Docodontans (Mammaliaformes) from the Late Jurassic of Germany

ABSTRACT

Docodon hercynicus sp. nov. from the Upper Jurassic (upper Kimmeridgian) Süntel Formation of the Langenberg Quarry in Lower Saxony is the first docodontan recorded from Central Europe. The two lower molars available are characterised by vertical enamel ridges at the distal flank of cusp a, which are typical for Docodon. This is only the second record of Docodon from Europe with the genus otherwise restricted to the Kimmeridgian-Tithonian of the Morrison Formation in western North America. A distal fragment of a much smaller lower molar from the same strata exhibits similar vertical enamel ridges and indicates the possible presence of a second Docodon species in the Langenberg Quarry. Docodon hercynicus n. sp. is further evidence for the close terrestrial faunal interrelationships between Europe and North America. It represents only the third record of a docodontan from Late Jurassic-earliest Cretaceous strata of Europe and supports a relic occurrence and late survival of mammaliaforms on a palaeo-island in the Lower Saxony Basin within the European Archipelago.

Zoobank: urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:90E8BCB2-B4DC-49D4-B10C-115ECF60E1F3

KEYWORDS:

• Central Europe
• Docodon
• Docodonta
• Germany
• Jurassic

Acknowledgments

For help during field work we thank Nils Knötschke (formerly Dinosaurier-Park Münchehagen), Olaf Dülfer (University of Bonn), student helpers, and volunteers. Carolin Geißler, Josephine Jolie, Anna Kizner, Melody Kofranek, Jens Lallensack, Jan Matzker, Denis Theda, and Jannik Weidtke (all University of Bonn) sorted the screen washing concentrate for fossils. The late Fabian von Pupka and Janna von Pupka (Rohstoffbetriebe Oker) granted access to the Langenberg Quarry and provided logistic support. Zhe-Xi Luo (University of Chicago), Elsa Panciroli (University of Oxford), and an anonymous reviewer provided constructive comments that greatly improved the manuscript. The research was funded by a grant (MA 1643/26-1) of the German Research Foundation (DFG) to TM. AA was supported by the Zoological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences (project 122031100282-2) and a Humboldt Research Award by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. The Europasaurus-Project (grant no. 85 882) and OW were generously funded by the Volkswagen Foundation within the initiative “Research in Museums”.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [MA 1643/26-1]; Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung [Research Award]; Russian Academy of Sciences [122031100282-2]; Volkswagen Foundation [85882].