A diverse bird assemblage from the Ypresian of Belgium furthers knowledge of early Eocene avifaunas of the North Sea Basin

2019 ◽  
Vol 291 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald Mayr ◽  
Thierry Smith
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Bird Assemblage

scholarly journals New Paleocene bird fossils from the North Sea Basin in Belgium and France

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 35-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerald MAYR ◽  
Thierry SMITH
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
Fossil Assemblage ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Dispersal Events ◽  
Early Cenozoic

We describe new avian remains from Paleocene localities of Belgium and France. Four bones from the early to middle Selandian of Maret (Belgium) are among the earliest Cenozoic avian remains known from Europe and include the oldest temporally well constrained European records of the Gastornithidae, as well as tentative records of the palaeognathous Lithornithidae and the Ralloidea. A more comprehensive fossil assemblage from the middle Thanetian of Templeuve (France) contains multiple bones of the Lithornithidae as well as a record of the Pelagornithidae. Specimens from the latest Thanetian of Rivecourt-Petit Pâtis (France) are tentatively assigned to the Ralloidea and Leptosomiformes (cf. Plesiocathartes). Because of the fragmentary nature of the fossils, the taxonomic identity of a number of other specimens remains uncertain. We note, however, that Paleocene avifaunas of Europe and North America appear to have had different compositions and only a few taxa, such as the palaeognathous Lithornithidae, are known from both continents. This suggests that the very similar early Eocene avifaunas of Europe and North America are the result of early Cenozoic dispersal events.

Stable isotope and biotic evolution in the North Sea during the early Eocene: the Albæk Hoved section, Denmark

1996 ◽  
Vol 101 (1) ◽  
pp. 275-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Schmitz ◽  
C. Heilmann-Clausen ◽  
C. King ◽  
E. Steurbaut ◽  
F. P. Andreasson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stable Isotope ◽  
North Sea ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Eocene tarpons from the North Sea region, Denmark and UK

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E. C. Leal ◽  
Bo P. Schultz ◽  
Henrik Madsen ◽  
Chiara Villa ◽  
Niels Lynnerup ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
London Clay ◽  
Cretaceous Period

There are very few tarpons (family Megalopidae) and other elopiforms (fam. Elopidae) recorded in the Tertiary. The records are mainly from the Eocene, and more abundant in the ‘North Sea Region’ in Early Eocene, as for instance the large Danish forms. They are also found in late Early Eocene in London Clay, in Late Eocene in Caucasia, and in Miocene of SE-Asia, although none were described from the famous Bolca fauna (early Mid Eocene). However, there is a large, still undescribed ‘tarpon-like’ fish in the Bolca Museum (obs. MECL & NB 2014). There are even fewer described from the long Cretaceous period, 4-5? genera, including the large Paraelops from Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, NE-Brazil, and a large undescribed megalopid from Tlayua, Pueblo, Mexico, both ‘Mid Cretaceous’. The oldest elopiforms are from Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone. The large Danish ‘tarpons’ come from ‘cementstones’ in Fur Formation (earliest Eocene, ca. 55 m.y.), and here we report an almost complete specimen which is ca. 110 cm long; however, big isolated scales found in this formation indicate fishes at least twice as big (comparable in size with the living Tarpon atlanticus - over 2½ m). This specimen has a heavy skull lacking the lower jaw, and is preserved in 3-D. It was split in the midline and acid prepared, being then CT-scanned in Aarhus and reconstructed in the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Copenhagen University to attempt precise, detailed comparisons with modern skulls and with the 3-D skulls preserved in concretions from the London Clay.

scholarly journals Eocene tarpons from the North Sea region, Denmark and UK

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria E. C. Leal ◽  
Bo P. Schultz ◽  
Henrik Madsen ◽  
Chiara Villa ◽  
Niels Lynnerup ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Late Jurassic ◽  
Late Eocene ◽  
Biological Anthropology ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Lower Jaw ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
London Clay ◽  
Cretaceous Period

