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Reuchenette Formation

The Reuchenette Formation is a Jurassic geologic formation in Switzerland. It is Kimmeridgian in age and predominantly consists of well stratified limestone, with lithology variable both laterally and stratigraphically including wackestones, packstones and grainstones, as well as mudstone.[1] Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, including the Turiasaurian sauropod Amanzia greppini, alongside a theropod tooth belonging to Ceratosauria indet, originally assigned to Megalosaurus meriani.[2] teleosaurid crocodyliformes are also known, including Sericodon, Proexochokefalos and Machimosaurus.[3] The metriorhynchid thalatosuchians Torvoneustes[4] and Dakosaurus. The hybodontid shark Asteracanthus.[5] The thalassochelydian turtle Thalassemys[6] and Solnhofia is known from the formation,[7] as is the platychelyid turtles Platychelys,[8] and the plesiochelyid turtle Plesiochelys.[9]

Vertebrate Fauna

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Ray-finned fish

Genus Species Material Notes Images
"Lepidotes" "L". laevis Jaw Fragment Ginglymodi
L. sp. Four enameloid caps of the grinding tooth Ginglymodia
Gyrodus G. "jurassicus" Lower jaw Pycnodontidae
G. sp. Two incisors Pycnodontidae
Proscinetes P. sp. 1 Enameloid cap of grinding tooth, six vomers and four prearticulars Pycnodontidae
P. sp. 2 Enameloid cap of grinding tooth, vomer and three prearticulars Pycnodontidae
Pycnodontiforme Indeterminate Enameloid cap of grinding tooth Pycnodontidae
Caturus C. sp. Seven teeth Caturidae
Callopterus C. sp. Tooth Caturidae
Ionoscopus I. sp. Tooth Caturidae
Belonostomus B. sp. Predentary Aspidorhynchidae

Cartilaginous fish

Genus Species Material Notes Images
Asteracanthus[10] A. udulfensis 149 teeth from different parts of the jaw Acrodontine hybodontiforme with strongly ornamented dentition adapted for crushing hard-shelled prey, so far only known from the Reuchenette Formation
"Hybodus"[10] "H". sp. 101 teeth from different parts of the jaw Hybodontiforme with teeth similar to teeth from "Hybodus" lusitanicus, but they are smaller and slightly different in the bluntness of their main cusp
"H". multicuspidatus 19 mostly incomplete teeth Hybodontiforme whose teeth are very similar to those of Polyacrodus brevicostatus, however that genus is considered a nomen dubium
Planohybodus[10] P. sp. 22 teeth Hybodontiforme that may represent a new species
cf. Meristodonoides[10] cf. M. sp. 22 teeth Hybodontiforme very similar to Meristodonoides, the teeth are too poorly preserved to properly confirm the inclusion in the genus
Pseudorhina[10] P. sp. One partial tooth Pseudorhina tooth displaying a unique morphology, however too fragmentary to name
P. acanthoderma 69 teeth from different parts of the jaw Large angelshark known best by complete specimens hailing from the contemporary Nusplingen Limestone
P. alifera 27 teeth from different parts of the jaw Medium-sized angelshark known best by complete specimens hailing from the Solnhofen Limestone
Protospinax[10] P. sp. Three teeth Squalomorph known from complete specimens hailing from the Solnhofen Limestone, the material from the Swiss Jura is too fragmentary to identify on a species level
Heterodontidae[10] Indeterminate One fragment of a fin spine and 5 teeth Indeterminate bullhead shark
Heterodontus[10] H. semirugosus Six anterior teeth Bullhead shark
?Paracestracion[10] ?P. sp. One fin spine Heterodontiforme tentatively referred to Paracestracion
Palaeoscyllium[10] P. cf. formosum 15 teeth from different parts of the jaw Catshark most similar to P. formosum
Corysodon[10] C. cirinensis Four teeth The systematic position of this genus is disputed, its also known from Cerin and Solnhofen
Rhinobatoidea[10] Indeterminate 25 teeth Teeth that could either belong to Belemnobatis or Spathobathis
Belemnobatis[10] B. sismondae 339 teeth from different parts of the jaw Spathobathid known by more complete specimens from Cerin
B. morinicus 55 teeth Spathobathid known by more complete specimens from Cerin
Spathobathis[10] S. bugesiacus 157 teeth from different parts of the jaw Spathobathid known by more complete specimens from Cerin
Ischyodus[10] I. quenstedti 16 fin spines, 34 dental plates, 9 palatine plates and 25 mandibular plates Large chimaera with a wide distribution in Late Jurassic Europe
Laffonia[11] L. helvetica 1 egg capsule Egg capsule similar to those of the modern short-nose chimaera

Reptiles

Testudinata

Genus Species Material Notes Images
Craspedochelys C. picteti
C. jaccardi
Plesiochelys P. bigleri
Platychelys P. oberndorferi
Portlandemys P. gracilis
Solnhofia S. brachyrhyncha
Tropidemys T. langii
Thalassemys T. bruntrutana
T. hugii
"T." moseri

