Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria

Known for over 140 years, the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte is an exceptional early Carnian marine assemblage discovered in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Lower Austria. The Polzberg biota is composed of a diverse marine fauna, including two species of thylacocephalans, an enigmatic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Thomas Laville, Petra Lukeneder, Alexander Lukeneder
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of Paleobiology PAS 2024-12-01
Series:Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app69/app011802024.pdf
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1841527504013099008
author Thomas Laville
Petra Lukeneder
Alexander Lukeneder
author_facet Thomas Laville
Petra Lukeneder
Alexander Lukeneder
author_sort Thomas Laville
collection DOAJ
description Known for over 140 years, the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte is an exceptional early Carnian marine assemblage discovered in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Lower Austria. The Polzberg biota is composed of a diverse marine fauna, including two species of thylacocephalans, an enigmatic group of fossil euarthropods that was highly diversified during the Triassic and thus representing a major component of many marine faunas throughout the Triassic. Recent excavations at the Polzberg lead to the discovery of new thylacocephalan specimens. In this study, we examine in detail this new thylacocephalan material as well as the type material. Four thylacocephalan taxa are now reported from the Polzberg Biota, making it one of the most diverse faunas from the Late Triassic. Paraostenia striata nov. comb., which was previously assigned to Austriocaris and later to Atropicaris, and Paraostenia cf. ambatolokobensis correspond to the first mention of Paraostenia in the Late Triassic. A new taxon, Atropicaris? sp, is reported for the first time from Polzberg. In addition, the presence of gills and muscles of the posterior trunk in Austriocaris carinata and Paraostenia cf. ambatolokobensis is the first trace of soft tissue preservation in Polzberg thylacocephalans. Additionally, we discuss the similarities of the Polzberg thylacocephalan fauna with other Triassic and Jurassic faunas. It shows great similarity with the Late Triassic Kozja dnina fauna, but also more surprisingly with the Middle Jurassic La Voulte fauna. This can be explained by the connection between the Neotethys and the Alpine Tethys during the Early Jurassic.
format Article
id doaj-art-47a78072794344249a9f04b13afd79a8
institution Kabale University
issn 1732-2421
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Institute of Paleobiology PAS
record_format Article
series Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
spelling doaj-art-47a78072794344249a9f04b13afd79a82025-01-15T13:55:15ZengInstitute of Paleobiology PASActa Palaeontologica Polonica1732-24212024-12-0169471373010.4202/app.1180.2024Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, AustriaThomas Laville0Petra Lukeneder1Alexander Lukeneder2GET—Geosciences Environment Toulouse, Université Toulouse III—Paul Sabatier, 14 avenue Edouard Belin, 31400 Toulouse, France.Doctoral School of Ecology and Evolution, University of Vienna, Djerassiplatz 1, 1030 Vienna, Austria.Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, 1010 Vienna, Austria.Known for over 140 years, the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte is an exceptional early Carnian marine assemblage discovered in the Northern Calcareous Alps of Lower Austria. The Polzberg biota is composed of a diverse marine fauna, including two species of thylacocephalans, an enigmatic group of fossil euarthropods that was highly diversified during the Triassic and thus representing a major component of many marine faunas throughout the Triassic. Recent excavations at the Polzberg lead to the discovery of new thylacocephalan specimens. In this study, we examine in detail this new thylacocephalan material as well as the type material. Four thylacocephalan taxa are now reported from the Polzberg Biota, making it one of the most diverse faunas from the Late Triassic. Paraostenia striata nov. comb., which was previously assigned to Austriocaris and later to Atropicaris, and Paraostenia cf. ambatolokobensis correspond to the first mention of Paraostenia in the Late Triassic. A new taxon, Atropicaris? sp, is reported for the first time from Polzberg. In addition, the presence of gills and muscles of the posterior trunk in Austriocaris carinata and Paraostenia cf. ambatolokobensis is the first trace of soft tissue preservation in Polzberg thylacocephalans. Additionally, we discuss the similarities of the Polzberg thylacocephalan fauna with other Triassic and Jurassic faunas. It shows great similarity with the Late Triassic Kozja dnina fauna, but also more surprisingly with the Middle Jurassic La Voulte fauna. This can be explained by the connection between the Neotethys and the Alpine Tethys during the Early Jurassic.https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app69/app011802024.pdfarthropodathylacocephalaaustriacarnian pluvial episodepalaeobiotapolzberg konservat-lagerstättetriassic
spellingShingle Thomas Laville
Petra Lukeneder
Alexander Lukeneder
Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
Acta Palaeontologica Polonica
arthropoda
thylacocephala
austria
carnian pluvial episode
palaeobiota
polzberg konservat-lagerstätte
triassic
title Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
title_full Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
title_fullStr Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
title_full_unstemmed Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
title_short Revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the Upper Triassic Polzberg Konservat-Lagerstätte, Austria
title_sort revision of the thylacocephalan biota from the upper triassic polzberg konservat lagerstatte austria
topic arthropoda
thylacocephala
austria
carnian pluvial episode
palaeobiota
polzberg konservat-lagerstätte
triassic
url https://www.app.pan.pl/archive/published/app69/app011802024.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT thomaslaville revisionofthethylacocephalanbiotafromtheuppertriassicpolzbergkonservatlagerstatteaustria
AT petralukeneder revisionofthethylacocephalanbiotafromtheuppertriassicpolzbergkonservatlagerstatteaustria
AT alexanderlukeneder revisionofthethylacocephalanbiotafromtheuppertriassicpolzbergkonservatlagerstatteaustria