A Ruscinian mammalian microfauna from a fissure filling near Sondershausen (Thuringia, Central Germany)
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A Ruscinian mammalian microfauna from a fissure filling near Sondershausen (Thuringia, Central Germany) Meinolf Hellmund • Reinhard Ziegler
Received: 3 May 2011 / Accepted: 31 May 2011 / Published online: 6 July 2011 Ó Akademie der Naturwissenschaften Schweiz (SCNAT) 2011
Abstract The mammalian microfauna from the karstic fissure fill site Sondershausen in Thuringia is presented. It is the first record of Pliocene micromammals in Central Germany and includes 621 identified specimens of 13 species, mostly isolated teeth and only a few jaw fragments. Nearly three quarters of the specimens belong to the dormouse Glis minor. The vespertilionid bats, represented by two Myotis species, make a contribution of ca. 20%. In terms of numbers of specimens, the remaining species are negligible. The micromammal assemblage probably derives from an accumulation of regurgitation pellets from an owl. The fauna correlates with the late Ruscinian Mammal unit MN 15, with the eomyid Eomyops and the flying squirrel Blackia as Miocene holdovers and the cricetids Cseria, Baranomys and Bjornkurtenia as Ruscinian newcomers. The sciurid, the eomyid and in particular, the stunning abundance of the dormouse Glis minor are strong indicators of a forestdominated environment. Keywords Karstic fissure filling Muschelkalk Pliocene Central Germany Micromammals Systematics Biostratigraphy
M. Hellmund Zentralmagazin Naturwissenschaftlicher Sammlungen, Geiseltalmuseum, Martin-Luther-Universita¨t Halle-Wittenberg, Domplatz 4, 06108 Halle (Saale), Germany e-mail: [email protected] R. Ziegler (&) Staatliches Museum fu¨r Naturkunde Stuttgart, Rosenstein 1, 70191 Stuttgart, Germany e-mail: [email protected]
Introduction Fossil-bearing karst fissure deposits in Germany are mainly reported and described from Upper Jurassic limestones of Southern Germany (Schwa¨bisch-Fra¨nkische Alb), and contain micromammals mostly of Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene age. In contrast, karst fissure fillings are very rare in Central Germany. An outstanding example is the fissure filling of Walbeck, which was found in the late 1930s in a quarry northwest of the city of Magdeburg (SaxonyAnhalt). Walbeck is particularly renowned for its enormous amount of Palaeocene arctocyonid jaws (Condylarthra) and isolated teeth of additional taxa (e.g. Weigelt 1939, 1942, 1960; Russell 1964; Mayr 2002, 2009). A former quarry on the Totenberg near Sondershausen in Thuringia (Central Germany) has long been known for fissure fillings which yielded iron ore pisoids, so-called bean ores. Von Freyberg (1962) and Bo¨hme and Schulz (1986) reported on it in short notes, but to date no fossil remains have been published from it. In February 1995, a new fissure filling was recovered in the Lower Muschelkalk (mu 1, Wellenkalk/ Schaumkalk) of a former quarry on the ‘‘Großer Totenberg’’ by M. Hellmund (Martin-Luther-University, HalleWittenberg, Saxony-Anhalt) and F. Scho¨pe (formerly TU Bergakademie Freiberg, Saxony). The site is located ca. 2 km south of the city of So
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