Fossilized leftover falls as sources of palaeoecological data: a ‘pabulite’ comprising a crustacean, a belemnite and a vertebrate from the Early Jurassic Posidonia Shale

AbstractEspecially in Lagerstätten with exceptionally preserved fossils, we can sometimes recognize fossilized remains of meals of animals. We suggest the term leftover fall for the event and the term pabulite for the fossilized meal when it never entered the digestive tract (difference to regurgitalites). Usually, pabulites are incomplete organismal remains and show traces of the predation. Pabulites have a great potential to inform about predation as well as anatomical detail, which is invisible otherwise. Here, we document a pabulite comprising the belemnite Passaloteuthis laevigata from the Toarcian of the Holzmaden region. Most of its soft parts are missing while the arm crown is one of the best preserved that is known. Its arms embrace an exuvia of a crustacean. We suggest that the belemnite represents the remnant of the food of a predatory fish such as the shark Hybodus.

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Diversity, morphology, and phylogeny of coleoid cephalopods from the Upper Cretaceous Plattenkalks of Lebanon-Part I: Prototeuthidina

Journal of Paleontology ◽

10.1666/10-089.1 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 85 (2) ◽

pp. 234-249 ◽

Cited By ~ 28

Author(s):

Dirk Fuchs ◽

Neal Larson

Keyword(s):

Digestive Tract ◽

Upper Cretaceous ◽

Soft Part ◽

Phylogenetic Analyses ◽

Early Jurassic ◽

The Other ◽

Large Collection ◽

Shaped Body ◽

Cretaceous Deposits

Morphologic analyses of a large collection of coleoid cephalopods from the Lebanese Upper Cretaceous yielded a much higher diversity than previously assumed and revealed numerous extraordinarily well-preserved, soft-part characters. An analysis of the Prototeuthidina, a gladius-bearing group with a slender torpedo-shaped body, revealed two species:Dorateuthis syriacaandBoreopeltis smithin. sp. Previously unknown soft-part characters, such as the digestive tract, the gills, and the cephalic cartilage considerably improved our knowledge ofD. syriaca.Since none of the investigated specimens show more than eight arms, similarities with modern squids are regarded as superficial.Boreopeltis smithin. sp. is erected on the basis of its comparatively wideParaplesioteuthis-like gladius. The latter species represents the first unambiguous record of this genus in Upper Cretaceous deposits. Phylogenetic analyses indicate that the prototeuthidid clade consists of two lineages. The plesioteuthidid lineage originates from early JurassicParaplesioteuthisand leads toPlesioteuthisandDorateuthis.The other lineage is morphologically more conservative and leads toBoreopeltis.

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Preservation of nautilid soft parts inside and outside the conch interpreted as central nervous system, eyes, and renal concrements from the Lebanese Cenomanian

Swiss Journal of Palaeontology ◽

10.1186/s13358-021-00229-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 140 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Christian Klug ◽

Alexander Pohle ◽

Rosemarie Roth ◽

René Hoffmann ◽

Ryoji Wani ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Central Nervous System ◽

Nervous System ◽

Soft Tissue ◽

Digestive Tract ◽

Soft Tissues ◽

The Body ◽

Body Chamber ◽

The Central Nervous System ◽

Anatomical Detail

AbstractNautilid, coleoid and ammonite cephalopods preserving jaws and soft tissue remains are moderately common in the extremely fossiliferous Konservat-Lagerstätte of the Hadjoula, Haqel and Sahel Aalma region, Lebanon. We assume that hundreds of cephalopod fossils from this region with soft-tissues lie in collections worldwide. Here, we describe two specimens of Syrionautilus libanoticus (Cymatoceratidae, Nautilida, Cephalopoda) from the Cenomanian of Hadjoula. Both specimens preserve soft parts, but only one shows an imprint of the conch. The specimen without conch displays a lot of anatomical detail. We homologise the fossilised structures as remains of the digestive tract, the central nervous system, the eyes, and the mantle. Small phosphatic structures in the middle of the body chamber of the specimen with conch are tentatively interpreted as renal concrements (uroliths). The absence of any trace of arms and the hood of the specimen lacking its conch is tentatively interpreted as an indication that this is another leftover fall (pabulite), where a predator lost parts of its prey. Other interpretations such as incomplete scavenging are also conceivable.