There are very few tarpons (family Megalopidae) and other elopiforms (fam. Elopidae) recorded in the Tertiary. The records are mainly from the Eocene, and more abundant in the ‘North Sea Region’ in Early Eocene, as for instance the large Danish forms. They are also found in late Early Eocene in London Clay, in Late Eocene in Caucasia, and in Miocene of SE-Asia, although none were described from the famous Bolca fauna (early Mid Eocene). However, there is a large, still undescribed ‘tarpon-like’ fish in the Bolca Museum (obs. MECL & NB 2014). There are even fewer described from the long Cretaceous period, 4-5? genera, including the large Paraelops from Romualdo Formation, Araripe Basin, NE-Brazil, and a large undescribed megalopid from Tlayua, Pueblo, Mexico, both ‘Mid Cretaceous’. The oldest elopiforms are from Late Jurassic Solnhofen Limestone. The large Danish ‘tarpons’ come from ‘cementstones’ in Fur Formation (earliest Eocene, ca. 55 m.y.), and here we report an almost complete specimen which is ca. 110 cm long; however, big isolated scales found in this formation indicate fishes at least twice as big (comparable in size with the living Tarpon atlanticus - over 2½ m). This specimen has a heavy skull lacking the lower jaw, and is preserved in 3-D. It was split in the midline and acid prepared, being then CT-scanned in Aarhus and reconstructed in the Laboratory of Biological Anthropology, Copenhagen University to attempt precise, detailed comparisons with modern skulls and with the 3-D skulls preserved in concretions from the London Clay.

Astronomical calibration of a key Early Eocene Boreal section: implications for the climate response to the North Atlantic Igneous Province

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas Thibault ◽  
Thierry Adatte ◽  
Jorge E. Spangenberg
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Susceptibility ◽  
North Sea ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Fish Fauna ◽  
Early Eocene ◽  
The North ◽  
Igneous Province ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The North Atlantic ◽  
North Atlantic Igneous Province

<p>Sections of the Fur formation exposed on the islands of Fur and Mors (N. Jutland, Denmark) expose well-preserved diatomites and over 140 interbedded ash layers spanning >1 Myr of the Early Eocene from the top part of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; 55.9 Ma). The Fur Formation is a Konzentrat-Lagerstätten with an extremely rich fish fauna as well as numerous exquisitely preserved invertebrates, vertebrates, plant material, and siliceous microfossils. Due to its peculiar bentonite record, the Fur formation also constitutes a reference for the North Sea area, recording phases of active North Atlantic Igneous Province (NAIP) volcanism. Recently, a sea-surface temperature (SST) record was derived from Tex<sub>86</sub> values for this formation, showing anomalously cool SSTs immediately after the PETM (~11–23°C, Stokke et al., 2020) while near-freezing bottom-water temperatures (BWTs) have been inferred from clumped isotopes analysis of giant glendonite crystals (Vickers et al., 2020). The section is constrained by three radiometric dates of ash layers but cyclostratigraphic analysis of the section has proved difficult due to the apparent homogeneity of the diatomite and multitude of interbedded ash layers. We performed a high-resolution analysis of the magnetic susceptibility and carbon isotopes on bulk organics (δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>org</sub>) from across the top PETM to the top of the Silstrup Mb. The magnetic susceptibility depicts all the apparent ash layers as well as additional hidden ash layers with peaks of various heights, and thus constitutes an excellent stratigraphic tool for its potential of correlation to other sections and deep-sea sites of the North Atlantic. Our δ<sup>13</sup>C<sub>org </sub>record is characterized throughout by periodicities of 65 to 90 cm and 3.6 m that match well precession and short-eccentricity cycles. Long-term trends and filtered 100 kyr cycles from our record correlate very well to the recent benthic δ<sup>13</sup>C Cenozoic compilation, leading to an astronomical calibration of the section which spans ~1300 kyr from 55.88 to 54.6 Ma. Our calibration allows for a precise illustration of the drastic contrast between the post-PETM warm tropical SSTs/BWTs and the surprisingly cool SSTs/BWTs of the North Sea.</p><p>References</p><p>Stokke, E.W., et al., 2020, Earth and Planetary Science Letters 544, 116388.</p><p>Vickers, M.L., et al., 2020, Nature Communications 11, 4713.</p>

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