Fleming Fjord Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: Norian-Rhaetian ~ | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Scoresby Land Group |
Sub-units | Edderfugledal, Malmros Klint & Ørsted Dal Members |
Underlies | Kap Stewart Group |
Overlies | Gippsdalen Formation |
Area | 3,000 km2 (1,200 sq mi) |
Thickness | 200–300 m (660–980 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Mudstone, claystone |
Other | Limestone, sandstone |
Location | |
Coordinates | 71°54′N22°34′W / 71.9°N 22.56°W |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 45°42′N2°48′W / 45.7°N 2.8°W |
Region | East Greenland |
Country | Greenland |
Extent | Jameson Land |
Type section | |
Named for | Fleming Fjord |
The Fleming Fjord Formation, alternatively called the Fleming Fjord Group is an Upper Triassic geological formation in the northeastern coast of Jameson Land, Greenland. It consists of terrestrial sediments and is known for its fossil content.
It is of Norian to Rhaetian age and is subdivided into three members; at the base the Edderfugledal Member, followed by the Malmros Klint Member with the Ørsted Dal Member at the top. It was deposited in a large shallow to ephemeral lake. [1]
The fauna of Fleming Fjord is diverse, including sauropodomorph dinosaurs, pterosaurs, temnospondyls, mammaliaforms, aetosaurs, and other taxa. [2] Freshwater unionid bivalves and conchostracans have been reported from the Malmros Klint Member. [3]
Lungfish, actinopterygian, and chondrichthyan teeth have been reported from the Malmros Klint Member. [3]
Fish of the Fleming Fjord Formation | |||
---|---|---|---|
Genus / Taxon | Species | Member | Notes |
Ceratodus | C. tunuensis [4] | Ørsted Dal Member | A lungfish, possibly synonymous with Ptychoceratodus rectangulus [5] |
Ptychoceratodus | P. rectangulus [5] | Ørsted Dal Member | A lungfish |
Amphibians of the Fleming Fjord Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus / Taxon | Species | Member | Notes | Images |
Cyclotosaurus | C. naraserluki [6] | Ørsted Dal Member | A capitosaurian temnospondyl | |
Gerrothorax | G. cf. pulcherrimus [7] | Malmros Klint Member, [3] Ørsted Dal Member | A plagiosaurid temnospondyl | |
Salientia indet. [8] | Ørsted Dal Member | A potential stem-group anuran (frog) |
Besides the forms described below, a diverse ichnofauna of small and large tracks has also been reported from the Malmros Klint Member, [3] as well as coprolites [9] [10] and additional theropod, pterosaur, and turtle fossils. [3] [11]
Color key
| Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; |
Reptiles of the Fleming Fjord Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus / Taxon | Species | Member | Notes | Images |
Aetosaurus | A. ferratus | Ørsted Dal Member | A small aetosaur [11] | |
Arcticodactylus | A. cromptonellus | Ørsted Dal Member | A eudimorphodontid pterosaur [11] | |
cf. Brachychirotherium | Ørsted Dal Member | Small quadrupedal tracks, likely produced by small or juvenile pseudosuchians [12] | ||
Eosauropus sp. | Ørsted Dal Member | Large (>40 cm per footprint) quadrupedal tracks, likely produced by an early sauropod related to Eusauropoda [13] | ||
Evazoum sp. | Ørsted Dal Member | Large (~36 cm per footprint) bipedal tracks, likely produced by a plateosaurian sauropodomorph. By far the largest prints assigned to this ichnogenus [13] | ||
Grallator sp. | Malmros Klint Member, Ørsted Dal Member | Small bipedal tracks, likely produced by theropods [13] [11] | ||
Issi [14] | I. saaneq | Malmros Klint Member | A plateosaurid sauropodomorph closely related to (and previously referred to) Plateosaurus | |
Paratypothorax | P. andressorum | Ørsted Dal Member? | A moderate-sized paratypothoracin aetosaur [11] | |
Phytosauria indet. | Malmros Klint Member | Indeterminate phytosaur fossils, including adult and juvenile specimens [11] | ||
Plateosauridae indet. | Malmros Klint Member, Ørsted Dal Member | Undescribed fossils of plateosaurid sauropodomorphs, including complete skeletons. Plateosaurid skull material has been named as the species Issi saaneq [14] | ||
cf. Proganochelys | Ørsted Dal Member | Turtle fossils possibly referrable to Proganochelys [11] [15] | ||
Testudinata indet. | Malmros Klint Member?, Ørsted Dal Member | Indeterminate testudinatan (turtle) fossils [11] |
Synapsids of the Fleming Fjord Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus / Taxon | Species | Member | Notes | Images |
cf. Brachyzostrodon | Ørsted Dal Member | A morganucodont mammaliaform [11] | ||
Haramiyavia | H. clemmenseni | Ørsted Dal Member | A haramiyid mammaliaform [11] | |
Kalaallitkigun [16] | K. jenkinsi | Ørsted Dal Member | A haramiyid mammaliaform | |
Kuehneotherium sp. | Ørsted Dal Member | A kuehneotheriid mammaliaform [11] | ||
Mitredon | M. cromptoni | Ørsted Dal Member | A probainognathian cynodont with uncertain affinities [11] |
Sauropodomorpha is an extinct clade of long-necked, herbivorous, saurischian dinosaurs that includes the sauropods and their ancestral relatives. Sauropods generally grew to very large sizes, had long necks and tails, were quadrupedal, and became the largest animals to ever walk the Earth. The prosauropods, which preceded the sauropods, were smaller and were often able to walk on two legs. The sauropodomorphs were the dominant terrestrial herbivores throughout much of the Mesozoic Era, from their origins in the Late Triassic until their decline and extinction at the end of the Cretaceous.