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A new teleost (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Early Jurassic Posidonia shale of Northern Germany

Fossil Record ◽

10.5194/fr-4-167-2001 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 167-187 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

G. Arratia ◽

D. Thies

Keyword(s):

Posterior Margin ◽

Early Jurassic ◽

Northern Germany ◽

The Family ◽

Previous Hypothesis ◽

Phylogenetic Level ◽

Posidonia Shale ◽

New Evidence

A new teleostean genus and species, Paraleptolepis wiedenrothi, is described from the Lower Liassic of Germany. The fish has an overall similarity with Leptolepis coryphaenoides (from different Lower Liassic European localities) but differs from L. coryphaenoides in the presence of a few autapomorphies and also in the retention of several primitive features not present in L. coryphaenoides. Examples of autapomorphic characters are: two moderately large suborbital bones; preopercle triangular and with a notch at its posterior margin; large cleithrum with pronounced curvature anteriorly: pelvic axillary process formed by one small elongate bone; and long neural spines on preural centrum 1 and the ural centrum 1 + 2. Paraleptolepis n. gen. is more closely related to Leptolepis and extant teleosts than it is to Proleptolepis (from Lower Liassic localities). The new evidence supports the previous hypothesis that the family Leptolepididae sensu Nybelin is non-monophyletic. Several characters (e.g., concerning structure of vertebrae) that previously were accepted to have arisen at the phylogenetic level of Leptolepis coryphaenoides, are found also to occur in Paraleptolepis n. gen. Eine neue Teleosteergattung und -art. Paraleptolepis wiedenrothi. wird aus dem unteren Lias Deutschlands beschrieben. Der Fisch hat eine generelle Ähnlichkeit mit Leptolepis coryphaenoides (bekannt von verschiedenen europäischen Lokalitäten des unteren Lias), aber unterscheidet sich von L. coryphaenoides in einigen Autapomorphien und in der Beibehaltung mehrerer primitiver Merkmale, die in L. coryphaenoides nicht vorhanden sind. Beispiele autapomorpher Merkmale sind: zwei verhält-nismäßig große suborbitale Knochen; ein dreieckiges Präoperculum mit einer Einbuchtung am hinteren Rand: ein großes Cleithrum mit einer ausgeprägten vorderen Einbuchtung; ein Axillarfortsatz am Beckengürtel, der aus einem schmalen langen Knochen gebildet wird; und lange Neuralfortsätze auf dem präuralen Zentrum 1 und dem uralen Zentrum 1 + 2. Paraleptolepis n. gen. ist näher mit Leptolepis und lebenden Teleosteern verwandt als mit Proleptolepis (aus Lokalitäten des unteren Lias). Die neuen Ergebnisse unterstützen die frühere Hypothese, dass die Familie Leptolepididae sensu Nybelin nicht monophyletisch ist. Verschiedene Merkmale (z. B. Strukturen der Wirbel). die früher als auf der Evolutionshöhe von Leptolepis coryphaenoides entstanden angesehen wurden, treten bereits bei Paraleptolepis n. gen. auf. doi:<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/mmng.20010040111" target="_blank">10.1002/mmng.20010040111</a>

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Spatio-temporal structure of the communities of helminths in the digestive tract of Sciaena umbra L. 1758 (Teleostei)

Parasitology ◽

10.1017/s0031182000076824 ◽

1993 ◽

Vol 106 (5) ◽

pp. 519-525 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

J. Holmes ◽

P. Bartoli

Keyword(s):

Digestive Tract ◽

Temporal Structure ◽

Predatory Fish ◽

Strongly Correlated ◽

Host Fish ◽

Core Species ◽

Anterior Intestine ◽

Spatio Temporal ◽

Almost All ◽

Satellite Species

SUMMARYThe helminth community in the digestive tract of the sedentary predatory fish, Sciaena umbra, near the Scandola Nature Reserve, Corsica, consists of 5 species of digeneans. Anoiktostoma coronatum (in the rectum) and Metadena pauli (in the intestine) were found in almost all the fish, and in high numbers; they are considered core species. Distomum aloysiae, Pleorchis polyorchis (both in the intestine), and Stephanostomum bicoronatum (in the rectum) were relatively uncommon, usually found in small numbers, and are considered satellite species. The two core species were very abundant in June, when the size of their populations was strongly correlated with the size of the host fish. At this time, M. pauli was found mainly in the duodenum, but in high populations was spread throughout the intestine (s. strict.). Both species were much less abundant in October, their populations were less dependent on host size, and M. pauli was more limited to the anterior intestine. Pleorchis polyorchis and Distomum aloysiae were more frequent in October, were found predominately in fish with few M. pauli, and were found posterior to M. pauli, suggesting some interactions between these species. Stephano-stomum bicoronatum showed no seasonal patterns, and no apparent interactions with A. coronatum.

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