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Chondrichthyan Fauna of the Frasnian–Famennian Boundary Beds in Poland

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Chondrichthyan Fauna of the Frasnian–Famennian Boundary Beds in Poland Chondrichthyan fauna of the Frasnian–Famennian boundary beds in Poland MICHAŁ GINTER Michał Ginter. 2002. Chondrichthyan fauna of the Frasnian–Famennian boundary beds in Poland. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 47 (2): 329–338. New chondrichthyan microremains from several Frasnian–Famennian sections in the Holy Cross Mountains and Dębnik area (Southern Poland) are investigated and compared to previous data. The reaction of different groups of chondrichthyans to environmental changes during the Kellwasser Event is analysed. Following the extinction of phoebodont sharks of Phoebodus bifurcatus group before the end of the Frasnian, only two chondrichthyan species, viz. Protacrodus vetustus Jaekel, 1921 and Stethacanthus resistens sp. nov. (possibly closely related to “Cladodus” wildungensis Jaekel, 1921), occur in the upper part of Frasnian Palmatolepis linguiformis conodont Zone and persist into the Famennian. Global cooling is considered a possible cause of the extinction of Frasnian subtropical phoe− bodonts on Laurussian margins. Key words: Chondrichthyes, Kellwasser Event, Devonian, Poland. Michał Ginter [[email protected]], Instytut Geologii Podstawowej, Uniwersytet Warszawski, Żwirki i Wigury 93, PL−02−089 Warszawa, Poland. Introduction Characteristics of the localities Chondrichthyan faunas of the late Palmatolepis linguiformis Three sections spanning the Frasnian–Famennian boundary and the Palmatolepis triangularis conodont zones on south− were sampled bed by bed (for location of most samples, see ern Laurussian margins substantially differ from those of the Racka 2000): the middle wall of the Kowala–Wola Quarry in rest of the Frasnian and Famennian. The main difference is the south−western Holy Cross Mts, south of Kielce; an artficial the absence of Phoebodus, a typical Mid− to Late Devonian trench on the eastern bank of Łagowica River, between the vil− pelagic, shelf dwelling shark (Ginter and Ivanov 1992). lage of Płucki and the town of Łagów, eastern Holy Cross Mts; Therefore, the latest Frasnian–earliest Famennian gap in the and a ditch (Z−17) in a wood close to Dębnik, north−west of Devonian phoebodont−based ichthyolith zonation (Ginter Cracow (Fig. 1). The sections studied consist of various car− and Ivanov 1995; see also Ginter in Weddige 1997: column bonate rocks, representing deep intrashelf basins (Kowala, B700ds97) is called a “non−phoebodont interval”. Other late Płucki) or the slope of a carbonate platform (Dębnik). Strati− Frasnian chondrichthyans, such as protacrodonts, character− graphic condensation or substantial hiatuses, such as the ab− ised by crushing teeth, and cladodont−toothed stethacanthids, sence of the Early Pa. triangularis conodont Zone, character− survived the Kellwasser biotic crisis quite well, and without istic of many other South Poland localities (Szulczewski 1989; notable changes persisted well into the Famennian. Prota− Racki and Baliński 1998), were not observed here. crodonts and stethacanthids from the Frasnian–Famennian Kowala.—In the Kowala–Wola Quarry fish microremains boundary beds were hitherto described from the South Urals (ichthyoliths) were recorded from marly limestones and and the Holy Cross Mountains (Ginter and Ivanov 2000), shales, with chert intercalations, of the H−3 and H−4 units of Moravia (Ginter 1991), and Kuznetsk Basin (Ivanov et al. Racki and Baliński (1998), representing the later part of the 1992). This paper adds new data on sharks from the Kell− Pa. linguiformis conodont Zone through the Late Pa. wasser time and shortly after, based on the recently collected triangularis Zone. Chondrichthyan teeth and/or scales were material from the Holy Cross Mountains and the Cracow Up− obtained from the following samples: Ko−SF and Kx−12 (Pa. land (southern Poland). linguiformis Zone), Ko−24 (basal Early Pa. triangularis Specimens are housed in the following institutions: Insti− Zone), Ko−35 and Ko−36 (Late Pa. triangularis Zone). tute of Geology, Warsaw University (abbreviated IGPUW) and the Institute of Palaeobiology, Polish Academy of Sci− Płucki.—Three samples collected from the trench in Płucki ences (abbreviated ZPAL) in Warsaw. yielded ichthyoliths. Sample P−1 (J. Dzik collection) comes Acta Palaeontol. Pol. 47 (2): 329–338, 2002 http://www.paleo.pan.pl/acta/acta47/app47−329.pdf 330 ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA 47 (2), 2002 ABOther localities.—Stratigraphy of the other Polish localities which yielded latest Frasnian or early Famennian chondrich− 30 o thyan teeth and which I refer to herein, was thoroughly de− scribed by Szulczewski (1971: Kadzielnia, Psie Górki, Wietrz− 0 o nia) and Żakowa et al. (1983: Jabłonna); the material from the LAURUSSIA * H D Miedzianka Hill comes from isolated samples collected from 30 o condensed limestones and dated by conodonts by Michał GONDWANA Szulczewski (personal communication 1989, samples M−5, M−EZ) and Grzegorz Racki (personal communication 1990, C sample Md−I/1). The full list of ichthyoliths from these locali− ties, all situated in the Holy Cross Mts, was presented by Ginter (1994). P K W Material Md Kw Chondrichthyans J £+P³ Teeth.—Altogether, less than 40 teeth have been found Late Devonian thus far from the latest Frasnian Pa. linguiformis Zone and and Carboniferous the early Famennian of the southern Poland (22 from Early and Middle Devonian Płucki, Kowala and Dębnik; Table 1). Apart from a few iso− lated specimens of Phoebodus turnerae Ginter and Ivanov, Fig. 1. A. Position of the study area (marked with asterisk) against a palaeo− 1992 and “Symmorium” sp. from the Palmatolepis rhom− geographic reconstruction of the Late Devonian (after Scotese and boidea Zone, teeth of only two shark species occur in the McKerrow 1990, modified). B. Location of the Holy Cross Mountains (H) material: a cladodont, assigned here as Stethacanthus and Dębnik area (D) against a contour of Poland. C. Position of sections resistens sp. nov. and a protacrodont, Protacrodus vetustus which yielded latest Frasnian–early Famennian chondrichthyan remains Jaekel, 1921. against a geological sketch map of western and central Holy Cross Moun− tains. J, Jabłonna; K, Kadzielnia; Kw, Kowala; Ł+Pł, Łagów and Płucki; Scales and denticles.—The collection of more than 40 Md, Miedzianka; P, Psie Górki; W, Wietrznia. chondrichthyan denticles (Table 1) is composed mainly of compound “ctenacanth” scales (Fig. 4A, B), minute mono− from an unknown position within a 30 cm thick, black to tricuspid mucous membrane denticles and unusual cephalopod limestone layer of the latest Pa. linguiformis branchial denticles, with a single or multiple, branching through the earliest Early Pa. triangularis age (bed 13 in rows of odontodes on a thin, flat base (Fig. 5A, B). Avariety Racka 2000). This layer, probably of local distribution, is of denticles from Płucki was illustrated by Ginter (1995: the only example of typical Kellwasser Limestone facies fig. 2C–G). in Poland. It is strongly fossiliferous, rich in goniatites, nautiloids, bivalves, entomozoacean ostracods (Olempska Associated ichthyoliths 2002) and conodonts, as well as arthrodire placoderms (Piotr Szrek personal communication 2000). Two other Microremains of osteichthyan origin: simple, conical actino− samples (M. Racka collection), whose age is determined as pterygian teeth; rhomboid palaeoniscoid scales (Fig. 7C; the Early Pa. triangularis Zone (Racka 2000), come from Ginter 1995: fig. 3A–F); pieces of jaws and other bones the top part of the lens described above (sample KW3 = (Fig. 7E); and striated sarcopterygian teeth (among them sample 9 in Racka 2000) and overlying marly−nodular bed parasymphysial fangs of the onychodont Strunius rolandi; (sample KW4 = sample 10). Fig. 7C) are the most common in the samples. Also very nu− merous (especially in P−1 sample of Płucki) are acanthodian Dębnik.—Ichthyoliths were found from all samples from scales with diamond−shaped, smooth and glossy crowns Dz−7 through Dz−19 (probable Pa. linguiformis through the (“Acanthodes” type; Fig. 7A, B). Early Pa. triangularis zones) of the ditch Z−17. In this part of the section marly limestones intercalate with micritic, detrital Preservation and graded detrital limestones (Racka 2000). Chondrich− thyan microremains occur in a 40 cm thick detrital limestone Microvertebrates from Płucki and Kowala are moderately layer (samples Dz−13 and 14) and in the marly limestone just well preserved, but in chondrichthyan teeth the cusps are of− above (sample Dz−15), all of the Early Pa. triangularis age. ten broken. Much worse is the state of the specimens from Co−occurring brachiopods from ditch Z−17 are described by Dębnik: most of the teeth are broken and partly or totally de− Baliński (2002, this volume). void of ornamentation (Fig. 4C–I). The colour of ichthyoliths GINTER—FRASNIAN–FAMENNIAN CHONDRICHTHYANS 331 A C B D F E G H I J Fig. 2. Stethacanthus resistens sp. nov. A, B. IGPUW/Ps/1/215 from Miedzianka, sample M−EZ, Late Pa. triangularis Zone, lingual and occlusal views, × 40. C–F. Holotype, ZPALP.IV/216from Płucki, sample P−1, Pa. linguiformis Zone, occlusal, labial, lateral and lingual views, × 60. G. IGPUW/Ps/4/1 from Płucki, sample KWK3, Early Pa. triangularis Zone, lingual view, × 40. H. IGPUW/Ps/4/2 from Kowala, sample Kx−12, labial−basal view, × 27. I, J. IGPUW/Ps/1/216 and IGPUW/Ps/1/217 from Psie Górki, sample PG−T, Pa. linguiformis Zone, lingual and basal views, × 32 and × 40 respectively. All SEM micrographs. is light−brown, with three exceptions: all the specimens from brown; the specimens from Miedzianka (especially Md−I/1) Płucki are completely black; the specimens from Dębnik, are strongly recrystallised and haematitised, with many red sample Dz−13, are white (the result of preparation?) or light spots. http://www.paleo.pan.pl/acta/acta47/app47−329.pdf 332 ACTA PALAEONTOLOGICA POLONICA 47 (2), 2002 Table 1. Distribution of chondrichthyan microremains and other ichthyo− liths in Frasnian–Famennian boundary beds of Dębnik, Kowala, and Płucki sections. sp. nov. A Acanthodian scales Conodont zones Stethacanthus resistens Other ichthyoliths Sample number Chondrichthyan scaales/denticles Protacrodus vetustus Dębnik Dz−19 + Dz−18 + B Dz−17 ++ Dz−16 1 ++ Dz−15 ++ Dz−14 Pa. triangularis 1 6 + Dz−13 2 13 ++ Early Fig.
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