A new Late Agenian (MN2a, Early Miocene) fossil assemblage from Wallenried (Molasse Basin, Canton Fribourg, Switzerland)

Mennecart, Bastien; Yerly, Bertrand; Mojon, Pierre-Olivier; Angelone, Chiara; Maridet, Olivier; Böhme, Madelaine; Pirkenseer, Claudius

doi:10.1007/s12542-015-0275-3

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Journal article

A new Late Agenian (MN2a, Early Miocene) fossil assemblage from Wallenried (Molasse Basin, Canton Fribourg, Switzerland)

Mennecart, Bastien Natural History Museum of Fribourg, Switzerland - Department of Geosciences, Earth Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Centre de Recherches sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris, France
Yerly, Bertrand Natural History Museum of Fribourg, Switzerland - Laboratoire Romand de Dendrochronologie, Moudon, Switzerland
Mojon, Pierre-Olivier Rue du Centre 81, 2405, La Chaux du Milieu, Switzerland
Angelone, Chiara Institut Català de Paleontologia, Cerdanyola del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
Maridet, Olivier Department of Geosciences, Earth Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland - Jurassica Museum, Porrentruy, Switzerland
Böhme, Madelaine Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany - Senckenberg Center for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment HEP Tübingen , Germany
Pirkenseer, Claudius Natural History Museum of Fribourg, Switzerland - Paléontologie A16, Office de la Culture, Canton du Jura, Porrentruy, Switzerland - Department of Geosciences, Earth Sciences, University of Fribourg, Switzerland

22.10.2015

Published in:

Paläontologische Zeitschrift. - 2016, vol. 90, p. 101-123

English Excavations of two fossiliferous layers in the Wallenried sand- and marl pit produced a very diversified vertebrate fauna. New material allows the reassessment of the taxonomic position of the ruminant taxa Andegameryx andegaviensis and endemic Friburgomeryx wallenriedensis. An emended diagnosis for the second species is provided and additional material of large and small mammals, as well as ectothermic vertebrates, is described. The recorded Lagomorpha show interesting morphological deviations from other Central European material, and probably represent a unique transitional assemblage with a co-occurrence of Titanomys, Lagopsis and Prolagus. Rodentia and Eulipotyphla belong to typical and well-known species of the Agenian of the Swiss Molasse Basin. Abundant small mammal teeth have allowed us to pinpoint the biostratigraphic age of Wallenried to late MN2a. The biostratigraphic age conforms to data derived from the charophyte assemblages and confirms the oldest occurrence of venomous snake fangs. The palaeoenvironmental context is quite complex. Sedimentary structures and fauna (fishes, frogs, salamanders, ostracods) are characteristic for a humid, lacustrine environment within a flood plain system.

Faculty

Faculté des sciences et de médecine

Department

Département de Géosciences

Language