Crocodylomorpha

Genus Species Material Notes Images
Dakosaurus D. maximus
Machimosaurus H. hugii
Proexochokefalos P. cf. bouchardi
Sericodon S. jugleri
Torvoneustes T. jurensis

Dinosauria

Genus Species Material Notes Images
Amanzia[2] A. greppini
Ceratosauria Indeterminate

Pterosauria

Genus Species Material Notes Images
Pterodactyloidea Indeterminate Second wing phalanx (NMS 20’870)

Invertebrate Fauna

Cephalopoda

Genus Species Material Notes Images

See also

References

  1. ^ "Reuchenette Formation". strati.ch.
  2. ^ a b Schwarz, Daniela; Mannion, Philip D.; Wings, Oliver; Meyer, Christian A. (December 2020). "Re-description of the sauropod dinosaur Amanzia ("Ornithopsis/Cetiosauriscus") greppini n. gen. and other vertebrate remains from the Kimmeridgian (Late Jurassic) Reuchenette Formation of Moutier, Switzerland". Swiss Journal of Geosciences. 113 (1): 2. Bibcode:2020SwJG..113....2S. doi:10.1186/s00015-020-00355-5. ISSN 1661-8726.
  3. ^ Johnson, Michela M.; Young, Mark T.; Brusatte, Stephen L. (2020). "The phylogenetics of Teleosauroidea (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) and implications for their ecology and evolution". PeerJ. 8: e9808. doi:10.7717/peerj.9808. PMC 7548081. PMID 33083104.
  4. ^ Girard, L. C.; De Sousa Oliveira, S.; Raselli, I.; Martin, J. E.; Anquetin, J. (2023). "Description and phylogenetic relationships of a new species of Torvoneustes (Crocodylomorpha, Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian of Switzerland". PeerJ. 11. e15512. doi:10.7717/peerj.15512. PMC 10362849. PMID 37483966.
  5. ^ Léa Leuzinger; Gilles Cuny; Evgeny Popov; Jean-Paul Billon-Bruyat (2017). "A new chondrichthyan fauna from the Late Jurassic of the Swiss Jura (Kimmeridgian) dominated by hybodonts, chimaeroids and guitarfishes". Papers in Palaeontology. 3 (4): 471–511. Bibcode:2017PPal....3..471L. doi:10.1002/spp2.1085. hdl:11336/41081.
  6. ^ Anquetin, J.; Püntener, C.; Joyce, W.G. (2017). "A Review of the Fossil Record of Turtles of the Clade Thalassochelydia" (PDF). Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History. 58 (2): 317–369. Bibcode:2017BPMNH..58..317A. doi:10.3374/014.058.0205. S2CID 31091127.
  7. ^ Anquetin, Jérémy; Püntener, Christian (2020-11-12). "A new species of the large-headed coastal marine turtle Solnhofia (Testudinata, Thalassochelydia) from the Late Jurassic of NW Switzerland". PeerJ. 8: e9931. doi:10.7717/peerj.9931. ISSN 2167-8359. PMC 7666818. PMID 33240584.
  8. ^ Sullivan, Patrick M.; Joyce, Walter G. (August 2017). "The shell and pelvic anatomy of the Late Jurassic turtle Platychelys oberndorferi based on material from Solothurn, Switzerland". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 136 (2): 323–343. Bibcode:2017SwJP..136..323S. doi:10.1007/s13358-017-0136-7. ISSN 1664-2376.
  9. ^ Christian Püntener; Jérémy Anquetin; Jean-Paul Billon-Bruyat (2017). "The comparative osteology of Plesiochelys bigleri n. sp., a new coastal marine turtle from the Late Jurassic of Porrentruy (Switzerland)". PeerJ. 5: e3482. doi:10.7717/peerj.3482. PMC 5493033. PMID 28674653.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Leuzinger, Léa; Cuny, Gilles; Popov, Evgeny; Billon-Bruyat, Jean-Paul (2017). "A new chondrichthyan fauna from the Late Jurassic of the Swiss Jura (Kimmeridgian) dominated by hybodonts, chimaeroids and guitarfishes". Papers in Palaeontology. 3 (4): 471–511. Bibcode:2017PPal....3..471L. doi:10.1002/spp2.1085. ISSN 2056-2802.
  11. ^ Zhao, Yang; Bestwick, Jordan; Fischer, Jan; Bastiaans, Dylan; Greif, Merle; Klug, Christian (2025-02-16). "The first record of a shortnose chimaera-like egg capsule from the Mesozoic (Late Jurassic, Switzerland)". Swiss Journal of Palaeontology. 144 (1): 8. doi:10.1186/s13358-025-00352-x. ISSN 1664-2384. PMC 11830639. PMID 39967761.
  • Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.