La Voulte-sur-Rhône (lagerstätte)

La Voulte-sur-Rhône
Stratigraphic range: Callovian
~
The mines ravine of the Voulte lagerstätte.[1]
TypeGeological formation
Thicknessabout 100 m (330 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryClaystones and marls
Otherferruginous limestone
Location
Coordinates44°47′58.3″N 4°46′42.4″E / 44.799528°N 4.778444°E / 44.799528; 4.778444
RegionRhône-Alpes,
Ardèche department
CountryFrance
ExtentSeveral historically active
commercial quarries
Type section
Named forLa Voulte-sur-Rhône,
a nearby town

The late Middle Jurassic lagerstätte at La Voulte-sur-Rhône, in the Ardèche region of southwestern France, offers paleontologists an outstanding view of an undisturbed paleoecosystem that was preserved in fine detail as organisms died at the site and settled to the bottom of a shallow epicontinental sea, with a folded floor that in places exceeded 200 m at this site. The site preserves a marine system of the Lower Callovian stage, a little over 160 mya. The sequence is exposed in a series of quarries at La Boissine, west of the village of La Voulte-sur-Rhône. Iron pyrites in the silty shale are symptoms of an anoxic environment. The site was recognized among French paleontologists from the mid-nineteenth century for its finely detailed fossils.

Preservation

Some soft parts of organisms are preserved as phosphatised concretions, in exceptional cases down to cellular details, e.g. retinal structures in the eyes of conchyliocarid crustacea.[2] Apart from Beecher's Trilobite Bed and the Hunsrück Slate, La Voulte-sur-Rhône is the only other locality where extensive pyritization of soft parts occurs.[3] However, pyritisation is not the only preservation pathway; several stages of mineralization (originally phosphate followed by calcite or gypsum, then pyrite and finally galena) are seen, each successive mineralization event degrades the detail preserved, with only gross morphological features preserved in the most advanced stages.[4]

Fauna and flora

The fauna preserved can be broadly divided into the allochthonous fauna (consisting of soft-bodied organisms which lived on the sea floor (benthic) or swam freely just above it (nektobenthic)) and the in-situ mortality horizon.

The allochthonous fauna contains rare and well-preserved organisms. Fossils of pycnogonids ("sea-spiders"), the first find in Mesozoic strata in an admittedly very patchy fossil record, were identified in 2007.[5][6] A coleoid cephalopod (a single specimen of a small octopus) was described from La Voulte-sur-Rhône in 1982.[2] The marine crocodile Thalattosuchus superciliosus, fish, decapod, mysid crustaceans, thylacocephalans, crinoids, and ophiuroids (most commonly Ophiopinna elegans)[2] are also to be found.

The in situ mortality horizon consists of abundant pavements of the bivalve Bositra buchi and trace fossils of suspected worm burrows.

Two specimens of plants suggest that a shoreline was not far distant, represented today by France's Massif Central.[2]

Fossil content

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Crocodylomorphs

Crocodylomorphs of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Thalattosuchus T. superciliosus A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid

Fish

Cartilaginous Fish

Cartilaginous Fish of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Lobe-finned Fish

Lobe-finned Fish of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Ray-finned Fish

Ray-finned Fish of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images

Molluscs

Bivalves

Bivalves of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Bositra B. buchi A posidoniid ostreoidan

Cephalopods

Cephalopods of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Gramadella[7] G. piveteaui A myopsidan squid
Mastigophora[8] M. brevipennis A loligosepiid vampyromorphidan
Proteroctopus[9] P. ribeti A octopodan octopodiform
Romaniteuthis[7] R. gevreyi A plesioteuthidid coeloid
Rhomboteuthis[7] R. lehmani A plesioteuthidid coeloid
Vampyrofugiens[10] V. atramentum A geopeltidid vampyromorphidan
Vampyronassa[11][12] V. rhodanica A vampyroteuthid vampyromorphidan

Arthropods

Crustaceans

Crustaceans of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Adamanteryon[13] A. fourneti A polycelydan decapod
Aeger[14] A. brevirostris A aegerid decapod
Archeosolenocera[14] A. straeleni A solenocerid decapod
Cycleryon[13] C. romani A eryonid decapod
Eryma[15][16] E. cumonti A erymid decapod
E. mandelslohi
E. ventrosum
Eryon[13] E. ellipticus A eryonid decapod
Eucopia[15] E. praecursor A Eucopiidae lophogastridan
Glypheopsis[17] G. voultensis A glyphaid decapod
Hellerocaris[13] H. falloti A polychelid polychelidan
Lophogaster L. voultensis A lophogastrid lophogastridan
Mandocaris[18] M. polyphaga A acanthephyrid caridean
Proeryon[13]'[19] P. charbonnieri A coleiid decapod
P. giganteus
Palaeocuma[15][20] P. hessi A cumacean peracaridan
Siriella[15] S. antiqua A mysid mysidan
S. carinata
Stenochirus S. vahldieki A stenochirid decapod
Udora[15] U. gevreyi A procaridirean decapod
U. minuta
Voulteryon[13][21] V. parvulus A eryonid decapod
Willemoesiocaris[13] W. ovalis A coleiid decapod