Jameson Land is a peninsula in eastern Greenland.
Velocipes is a saurischian dinosaur genus from the Late Triassic that may have been a theropod; its fossils were found in the Norian-age Lissauer Breccia of southern Poland.
Plateosauridae is a family of plateosaurian sauropodomorphs from the Late Triassic of Europe, Greenland, Africa and Asia. Although several dinosaurs have been classified as plateosaurids over the years, the family Plateosauridae is now restricted to Plateosaurus, Yimenosaurus, Euskelosaurus, and Issi. In another study, Yates (2003) sunk Sellosaurus into Plateosaurus. Gresslyosaurus is alternatively considered its own genus or a synonym of Plateosaurus.
Lepidotes is an extinct genus of Mesozoic ray-finned fish. It has long been considered a wastebasket taxon, characterised by "general features, such as thick rhomboid scales and, for most of the species, by semi-tritorial or strongly tritorial dentition". with dozens of species assigned to it. Fossils attributed to Lepidotes have been found in Jurassic and Cretaceous rocks worldwide. It has been argued that Lepidotes should be restricted to species closely related to the type species L. gigas, which are only known from the Early Jurassic of Western and Central Europe, with most other species being not closely related, with other species transferred to new genera such as Scheenstia.Lepidotes belongs to Ginglymodi, a clade of fish whose only living representatives are the gars (Lepisosteidae). The type species L. gigas and close relatives are thought to be members of the family Lepidotidae, part of the order Lepisosteiformes within Ginglymodi, with other species occupying various other positions within Ginglymodi.
Aetosaurus is an extinct genus of pseudosuchian reptile belonging to the order Aetosauria. It is generally considered to be the most primitive aetosaur. Three species are currently recognized: A. ferratus, the type species from Germany and Italy; A. crassicauda from Germany; and A. arcuatus from eastern North America. Additional specimens referred to Aetosaurus have been found in the Chinle Group of the southwestern United States, and the Fleming Fjord Formation of Greenland. Specimens of Aetosaurus occur in Norian-age strata.
Octávio Mateus is a Portuguese dinosaur paleontologist and biologist Professor of Paleontology at the Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He graduated in Universidade de Évora and received his PhD at Universidade Nova de Lisboa in 2005. He collaborates with Museu da Lourinhã, known for their dinosaur collection.
The Lourinhã Formation is a geological formation in western Portugal, outstanding for its abundant fossilized fauna and flora, including dinosaur bones, dinosaur eggs and nests, and fossil tracks, to name but some examples.
At its upper limit, the formation includes some Early Cretaceous (Berriasian) strata, but it mostly consists of Late Jurassic (Kimmeridgian/Tithonian) rocks. The stratigraphy of the formation is generally complex and controversial, with the classification and grouping of its lithostratigraphic units varying between different stratigraphers.
The fossil biota present there is very similar to that of the Morrison Formation in the United States and, to a lesser extent, the Tendaguru Formation in Tanzania. There are also similarities to the Villar del Arzobispo Formation in Spain, and the neardy Alcobaça Formation.
The formation is named after the municipality of Lourinhã, the geographic area it mostly occupies.
Greenland is the largest island on Earth. Only one-fifth of its surface area is exposed bedrock, the rest being covered by ice. The exposed surface is approximately 410,000 km2.
