Yost, Samantha L., M.S. August 2019 Geology Paleocene
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YOST, SAMANTHA L., M.S. AUGUST 2019 GEOLOGY PALEOCENE DECAPODS, SURVIVOR TAXA OF THE KAMBÜHEL FORMATION, LOWER AUSTRIA, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO DECAPOD DIVERSITY ACROSS THE K/T BOUNDARY (84 pp.) Thesis Advisor: Dr. R.M. Feldmann A relatively small, wooded hill near Neunkirchen, Austria, constitutes the type locality of the Kambühel Formation. Preserved as an erosional remnant in the northeastern-most part of the Northern Calcareous Alps, this Paleocene limestone formation represents a shallow-water coralgal environment that teemed with life around 60 million year ago. It is from this formation that a novel decapod assemblage, including the anomurans described herein, was collected. The fossils have been described and classified in order to evaluate the relative diversity of the anomuran assemblage. Although the size of the collection is small, the diversity is high, with six new taxa: Hispanigalathea nov. spec. A, Eomunidopsis nov. spec. A, Protomunida nov. spec. A, Protomunida nov. spec. B, Disipia nov. spec. A, and Annuntidiogenes nov. spec. A. The new species are arrayed into Catillogalatheidae, Galatheidae, Munididae, Porcellanidae, Annuntidiogenidae, Galatheoidea family indeterminate, and Paguroidea family indeterminate. Comparison of the Kambühel decapod fauna to various decapod collections across similar environments of Cretaceous to Eocene age show that it consists of genera known from both before and after the K/T extinction and closely resembles decapod faunas from the mid-to-Late i Cretaceous and early Eocene. With the new taxa described, two genera are now known to have crossed the K/T boundary: Hispanigalathea and Annuntidiogenes. ii PALEOCENE DECAPODS, SURVIVOR TAXA OF THE KAMBÜHEL FORMATION, LOWER AUSTRIA, AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP TO DECAPOD DIVERSITY ACROSS THE K/T BOUNDARY A thesis submitted to Kent State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science by Samantha L. Yost August, 2019 © Copyright All rights reserved Except for previously published materials iii Thesis written by Samantha L. Yost B.S., Kent State University 2013 M.S., Kent State University 2019 Approved by Dr. Rodney Feldmann , Advisor Dr. Daniel Holm , Chair, Department of Geology Dr. James Blank , Dean, College of Arts and Sciences Table of Contents………………………………………………………………………………. v List of Figures…………………………………………....…………………………....……….. vi List of Tables.…..……………………………………………………………………………… viii Acknowledgements……...………………………….……..………………….………………... ix Introduction……………………...………………..…..…...…………………………………… 1 Geologic Setting……….………………………………………………………………………..3 Methods……….....…………………………………………………………………………….. 9 Systematic Paleontology……………………………….………………………………………. 11 Discussion……………….……………….…………………………………………………….. 43 Conclusions…………..………………………………………………………………………… 48 References…………….………………………………………………………………………... 49 Figures..………………………………………………………………………………………... 64 Tables..…………………………………………………………………………………………. 82 v List of Figures Figure 1. Tectonic map of the Alps and Western Carpathians……………………………….... 65 Figure 2. Detailed location map of Kambühel Hill near Neunkirchen, Austria……………….. 66 Figure 3. Subsurface map of the Vienna basin (southern and central part) and adjacent areas……..…. 67 Figure 4. Schematic paleogeographic map for the Maastrichtian……………………………… 68 Figure 5. Reconstruction of the tectonic development and nappe configurations during the Jurassic in the middle part of the Northern Calcareous Alps…………………………69 Figure 6. Map of the Northern Calcareous Alps (NCA) portraying the diachronous onset of subsidence due to subcrustal tectonic erosion……………………………………….. 70 Figure 7. Sketch-map of Eastern Alps showing major tectonic units and various occurrences of Gosau Group outcrops……………………………………………………………….. 70 Figure 8. Local geologic map of Austria, showing age of units and known faults……………. 71 Figure 9. Satellite view of Eastern Alps with Kambühel locality indicated......……………….. 72 Figure 10. Paleogeographic sketch map for the Early Paleocene of the Northern Calcareous Alps with the main Gosau Basins ………………………………………………….……… 73 Figure 11. Satellite view of type locality, Kambühel Hill, located near Neunkirchen, Lower Austria…………………………………………………………………………........... 74 Figure 12. Dr. Carrie E. Schweitzer collecting fossils on a typical forested outcrop of the Kambühel Formation……………………………………………………...…………. 75 vi Figure 13. Galatheoidea indet. A, Galatheoidea indet. B, Galatheoidea indet. C, and Galatheoidea indet. D……………………………………………………………………...………… 76 Figure 14. Hispanigalathea nov. spec. A, Galatheidae indet. A, and Eomunidopsis nov. spec. A………………………………………………………………….………..…………. 