Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene Echinoderms and the K/T Boundary in the Southeast Netherlands and Northeast Belgium — Part 3: Ophiuroids
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pp 003-182 15-01-2007 14:32 Pagina 1 Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene echinoderms and the K/T boundary in the southeast Netherlands and northeast Belgium — Part 3: Ophiuroids with a chapter on: Early Maastrichtian ophiuroids from Rügen (northeast Germany) and Møn (Denmark) by Manfred Kutscher & John W.M. Jagt John W.M. Jagt Jagt, J.W.M. Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene echinoderms and the K/T boundary in the southeast Netherlands and northeast Belgium — Part 3: Ophiuroids; with a chapter on: Early Maastrichtian ophiuroids from Rügen (northeast Germany) and Møn (Denmark) by M. Kutscher & J.W.M. Jagt. — Scripta Geol., 121: 1-179, 16 figs., 36 pls, Leiden, December 2000. John W.M. Jagt, Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht, Postbus 882, NL-6200 AW Maastricht, The Netherlands, E-mail: [email protected]; Manfred Kutscher, Dorfstraße 10, D-18546 Sassnitz- Lancken (Rügen), Germany. Key words: Echinodermata, Ophiuroidea, Late Cretaceous, Early Palaeogene, taxonomy, stratigraphy. The present paper is divided into two parts. In the first, all Campanian, Maastrichtian and Danian ophiuroids known to date from the extended type area of the Maastrichtian Stage, are described and illustrated. The geographic and stratigraphic distribution of this diverse echinoderm group are docu- mented. A total of twenty-one genera (one of them new) and thirty-seven species (seven of them new) are recorded from the Campanian-Danian of Liège-Limburg and the Aachen area (Germany). The fol- lowing taxa are new: Ophiocten? yvonnae sp. nov., Stegophiura? trispinosa sp. nov., Deckersamphiura inusitata gen. et sp. nov., Ophiarachna? martinblomi sp. nov., Ophiolepis? falsa sp. nov., Ophiomusium lux sp. nov., and Mesophiomusium decipiens gen. et sp. nov. Additional species, recorded here in open nomenclature, may prove to be new as well, but limited material precludes their formal naming. Many ophiuroid species from Liège-Limburg are also known from the Lower Maastrichtian of Rügen and Møn (Denmark). In general, material from those localities is much better preserved, which is why type specimens of additional new taxa have been selected from samples collected there. In the second part of the present paper a total of twenty-four new species and one new genus are described: Ophio- smilax? alternatus sp. nov., Asteronyx? spinulosa sp. nov., Ophiomyxa? curvata sp. nov., Ophiomyxa? rhipi- data sp. nov., Ophioscolex? clivulus sp. nov., Ophioscolex? cretaceus sp. nov., Ophiacantha? punctata sp. nov., Ophiacantha? rugosa sp. nov., Ophiacantha? striata sp. nov., Sinosura jasmundensis sp. nov., Hemieuryale? parva sp. nov., Amphiura? plana sp. nov., Ophiothrix? bongaertsi sp. nov., Ophiothrix? crista- ta sp. nov., Ophiothela? semirotunda sp. nov., Ophiactis? sulcata sp. nov., Ophiocoma? ishidai sp. nov., Ophioderma? radiatum sp. nov., Ophiolepis? granulata sp. nov., Ophiolepis? linea sp. nov., Ophiomusium biconcavum sp. nov., Ophiomusium sentum sp. nov., Ophiomusium sinuatum sp. nov., and Mesophiomusi- um moenense gen. et sp. nov. Four additional species (Trichaster? sp., Ophiacantha? sp., Sinosura sp., and S. aff. schneideri Kutscher, 1987) are left in open nomenclature; these may prove to be new as well, but not enough material is currently available to erect new species upon. Previously described ophiuroid species, some of which are here reassigned to other genera, in all of these faunas include: Asteronyx? simplex A.H. Müller, 1950, Trichaster? ornatus (Rasmussen, 1950), Ophiomyxa? jekerica (Berry, 1938), Ophiacantha? danica Rasmussen, 1952, Stegophiura? hagenowi (Ras- mussen, 1950), Felderophiura vanderhami Jagt, 1991, Ophioplinthaca? fuerstenbergii (J. Müller, 1847), Ophiocoma? senonensis (Valette, 1915), Ophiocoma? rasmusseni Hess, 1960b, Ophioderma? substriatum (Rasmussen, 1950), Ophiotitanos serrata (Roemer, 1840), and Ophiomusium granulosum (Roemer, 1840). Ophiomusium subcylindricum (von Hagenow, 1840) and O. danicum Brünnich Nielsen, 1926 are consid- ered to be junior synonyms of O. granulosum. With very few exceptions, species assignment to extant genera is fraught with difficulties, even in those cases where more or less complete discs with arms attached are available. Most of our taxa are based on dissociated ossicles, or portions of arms at best, which are preferentially placed in the nomi- pp 003-182 15-01-2007 14:32 Pagina 2 2 Jagt. Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene echinoderms, pt 3: Ophiuroids. Scripta Geol., 121 (2000) nal genera of the various ophiuroid families. Despite this inordinate use of open nomenclature, the present paper demonstrates that Late Cretaceous-Early Palaeogene ophiuroid diversity greatly exceeds previous estimates, and that the white chalk facies of Rügen in particular was less hostile to benthic inhabitation than assumed by earlier authors. Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 2 Material and methods ............................................................................................................ 3 Previous work ......................................................................................................................... 3 Systematic palaeontology ..................................................................................................... 6 Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................. 45 Early Maastrichtian ophiuroids from Rügen (northeast Germany) and Møn (Denmark) by M. Kutscher & J.W.M. Jagt ......................................................................................... 45 References ............................................................................................................................ 103 Introduction The observation (Jagt, 1999b) that Late Cretaceous and Early Palaeogene crinoids from the Maastrichtian type area received only scant attention in the literature, holds true for ophiuroids (brittlestars and basketstars) as well. Prior to the present study (inclusive of second part on material from northeast Germany and Denmark), only a handful of species were known from the area. In the present paper, part 3 in the cur- rent series (see Jagt, 1999a, b), the highly diverse ophiuroid faunas of Campanian, Maastrichtian and Danian age from this area are described and illustrated. For a dis- cussion of the geographic-stratigraphic setting, general references as well as the aim of the current series, reference is made to Jagt (1999a, b). In 1989, while co-operating with Manfred Kutscher (Sassnitz-Lancken, Rügen) in the study of a fine collection of ophiuroids from the upper Lower Maastrichtian of Rügen (NE Germany), it became apparent that this region and the Maastrichtian type area had many species in common. Since the Rügen material, although comprising mostly dissociated ossicles of arms and discs, generally was much better preserved and more diverse, it was decided to join forces and use this material for the descrip- tion of new taxa. Most of these species have subsequently been collected from correla- tive strata in Møn (Denmark); they are here described in a separate section. Our mate- rial allows to document the presence in the Late Cretaceous of the (sub)families Ophiobyrsinae, Asteronychidae, Euryalidae, Ophiomyxidae, Ophiacanthidae, Hemi- euryalidae, Ophiuridae, Amphiuridae, Ophiothricidae, Ophiocomidae, Ophioder- matidae, and Ophiolepididae. Species not known from Rügen or Denmark, mostly of Early and early Late Cam- panian, early and late Late Maastrichtian and Early/Middle Danian age, are described in the first systematic section of the present paper. That part also includes references to previous papers, in which ophiuroids from the southeast Netherlands and northeast Belgium have been recorded. The Early Campanian ‘Ophiura’ fuersten- bergii J. Müller, 1847 is revised and a neotype designated, while material from which Berry (1938) selected the types of his new taxa is illustrated photographically for the first time. pp 003-182 15-01-2007 14:32 Pagina 3 Jagt. Late Cretaceous and Palaeogene echinoderms, pt 3: Ophiuroids. Scripta Geol., 121 (2000) 3 Material and methods Most of the ophiuroid material from the extended Maastrichtian type area comes from the same samples which yielded the crinoids (see Jagt, 1999b for discussion). Included also are specimens from private collections, notably those of M.J. van Birge- len, Y. Coole, M.J.M. Deckers, R.W. Dortangs, and M.M.M. Kuypers; these have been transferred to the collections of the Natuurhistorisch Museum Maastricht and bear the prefix NHMM. Assistance received from these collectors over the past few years is gratefully acknowledged. At a few localities (quarries Blom-Berg en Terblijt and ENCI-Maastricht BV in par- ticular), ophiuroid discs preserving (portions of) arms have proved to be relatively common in obrution sediments. Such occurrences have naturally been given special attention, and allow analyses of population density to be made (compare e.g. Meyer, 1984, 1988). Specimens illustrated in the present paper are generally the best-pre- served and/or most typical examples recognised in the various samples, on which the descriptions are based. In view of the small size of many ophiuroid ossicles, it was decided to illustrate these with photomicrographs, prepared by Mrs S.M. Kars (Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam; JEOL JSM-6400 SEM). Type material of the ophiuroid species discussed in the present paper (inclusive of the