Late Cretaceous Nautilid Juveniles Of Cymatoceras Reussi And Eutrephoceras Aff. Sublaevigatum - Scarce Fossils Under Risk Of Pyrite Degradation
Author
Frank, Jiří
Author
Sklenář, Jan
Author
Ekrt, Boris
National Museum, Department of Palaeontology, Václavské náměstí 68, 115 74 Praha 1, the Czech Republic; e-mails: jiri _ frank @ nm. cz; jan _ sklenar @ nm. cz; boris _ ekrt @ nm. cz
text
Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B
2014
2014-12-31
70
3 - 4
143
152
http://dx.doi.org/10.14446/amnp.2014.143
journal article
10.14446/AMNP.2014.143
2533-4069
13182793
Eutrephoceras
aff.
sublaevigatum
(
D’
ORBIGNY
, 1850)
Pl. 1, fig. 2; Pl. 2, figs 1–8
1840
Nautilus laevigatus
D’
ORBIGNY
, 1, s. 84, tab. 17. non 1845
Nautilus inaequalis
SOWERBY
; Reuss, p. 21, pl. 7,
fig. 12. 1850
Nautilus sublaevigatus
D’
ORB
.
; d’Orbigny p. 189. 1872
Nautilus reussi
FR
.
IN
FRITSCH
ET
SCHLÖNBACH
,
p. 25, pl. 12, fig. 5a-c. 1893
Nautilus reussi
FR
.
; Frič, p. 73, fig. 47. 1895
Nautilus reussi
FR
.
; Frič, p. 71, fig. 47. 1934
Nautilus reussi
FRIČ
; Andert, p. 392. 1956
Nautilus reussi
FRITSCH
ET
SCHLÖNBACH
;
Kummel, p. 344. 2007a
Eutrephoceras
sp.
; Frank, p. 112. 2007b
Eutrephoceras
sp.
; Frank, p. 35.
D e s c r i p t i o n. Specimens have nautiliconic, involute ovoidal shell with depressed broadly rounded whorl cross section on ventral and lateral sides. The suture line is very simple with a relatively shallow lateral lobe and shallow/ almost straight ventral lobe. The umbilicus is broad, not completely filled with shell material, which could result from the method of preservation. The siphuncle is in a central position. Where the shell is partly preserved early juvenile reticular patterns (Pl. 2, figs. 2b, 4a, 5b-c,) or prominent growth lines (Pl. 2, fig. 8c) are noticeable.
D i s c u s s i o n. Other determined specimens of Frič’s “
Nautilus Reussi
” are most probably juveniles of
Eutrephoceras sublaevigatum
(
D’
ORBIGNY
, 1840
)
. Those specimens are similar in simple suture line, shape of the shell, whorl cross section as well as siphuncle position. There are no specimens of later ontogenetic stages or complete juvenile specimens with preserved living chamber and thus features firmly indicating ranking within
E. sublaevigatum
are absent. Therefore these specimens are left here in open nomenclature as
Eutrephoceras
aff.
sublaevigatum
.
Frič (in
Fritsch and Schlönbach, 1872
) synonymized
E.
aff.
sublaevigatum
juvenile specimens with
Nautilus inaequalis
(
SOWERBY
, 1812
)
which was described in detail by Reuss in 1845, but according to the description and figures, the latter species differs from
E.
aff.
sublaevigatum
in its almost flattened ventral side and centro-dorsal position of the siphuncle.
Prominent growth lines on the juveniles are very similar to
Eutrephoceras expansum
(
SOWERBY
, 1824)
from the Cenomanian, but this species differs by its sinuous suture line with prominent lateral lobe.
There are fragments of shell preserved on the right lateral side of specimen NM-O7134 (Pl. 2, fig. 1b). This specimen was figured by
Frič (1893
,
1895
) with a reconstructed living chamber. The shell is affected by diagenesis but still includes a considerable percentage of aragonite constituting the original shell. When examined by means of SEM, typical nacreous ultrastructure, consisting of flat hexagonal crystals arranged in columns, is still distinguishable (Pl. 3, fig. 2). This ultrastructure is comparable with the fabric of the nacreous layer of a modern nautiloid shell (Pl. 3, fig. 1).
O c c u r r e n c e:
Czech Republic
, Bohemian Cretaceous Basin – Březno (Louny district, Lower Coniacian), Lenešice (Louny district, Late Turonian), Třebívlice-Měrunice area (Lovosice district, redeposited in Pleistocene sediment).