Fil da Stidier, NE Tinzenhorn, Mittelbünden (Triassic to of Switzerland)

Also known as Raeticodactylus holotype site

Where: Canton Grisons, Switzerland (46.6° N, 9.1° E: paleocoordinates 30.8° N, 13.9° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Alplihorn Member (Kössen Formation), Sevatian to Sevatian (212.0 - 201.3 Ma)

• "late Norian (Sevatian) or Rhaetian. Furrer (1993) states that the age from the Alplihorn Member is not exactly known, most probably it is Sevatian (late Norian) in age."

• bed-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: shallow subtidal; lithified, bioturbated, gray, calcareous lime mudstone and lithified, shelly/skeletal, yellow, calcareous marl

• "The presence of ooids indicates shallow turbulent water in a subtidal environment (Furrer 1993). The ooids from the middle part come from such an environment but were transported and redeposited by a storm. The normal graded bedding, the convex up/down position of the shells and the frequent telescoping

•position support this. The layer including the pterosaur is interpreted as a storm deposit, a tempestite that was subsequently bioturbated (presence of Thalassinoides). The increased marl content, the complete absence of ooids in the uppermost part and the clay layer indicate laminar, non-turbulent lower energy conditions. The thin layer of grey clay can be interpreted as a fine deposition during a quiet sedimentation period. The finely laminated, yellow, limestone is interpreted as cyanobacterial mats developed in the intertidal zone."

• Under the pterosaur-bearing layer, a blue-grey weathered, massive limestone occurs. Immediately below the specimen, the sediment shows conspicuous bioturbation. The sediment encasing the pterosaur is a dark grey limestone. The sedimentary unit (12 cm thick) including the fossil can be divided into three main parts (Fig. 4): 1) Basal most part (3 cm thick): a micritic limestone with less fossil shells than seen elsewhere; the base is erosional with scour-and-fill-structures; 2) Middle part (5 cm): the matrix is micritic and contains many ooids, and shells (mostly convex side up) and shell fragments; lamellibranchs with both shells preserved are rare; the ooids often have fragments of bivalves and gastropods as nuclei; towards the upper part the

•ooids show a decrease in grain size, indicating a small scale fining upward sequence; 3) Upper part (4 cm): this micritic part is the matrix of the pterosaur, it shows marly laminated intercalations; the ooid content decreases gradually, they are missing in the uppermost part; the last part of the slab is built up by laminated, yellow, calcareous marl; the latter yields thin shell

•fragments and rare ganoid scales. The layer above the specimen is of a 1 cm thick grey clay followed by a 28 cm thick finely laminated grey limestone.

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by Rico Stecher in 2005

Collection methods: surface (float), chemical,

Primary reference: R. Stecher. 2008. A new Triassic pterosaur from Switzerland (Central Austroalpine, Grisons), Raeticodactylus filisurensis gen. et sp. nov. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 101(1):185-201 [R. Butler/R. Butler/P. Wagner]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 87874: authorized by Richard Butler, entered by Richard Butler on 27.03.2009

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Show authors, comments, and common names
Reptilia
 Pterosauria - Campylognathoididae
Raeticodactylus filisurensis
Raeticodactylus filisurensis Stecher 2008 pterosaur
BNM 14524 (holotype), nearly complete skull and partial skeleton