77 Figure 15. Protomunida nov. spec. A, and Protomunida nov. spec. B with affiliated cast………………………………………………………………………..………..… 78 Figure 16. Porcellanidae indet. A, Porcellanidae indet. B, Porcellanidae indet. C, and Disipia nov. spec. A…………………………………………………………………………… 79 Figure 17. Paguroidea indet. A, Paguroidea indet. B, and Paguroidea indet. C………...……... 80 Figure 18. Annuntidiogenes nov. spec. A with affiliated latex cast……………...…………..…81 vii List of Tables Table 1. Complete list of all anomuran specimens studied from the Kambühel Formation……. 82 Table 2. Measurements (taken in mm) of specimens…………………………………………… 83 Table 3. List of all anomuran genera with occurrences before and after the K/T boundary……. 84 viii Acknowledgements Pál Müller photographed in the forested area of the Kambühel locality. Photo credit to Dr. R.M. Feldmann. This thesis is dedicated to Pál Mihály Müller. I am eternally appreciative of his meticulous collecting and grateful for his fossil contributions that made this project possible. I would like to thank the Kent State Geology Department for tuition assistance and Merida Keatts for her technical assistance. Thanks to Evin Maguire for his assistance with the Hitachi microscope. Thanks to my friends and colleagues for the open conversations, various tricks of the trade, and thoughtful advice, namely Dr. Wade Jones, Evin Maguire, Sergio Sudarsky, and Jessica Tashman. Thanks to my thesis committee, Dr. Rodney Feldmann, Dr. Carrie Schweitzer, and Dr. Neil Wells, for their helpful critiques and discussions. Special thanks to my advisor and mentor, Dr. Rodney Feldmann, without his unwavering encouragement this thesis would not have been possible. Last but not least, countless thanks to my family and my parents, Alonzo and Patricia, for their unconditional love and support. ix Introduction The anomuran decapod fauna first reported herein consists of Paleocene fossils from the Kambühel Formation in the Gosau Group, outside of Neunkirchen, Austria (Figures 1, 2). All of the fossils were collected from the densely vegetated Kambühel Hill (N47°44.8’, E16°02’), the type locality for the formation, by Pál Müller (MÜLLER, 2004). This is a significant discovery because few decapods have been reported from the Paleocene. The Paleocene represents a period of recovery for the plant and animal taxa that survived the K/T extinction. Decapod crustaceans provide a sufficient fossil record to illustrate how this group was affected on both the family and genus levels from before to after the K/T boundary (SCHWEITZER & FELDMANN, 2005), although this mostly involves comparing Cretaceous to Eocene assemblages. Therefore, this fauna provides an important window into the early part of this story. As will be described below, it is also of paleogeographical significance, as it is part of a Late Cretaceous to Eocene, mostly marine incursion that overlies a major unconformity and lies between two major Alpine orogenies. Despite being a small and relatively challenging locality, the Kambühel Formation has yielded various macro- and micro-fossils, such as brachiopods, coral, red algae, and foraminifera (SCHLAGINTWEIT et al., 2003; MÜLLER, 2004; SCHLAGINTWEIT, 2005; DULAI et al., 2008; KRISCHE et al., 2012; SCHLAGINTWEIT et al., 2018). The decapod fauna of the Kambühel Formation was first reported by MÜLLER (2004). The material collected by Müller was further studied by VERHOFF et al. (2009) who described and identified a brachyuran decapod, Titanocarcinus kambuehelensis. The collection consists of a variety of decapod specimens, all 1 disarticulated, relatively small in size, and with replaced cuticle. Although there are a few plaster casts of specimens, most of the decapod fossils are embedded in a matrix of recrystallized limestone. The collection is composed of brachyuran and anomuran decapods, but this study will focus solely on the anomurans. The anomuran material examined for this study includes 19 total specimens: 14 fossils embedded in matrix and 5 plaster casts previously created by P. Müller. The majority of the taxa were represented by single specimens. Of the 19 total specimens, 11 were indeterminate to the family or superfamily level due to quality of preservation. The remaining 8 specimens are attributed to 6 new species from 5 different families and 2 superfamilies (see Table 1). This variety of anomurans illustrates the rich diversity present at Kambühel. Such diversity is apparent in decapods from both ancient and modern reefal environments, likely due to the higher availability of niche space. Anomurans specifically have been reported to show a strong tendency to inhabit coral reefs, carbonates, and higher energy environments (SCHWEITZER & FELDMANN, 2015). Comparing the Paleocene decapod fauna of the Kambühel to other decapod faunas from the same region, across different time periods, and preserved in similar reefal environments