Balve-Beckum limestone quarry (Cretaceous to of Germany)

Also known as Theropod locality, Busche Quarry

Where: North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany (51.3° N, 7.9° E: paleocoordinates 41.6° N, 17.2° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Late/Upper Barremian to Late/Upper Barremian (130.0 - 122.5 Ma)

• The karstic infill deposits of Balve were dated by the association of early angiosperm pollen as late Early Cretaceous, most probably late Barremian to early Aptian (Lanser and Heimhofer, 2013).

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: karst; lithified, gray claystone and gray siltstone

• Karst infill in Devonian reefal limestones.
• The centre and main mass of these sediments was composed of dark-grey coal-rich clays and silts that contained numerous, up to fist-sized clasts from the immediate and more distant surroundings, including several relatively large bleached lydites and well-rounded river pebbles of vein quartz, as well as ferruginous pebbles. Also included in these almost black sediments were numerous blocks of calcite spar, some up to over 1 m3 in size

•The excavation level in the karstic infill at Balve is about 25 m below the upper ground level as it was before limestone mining began. The sediments at the excavation level are mostly fine-grained, and vary from finely laminated clay and silt to redeposited river sediments with some content of sand and gravel. Synsedimentary slides have been recorded as well as mass limestone blocks of up to several meters in size, which broke down from the former cave walls during sedimentation. Fusite-containing, clayeyesilty deposits have been found to be particularly rich in fossils.

Size classes: macrofossils, mesofossils

Collected by LWL Museum fur Naturkunde, Munster in 2000—

Collection methods: quarrying, surface (in situ),

• Since 2002, annual excavations have been carried out at this site

Primary reference: K.-P. Lanser and U. Heinhofer. 2015. Evidence of theropod dinosaurs from a Lower Cretaceous karst filling in the northern Sauerland (Rhenish Massif, Germany). Palaeontologische Zeitschrift 89:79-94 [P. Mannion/J. Tennant/J. Tennant]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 152548: authorized by Philip Mannion, entered by Jonathan Tennant on 25.11.2013, edited by Grace Varnham, Matthew Carrano and Evangelos Vlachos

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Chondrichthyes
 Hybodontiformes -
Hybodontiformes indet.1 elasmobranch
WMNM uncat.
 Hybodontiformes - Lonchidiidae
Lonchidiidae indet.5 Herman 1977 elasmobranch
Amphibia
 Caudata - Urodela
Balveherpeton hoennetalensis n. gen. n. sp.6 Skutschas et al. 2020 salamander
Holotype: WMNM P76313, atlantal centrum; WMNM P76314, P76315, P76316, atlantal centra; WMNM P76317 fragmentary anterior trunk vertebra; WMNM P76318, P76319, nearly complete middle trunk vertebrae; MNMW P79401, fragment of trunk vertebrae; WMNM P79320, fragmentary anterior caudal vertebra
 Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Albanerpetontidae indet.1 Fox and Naylor 1982 tetrapod
WMNM uncat.
Mammalia
 Multituberculata - Pinheirodontidae
Bructerodon alatus n. gen. n. sp.3
Bructerodon alatus n. gen. n. sp.3 Martin et al. 2021 multituberculate
Holotype: WMNM P79402, left M1; P79403
 Multituberculata - Eobaataridae
Cheruscodon balvensis n. gen. n. sp.3
Cheruscodon balvensis n. gen. n. sp.3 Martin et al. 2021 multituberculate
Holotype: WMNM P79404, right dentary fragment with p4 and alveoli for p2e3 and m1e2
 Symmetrodonta -
Symmetrodonta indet.6 symmetrodont
 Theriamorpha - Spalacotheriidae
Cifellitherium suderlandicum n. gen. n. sp.4 Martin et al. 2022 mammal
Holotype: WMNM P82305, right lower molar; WMNM P82308 and P82302, left upper molars
 Theriamorpha - Herpetotheriidae
Minutolestes submersus n. gen. n. sp.4, Beckumia sinemeckelia n. gen. n. sp.4
Minutolestes submersus n. gen. n. sp.4 Martin et al. 2022 marsupial
Holotype: WMNM P82306, left upper molar; left upper (WMNM P82304) and lower (WMNM P82307) molars
Beckumia sinemeckelia n. gen. n. sp.4 Martin et al. 2022 marsupial
Holotype: WMNM P82301, left mandible with strongly worn m2–m5; WMNM P82310, lower left premolar
Reptilia
 Testudinata - Helochelydridae
Helochelydra nopcsai2 Lapparent de Broin and Murelaga 1999 turtle
WMNM uncat.
 Loricata -
Mesoeucrocodylia indet.1 Whetstone and Whybrow 1983 crocodilian
WMNM uncat.
 Loricata - Goniopholididae
Goniopholididae indet.5 Cope 1875 crocodilian
WMNN uncat.; WMNM P47516
 Loricata - Atoposauridae
Atoposauridae indet.5 Gervais 1871 crocodilian
 Loricata - Bernissartiidae
Bernissartiidae indet.5 Dollo 1883 crocodilian
 Ornithischia -
Ankylosauria indet.5 Osborn 1923 ankylosaur
 Ornithischia - Hypsilophodontidae
Hypsilophodontidae indet.5 Dollo 1882 hypsilophodontid
 Ornithischia -
Iguanodontia indet.5 Baur 1891 ornithopod
WMNM P48300, WMNM P48222, WMNM P81316, WMNM P81313, WMNM P81308, WMNM P81059, WMNM P48332, WMNM P81058, WMNM P81073, WMNM P81289, WMNM uncat. (ungual)
 Theropoda -
Theropoda indet. Marsh 1881 theropod
5 Teeth (LWL MN Ba 16, 18, 19, 20, 22); WMNM P82323 (ungual), WMNM uncat. (dorsal centrum)
Coelurosauria indet. Huene 1914 coelurosaur
LWL Mn Ba 14 (1 tooth)
 Theropoda - Dromaeosauridae
Dromaeosauridae indet. Colbert and Russell 1969 maniraptoran
LWL MN Ba 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 (teeth)
 Theropoda -
Ornithomimosauria indet.7 ornithomimosaur
WMNM P100817 (distal MT); WMNM P100814 (pedal ungual)
Tyrannosauroidea indet. Walker 1964 coelurosaur
2 teeth (LWL MN Ba 15, 21); 2 manual unguals (WMNM P41647, WMNM P82323); left quadrate (WMNM P100826)
 Saurischia -
? Ornithopsis sp.1 Seeley 1870 sauropod
WMNM P82326, centrum of dorsal vertebra
Eusauropoda indet.1 Upchurch 1995 sauropod
WMNM P82311, right(?) manual ungual phalanx (I-2)
 Pterosauria -
Pterosauria indet.1 Kaup 1834 pterosaur
WMNM uncat.
 Pterosauria - Ornithocheiridae
? Ornithocheiridae indet.5 Seeley 1870 pterosaur