Sea Spiders

Sea Spiders of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Colossopantopus[22][23] C. boissinensis A large colossendeid sea spider
Palaeoendeis[22] P. elmii A endeid sea spider
Palaeopycnogonides[22] P. gracilis A palaeopycnogonidid sea spider

Thylacocephalans

Thylacocepahlans of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Austriocaris[24] A. secretanae A austriocaridid thylacocephalan
Dollocaris[24] D. ingens A dollocaridid thylacocaphalan
Kilianicaris[24] K. lerichei A ostenocaridid thylacocephalan
Mayrocaris[24] M. sp. A dollocaridid thylacocephalan
Paraostenia P. voultensis A thylacocephalan

Echinoderms

Echinoderms of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Decacuminaster[25] D. solaris A solaserid starfish
Ophiopinna[25] O. elegans A britter star
Rhodanometra[26] R. lorioli A pterocormid comalutidan
Terminaster[25] T. cancriformis A terminasterid starfish

Annelids

Annelids of the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte
Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images
Iubarenicola[27] I. fischeri A capitellidan annemid
Megaderaion[27] M. adeliae A acorn worm
Paleoaphrodite P. A aphroditid phyllodocidan
P. briggsiana
P. adeliae
Protopholoe[27] P. rhodanitis A aphroditid phillodicidan
Rhondeletia[27] R. scutata A sipunculan annemid

References

  1. ^ Location as described in: Sylvain Charbonnier, Jean Vannier, Pierre Hantzpergue, Christian Gaillard. Ecological signif- icance of the arthropod fauna from the Jurassic (Callovian) La Voulte Lagerstätte. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, Polskiej Akademii Nauk, Instytut Paleobiologii, 2010, 55 (1), pp.112. Online: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00551274/document
  2. ^ a b c d Etter, Walter (2002), "La Voulte-sur-Rhône: exquisite cephalopod preservation", in David J. Bottjer; Walter Etter; James W. Hagadorn; Carol M. Tang (eds.), Exceptional Fossil Preservation: A Unique View on the Evolution of Marine Life., Columbia University Press, NY, pp. 293–306
  3. ^ Paul A. Selden; John R. Nudds (2005), Evolution of Fossil Ecosystems (PDF), University of Chicago Press, IL, p. 192, ISBN 978-0-226-74641-8, archived from the original (PDF) on July 14, 2011 see page 41
  4. ^ "La Voulte-sur-Rhone" by Sarah Joomun, Dept. of Earth Science, Bristol University
  5. ^ S. Charbonnier; J. Vannier; B. Riou (2007), "Jurassic sea spiders from the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte", Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, B 274: 2555–61
  6. ^ S. Charbonnier; J. Vannier; B. Riou (2008), "Jurassic sea spiders from the La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte" (PDF), Geophysical Research Abstracts, 10
  7. ^ a b c Fischer, Jean-Claude; Riou, Bernard (1982). "Les teuthoïdes (Cephalopoda, Dibranchiata) du callovien inférieur de la Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France)" (PDF). Annales de Paléontologie. 68 (4): 295–325.
  8. ^ Fuchs, Dirk (2014). "First evidence of Mastigophora (Cephalopoda: Coleoidea) from the early Callovian of La Voulte-sur-Rhône (France)". Frank Wiese. Mike Reich and Gernot Arp: 8 p. doi:10.3249/webdoc-3913.
  9. ^ Kruta, Isabelle; Rouget, Isabelle; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Bardin, Jérémie; Fernandez, Vincent; Germain, Damien; Brayard, Arnaud; Landman, Neil (November 2016). "Proteroctopus ribeti in coleoid evolution". Palaeontology. 59 (6): 767–773. doi:10.1111/pala.12265.
  10. ^ Rowe, Alison J.; Kruta, Isabelle; Villier, Loïc; Rouget, Isabelle (May 2023). "A new vampyromorph species from the Middle Jurassic La Voulte‐sur‐Rhône Lagerstätte". Papers in Palaeontology. 9 (3). doi:10.1002/spp2.1511.
  11. ^ Fischer, Jean-Claude; Riou, Bernard (January 2002). "Vampyronassa rhodanica nov. gen. nov sp., vampyromorphe (Cephalopoda, Coleoidea) du Callovien inférieur de la Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France)". Annales de Paléontologie. 88 (1): 1–17. doi:10.1016/S0753-3969(02)01037-6.
  12. ^ Rowe, Alison J.; Kruta, Isabelle; Landman, Neil H.; Villier, Loïc; Fernandez, Vincent; Rouget, Isabelle (23 June 2022). "Exceptional soft-tissue preservation of Jurassic Vampyronassa rhodanica provides new insights on the evolution and palaeoecology of vampyroteuthids". Scientific Reports. 12 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-022-12269-3.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g Audo, Denis; Schweigert, Günter; Martin, Jean-Paul Saint; