Ammonite finds in the Puez group
Ammonite finds in the Puez group in the South Tyrolean Dolomites ( Italy ) brought to light fossils from the Lower Cretaceous . As early as the 19th and early 20th centuries, scientists were able to detect a diverse range of ammonite fauna in the limestone and marly limestone of the Puez group . In 2006, 27 different species of cephalopods were found in the area around the Puezalm alone .
Age of the finds
The Puez area is geologically shaped by main dolomite plateaus from the Triassic , which were originally covered extensively on their surface by sediments from the Lower Cretaceous. Today, these sediments are largely eroded and partly overlaid by the Triassic layers due to the thrust of the peaks. The ammonites found in them come from the Upper Valanginian , Hauterivian , Barremian and Lower Aptian and are therefore between 135 and 120 million years old.
Geographical location of the finds
Sediments from the Lower Cretaceous in the Puez Group are located at Col dala Pieres , in the area of the Puezalm including the Puezpitzen and the Puezkofel and on the Gardenazza plateau ( Muntejela , Col dala Sone , Furcela de Gherdenacia ). The entire area is protected in the Puez-Geisler Nature Park .
Ammonite fauna
In 2006 alone in the area around the Puezalm 27 different species of cephalopods were found, which is why the Puez area is considered a particularly rich site. 17% of the fossils found belonged to the genus Phyllopachyceras , 13% to the Phylloceras , 12% to the Lycoteras , 10% to the Barremites and 8% to the Melchiorites . Each of the proven genera was represented by 1–2 species.
Research history
The first known fossil finds in the Puez area come from the chamois hunter Eustachio Dapunt from Stern in the Gadertal . Viktor Uhlig (1887) and Emil Haug (1887 and 1889) provided the first scientific descriptions of the ammonites discovered. Haug distinguished 61 different types. Important collections can be found in the South Tyrol Museum of Nature , the Vienna Natural History Museum and the Val Gardena Museum .
gallery
The following specimens are reproduced in natural size and come from the Puezalm. The illustrations were made by A. Swoboda. (Strasbourg University Collection)
Plate VIII: 1) Lytoceras puezanum, 2) Lytoceras Phestus Math., 3) Aspidoceras Beneckei
Plate IX: 1) Desmoceras cassidoides Uhl., 2) Desmoceras cassidoides Uhl., 3) Desfnoceras Uhligi, 4) Desmoceras äff. lechicum Uhl.
Panel X: 1) Lytoceras puezanum, 2) Pachydiscus Neumayri, 3) Pachydiscus Neumayri, 4) Pachydiscus Neumayri
Plate XI: 1) Ancyloceras badioticum (Uhl.), 2) Ancyloceras cf. Audouli Ast., 3) Ancyloceras n., 4) Ancyloceras n., 5) Ancyloceras Orbignyi Math., 6) Hamulina sp.
Panel XII: 1) Pictetia inermis, 2) Ancyloceras sp. indet. aff. Zitteli
Table XIII: 1) Heteroceras, 2) Crioceras Mojsiovicsi, 3) Crioceras trinodosum, 4) Ancyloceras Hoheneggeri, 5) Silesites vulpes Math., 6) Silesites vulpes Math.
literature
- Emil Haug: Contribution to the knowledge of the oberneocom ammonite fauna of the Puezalpe near Corvara (South Tyrol). In: Edmund Mojsisovics and M. Neumayr (Hrsg.): Contributions to the paleontology of Austria-Hungary and the Orient. Verlag v. Alfred Hölder, kkHof and university bookseller in Vienna 1889, Vol. VII, pp. 193-231. PDF file; 4.62 MB
- Viktor Uhlig: About neocom fossils from the Gardenazza in South Tyrol, along with an appendix about the Neocom from Ischl. Yearbook of the Imperial and Royal Geological Institute, Vienna, Volume 37, Issue 1, pp. 69–108.
- Otto Reithofer: Geology of the Puez Group (South Tyrolean Dolomites). 1 geol. Map 1: 25,000. Jb. Geol. BA, 78. Vienna 1928. PDF file; 4.7 MB
- Alexander Lukeneder, Christian Aspmair: Stratigraphic implications of a new lower cretaceous Ammonoid Fauna from the Puez Area (Valanginian - Aptian, Dolomites, Southern Alps, Italy) . In: GeoAlp 3, 2006, pp. 55-83. PDF file