Posidonia Shale

Posidonia Shale
Type	Geological formation
Lithology
Primary	Shale
Location
Country	Germany

The Posidonia Shale is a Lower Jurassic geological formation famous for its exceptionally well-preserved complete skeletons of fossil marine fish and reptiles.^[1] The Posidonienschiefer as German paleontologists call it, takes its name from the ubiquitous fossils of Posidonia bronni that characterize its fauna. The formation comprises finely laminated layers of bituminous shales formed of fine-grained sediments intercalated with bituminous limestones and crops out in a number of locations in southwestern Germany, although most famously near the village of Holzmaden.^[1] The European bituminous shales deposited on a sea floor during the Early Toarcian in the ancient Tethys Ocean are described as being deposited in an anoxic, or oxygen depleted, deep water environment, although the details of the depositional environment are the subject of debate by researchers of the formation.^[1]

In addition to their Posidonia bronni, the shales contain some spectacularly detailed fossils of other Jurassic sea creatures—ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs, spiral-shelled ammonites and crinoids, or sea-lilies.^[2]

Paleofauna

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Posidonia Shale
Taxa	Presence	Notes	Images
Genus: Meyerasaurus[3] Meyerasaurus victor[3]	Found near the town of Holzmaden (Baden-Württemberg), Germany.[3]		Meyerasaurus.

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs of the Posidonia Shale
Taxa	Presence	Notes	Images
Genus: Campylognathoides[4] C. liasicus[4] C. zitteli[4]	Found near the town of Holzmaden (Baden-Württemberg), Germany.[4] Found near the town of Holzmaden (Baden-Württemberg), Germany.[4]		Campylognathoides. Dorygnathus.
Genus: Dorygnathus[4] D. banthensis[4]	Found near Banz Abbey in Bavaria, as well as Holzmaden (Baden-Württemberg),[4]

References

	Geology portal
	Paleontology portal

1. ^ ^{a b c} Bottjer, Etter, Hagadorn, Tang, editors (2001). Exceptional Fossil Preservation. Colombia University Press. 
2. ^ David Quammen, The Boilerplate Rhino: Nature in the Eye of the Beholder 2000:41.
3. ^ ^{a b c} Adam S. Smith, Peggy Vincent (2010). "A new genus of pliosaur (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) from the Lower Jurassic of Holzmaden, Germany". Palaeontology 53 (5): 1049–1063. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2010.00975.x. 
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} Wellnhofer, Peter (1991). "Summary of Lower Jurassic Pterosaurs." The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Pterosaurs. London, UK: Salamander Books Limited. p. 79. ISBN 0-86101-566-5.

External links

• Images of fossils in the Urwelt-Museum Hauff (Holzmaden)

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