Holzmaden is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany that lies between Stuttgart and Ulm. Holzmaden is 4 km south-east from Kirchheim unter Teck and 19 km south-east of Esslingen am Neckar. The A 8 runs south from Holzmaden. The town and surrounding area are well known as the source of exceptionally well-preserved fossils from the Jurassic period.
Ohmdenosaurus is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived during the Early Jurassic epoch in what is now Germany. The only specimen – a tibia (shinbone) and ankle – was discovered in rocks of the Posidonia Shale near the village of Ohmden. The specimen, which was originally identified as a plesiosaur, is exhibited in a local museum, the Urweltmuseum Hauff. In the 1970s, it caught the attention of German palaeontologist Rupert Wild, who recognised it as the remains of a sauropod. Wild named Ohmdenosaurus in a 1978 publication; the only known species is Ohmdenosaurus liasicus.
Stenopterygius is an extinct genus of thunnosaur ichthyosaur known from Europe.
Campylognathoides is an extinct genus of pterosaur discovered in the Württemberg Lias deposits of Germany; this first specimen however, consisted only of wing fragments. Further better preserved specimens were found in the Holzmaden shale; based on these specimens, Felix Plieninger erected a new genus.
Excalibosaurus is a monotypic genus of marine prehistoric reptiles (ichthyosaurs) that lived during the Sinemurian stage of the Early Jurassic period in what is now England. It is characterized by the extreme elongation of the rostrum, with the lower jaw about three-quarters the length of the upper jaw, giving the animal a swordfish-like look. The only known species is Excalibosaurus costini.
Hauffiosaurus is an extinct genus of Early Jurassic pliosaurid plesiosaur known from Holzmaden of Germany and from Yorkshire of the United Kingdom. It was first named by Frank Robin O’Keefe in 2001 and the type species is Hauffiosaurus zanoni. In 2011, two additional species were assigned to this genus: H. longirostris and H. tomistomimus.
Seeleyosaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur from Germany and possibly also Russia.
Plesiopterys is an extinct genus of plesiosaur originating from the Posidonienschiefer of Holzmaden, Germany, and lived during the Early Jurassic period. It is thought to be the sister taxon to all other plesiosauroids including the Plesiosaurus, and is placed outside of the Plesiosauroidea group. Plesiopterys wildi is the one known species within the genus, and is 220 centimeters long, or about 7.2 feet, and its body and skull are both relatively small. It possesses a unique combination of both primitive and derived characters, and is currently displayed at the State Museum of Natural History, Germany.
The Posidonia Shale geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early Jurassic geological formation in Germany, northern Switzerland, northwestern Austria, southern Luxembourg and the Netherlands, including exceptionally well-preserved complete skeletons of fossil marine fish and reptiles.
Lochmocercus is an extinct genus of prehistoric coelacanth fishes which lived during the Carboniferous Period.
Tarachomylax is an extinct genus of prehistoric sarcopterygians or lobe-finned fish.
Suevoleviathan is an extinct genus of primitive ichthyosaur found in the Early Jurassic (Toarcian) of Holzmaden, Germany.
The Jagua Formation is a Late Jurassic geologic formation in the Sierra de los Órganos and Sierra del Rosario mountain ranges in Pinar del Río Province, western Cuba. Plesiosaur, pliosaur, pterosaur, metriorhynchid, turtle and dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.
Meyerasaurus is an extinct genus of rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur known from the Early Jurassic of Holzmaden, Baden-Württemberg in southwestern Germany.
The Sunrise Formation is a geologic formation in Nevada. It preserves fossils dating back to the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages of the Early Jurassic period.
Pleurosternidae is an extinct family of freshwater turtles belonging to Paracryptodira. They are definitively known from the Late Jurassic to Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Western Europe and North America.
Aureliachoerus was an extinct genus of suids that existed during the Miocene in Europe.
Microstonyx was an extinct genus of suid that existed during the Miocene in Asia and Europe.
Ohmdenia is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived from the Toarcian stage of the Early Jurassic period. Ohmdenia was first described in 1953 by Bernhard Hauff, based on a fossil found in the well-known Posidonia Shale in Holzmaden, Germany. For a long time this animal has been considered a close relative of Birgeria, a great predator typical of the Triassic period with an uncertain systematic position. Further studies have shown similarities with the Pachycormiformes, a group considered close to the origin of teleosts and also including giant forms and planktives. Some studies have erroneously indicated Ohmdenia as a synonym of Saurostomus, other studies have instead placed Ohmdenia as an important evolutionary passage between the basal pachicormiforms and the more derived planktivore pachicormiformes.
The Sachrang Formation or "Posidonienschiefer" Formation is a geological formation of southwestern Germany, northern Switzerland, northwestern Austria, southeast Luxembourg and the Netherlands, that spans about 3 million years during the Early Jurassic period. It is known for its detailed fossils, especially sea fauna, listed below. Composed mostly by black shale, the formation is a Lagerstätte, where fossils show exceptional preservation, with a thickness that varies from about 1 m to about 40 m on the Rhine level, being on the main quarry at Holzmaden between 5 and 14 m. Some of the preserved material has been transformed into fossil hydrocarbon Jet, specially wood remains, used for jewelry. The exceptional preservation seen on the Posidonia Shale has been studied since the late 1800s, finding that a cocktail of chemical and environmental factors let to such an impressive conservation of the marine fauna. The most common theory is the changes in the oxygen level, where the different anoxic events of the Toarcian left oxygen-depleted bottom waters, with the biota dying and falling to the bottom without any predator able to eat the dead bodies.
