urals, Russia

Newell¹,

Benton

Kearsey

et al. 2012

Sedimentology

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The south Uralian foreland basin forms part of the giant, yet sparsely documented, PreCaspian salt tectonic province. The basin can potentially add much to the understanding of fluviolacustrine sedimentation within salt‐walled minibasins, where the literature has been highly reliant on only a few examples (such as the Paradox Basin of Utah). This paper describes the Late Permian terrestrial fill of the Kul’chumovo salt minibasin near Orenburg in the south Urals in which sediments were deposited in a range of channel, overbank and lacustrine environments. Palaeomagnetic stratigraphy shows that, during the Late Permian, the basin had a relatively slow and uniform subsidence pattern with widespread pedogenesis and calcrete development. Angular unconformities or halokinetic sequence boundaries cannot be recognized within the relatively fine‐grained fill, and stratigraphic and spatial variations in facies are therefore critical to understanding the subsidence history of the salt minibasin. Coarse‐grained channel belts show evidence for lateral relocation within the minibasin while the development of a thick stack of calcrete hardpans indicates that opposing parts of the minibasin became largely inactive for prolonged periods (possibly in the order of one million years). The regular vertical stacking of calcrete hardpans within floodplain mudstones provides further evidence that halokinetic minibasin growth is inherently episodic and cyclical.

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Preservation of exceptional vertebrate assemblages in Middle Permian fluviolacustrine mudstones of Kotel'nich, Russia: stratigraphy, sedimentology, and taphonomy

Cited by 36 publications

References 52 publications

The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lower most Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal – landscapes where dinosaurs walked

The Lourinhã Formation: the Upper Jurassic to lower most Cretaceous of the Lusitanian Basin, Portugal – landscapes where dinosaurs walked

Bone Microstructure of Pareiasaurs (Parareptilia) from the Karoo Basin, South Africa: Implications for Growth Strategies and Lifestyle Habits

Calcretes, fluviolacustrine sediments and subsidence patterns in Permo‐Triassic salt‐walled minibasins of the south Urals, Russia

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