Cyclotosaurus is an extinct genus of temnospondyl within the family Mastodonsauridae. It was of great size for an amphibian, had an elongated skull up to 56 cm (22 in).
Mystriosuchus is an extinct genus of phytosaur that lived in the Late Triassic in Europe and Greenland. It was first named by Eberhard Fraas in 1896, and includes four species: M. planirostris, M. westphali, M. steinbergeri, and M. alleroq.
Ptychoceratodus is an extinct genus of lungfish living from Early Triassic to Middle Jurassic. It was established by Otto Jaekel for one species, transferred from Ceratodus genus. Type species is P. serratus from the Middle Triassic of Switzerland and Germany. Ptychoceratodus had two pairs of massive dental plates, bearing 4-6 acute ridges. Its skull roof was composed from massive, plate-like bones. In the central part of skull roof was localized an unossified fenestra. Most of the Ptychoceratodus findings are isolated dental plates, some associated with jaws. Other parts of skull or postcranial skeleton are relatively rarely found as fossils. The anatomy of skull is the best recognized in P. serratus, whereas less complete cranial material is available also for P. concinuus, P. phillipsi, and P. rectangulus. Although Ptychoceratodus is known exclusively from the Triassic and Jurassic, there were also Cretaceous specimens referred to this genus. However, they are more often regarded as representants of Metaceratodus. Ptychoceratodus is the only member of the family Ptychoceratodontidae. The first named species is P. phillipsi by Louis Agassiz in 1837 as a species of Ceratodus and later moved to Ptychoceratodus genus. Occurrences of Ptychoceratodus come mainly from Europe. However, occurrences from other continents suggest it was dispersed globally during the Triassic. After 2010, the new fossil material behind the Europe was reported from South America, India, and Greenland
Paratypothorax is an extinct genus of aetosaur, known from a single species, Paratypothorax andressorum. It was a broadly distributed member of the group found in Germany, North America, and possibly parts of Gondwana. The best specimens come from Germany, though for more than a century they were mistakenly considered phytosaur armor. Paratypothorax was a large and wide-bodied typothoracine aetosaur, as well as the namesake of the tribe Paratypothoracisini.
The Norian is a division of the Triassic Period. It has the rank of an age (geochronology) or stage (chronostratigraphy). It lasted from ~227 to 208.5 million years ago. It was preceded by the Carnian and succeeded by the Rhaetian.
Parasuchidae is a clade of phytosaurs more derived than Diandongosuchus, a basal phytosaur. This family was phylogenetically defined by Christian Kammerer and colleagues in 2015 as the last common ancestor and all descendants of Wannia scurriensis, Parasuchus hislopi, and Mystriosuchus planirostris. It encompasses nearly all phytosaurs, including early Parasuchus-grade forms as well as a more restricted clade of more specialized phytosaurs. This more restricted clade is traditionally known as the family Phytosauridae and more recently as the subfamily Mystriosuchinae, defined by Kammerer et al. 2015 as the last common ancestor and all descendants of Mystriosuchus planirostris and Angistorhinus grandis.
Lars Bjørn Clemmensen is a Danish Professor of Sedimentology in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management, Copenhagen University. Lars was born in Valby (Copenhagen) and grew up in Hvidovre, before moving to Frederiksberg. He extensively worked with the geology of Greenland, mostly on the Late Triassic of Jameson Land, in East Greenland. He was part of 10 expeditions to Greenland. With a publication record over 100 titles that grant him an h-index of 27 mainly on sedimentology and stratigraphy. In 1997 a new mammal from the Triassic of East Greenland was named after him: Haramiyavia clemmenseni. Co-author of the species Cyclotosaurus naraserluki.
The Scoresby Land Group is a geologic group found in the Jameson Land Basin, Scoresby Land, East Greenland. It preserves fossils dating back to the Triassic period. It comprises the Wordie Creek Formation, Pingo Dal Formation, Gipsdalen Formation and the Fleming Fjord Formation. It is underlain by Upper Permian beds of the Schuchert Dal Formation and overlain by Rhaetian beds of the Kap Stewart Group.
Unaysauridae is a clade of basal sauropodomorphs from the Late Triassic of India and Brazil.
Fleming Fjord is a fjord in King Christian X Land, eastern Greenland.
Issi is a plateosaurid dinosaur described in 2021 from the Late Triassic Fleming Fjord Formation of Greenland. It contains one species, Issi saaneq; the full binomial name means "cold bone".