References
Reference
Delsett, Lele L et. al. (2015) The Slottsmøya marine reptile Lagerstätte: depositional environments, taphonomy and diagenesis; Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories. Geological Society, London, Sp
The Slottsmøya marine reptile Lagerstätte: depositional environments, taphonomy and diagenesis
Principal Author
Lele L Delsett
Other Authors
Pat S. Druckenmiller, Jørn H Hurum, Linn K Novis, Aubrey J Roberts, Maayke J Koeovoets
Header
Academic paper
Journal
Mesozoic Biotas of Scandinavia and its Arctic Territories. Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Volume
434
Abstract
The Late Jurassic Slottsmøya Member Lagersta¨ tte on Spitsbergen offers a unique opportunity to study the relationships between vertebrate fossil preservation, invertebrate occurrences and depositional environment. In this study, 21 plesiosaurian and 17 ichthyosaur specimens are described with respect to articulation, landing mode, preservation, and possible predation and scavenging. The stratigraphic distribution of marine reptiles in the Slottsmøya Member is analysed, and a correlation between high total organic content, low oxygen levels, few benthic invertebrates and optimal reptile preservation is observed. A new model for 3D preservation of vertebrates in highly compacted organic shales is explained. Supplementary material: A taphonomic description of each marine reptile specimen is available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.2133549 Gold Open Access: This article is published under the terms of the CC-BY 3.0 license.
Language
English