Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

A Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaur graveyard in deep marine slope channel deposits at Torres del Paine National Park, southern Chile

2014; Geological Society of America; Volume: 126; Issue: 9-10 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1130/b30964.1

1943-2674

Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, Eberhard Frey, L Rivas, Jessy Pavón Pérez, Marcelo Leppe, C. Soriano Soto, P. Z. Lobos,

Fish biology, ecology, and behavior

Research Article| September 01, 2014 A Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaur graveyard in deep marine slope channel deposits at Torres del Paine National Park, southern Chile Wolfgang Stinnesbeck; Wolfgang Stinnesbeck † 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany †E-mail: wolfgang.stinnesbeck@geow.uni-heidelberg.de Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Eberhard Frey; Eberhard Frey 2Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe (SMNK), Erbprinzenstraße 13, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Luis Rivas; Luis Rivas 3Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Concepción, 160 C, Concepción, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Judith Pardo Pérez; Judith Pardo Pérez 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Marcelo Leppe Cartes; Marcelo Leppe Cartes 4Instituto Antártico Chileno, Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1955, Punta Arenas, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Christian Salazar Soto; Christian Salazar Soto 5Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Parque Quinta Normal s/n, Casilla 787, Santiago, Chile Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Patricio Zambrano Lobos Patricio Zambrano Lobos 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information Wolfgang Stinnesbeck † 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany Eberhard Frey 2Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe (SMNK), Erbprinzenstraße 13, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany Luis Rivas 3Departamento de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad de Concepción, 160 C, Concepción, Chile Judith Pardo Pérez 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany Marcelo Leppe Cartes 4Instituto Antártico Chileno, Plaza Muñoz Gamero 1955, Punta Arenas, Chile Christian Salazar Soto 5Museo Nacional de Historia Natural, Parque Quinta Normal s/n, Casilla 787, Santiago, Chile Patricio Zambrano Lobos 1Institut für Geowissenschaften, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 234-236, 69221 Heidelberg, Germany †E-mail: wolfgang.stinnesbeck@geow.uni-heidelberg.de Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 22 Jul 2013 Revision Received: 29 Mar 2014 Accepted: 29 Apr 2014 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 © 2014 Geological Society of America GSA Bulletin (2014) 126 (9-10): 1317–1339. https://doi.org/10.1130/B30964.1 Article history Received: 22 Jul 2013 Revision Received: 29 Mar 2014 Accepted: 29 Apr 2014 First Online: 08 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation Wolfgang Stinnesbeck, Eberhard Frey, Luis Rivas, Judith Pardo Pérez, Marcelo Leppe Cartes, Christian Salazar Soto, Patricio Zambrano Lobos; A Lower Cretaceous ichthyosaur graveyard in deep marine slope channel deposits at Torres del Paine National Park, southern Chile. GSA Bulletin 2014;; 126 (9-10): 1317–1339. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B30964.1 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Remnants of ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaurs recently discovered in the vicinity of the Tyndall Glacier in the Torres del Paine National Park of southern Chile are extremely abundant and well preserved. After three field campaigns to the area, a total of 46 articulated and virtually complete ichthyosaur specimens, both adults and juveniles, were tentatively assigned to four different species of Ophthalmosauridae. Preservation is excellent and occasionally includes soft tissue and embryos. The skeletons are associated with ammonites, belemnites, inoceramid bivalves, and fishes as well as numerous plant remains. The enormous concentration of ichthyosaurs is unique for Chile and South America and places the Tyndall locality among the prime fossil Lagerstätten for Early Cretaceous marine reptiles worldwide.The deposit is Early Cretaceous (Valanginian–Hauterivian) in age and forms part of a monotonous bathyal to abyssal sequence of the Late Jurassic to late Early Cretaceous Rocas Verdes back-arc basin. In this region, the Tyndall ichthyosaur population may have profited from cold upwelling currents that caused abundant life at the shelf edge including masses of belemnites and small fish, the preferred diet of ichthyosaurs. The abundance of almost completely articulated ichthyosaur skeletons in the Tyndall area suggests that some animals fell victim to episodic mass-mortality events caused by turbidity currents traveling downslope through a submarine canyon. They lost orientation, drowned, and were dragged into the deep sea by these turbulent high-energy gravity flows. Their bodies ended up in an oxygen-deficient basin environment where they were immediately embedded by the fine turbidite suspension fallout. The Tyndall ichthyosaur locality thus combines characteristics of both concentration and conservation Lagerstätten. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.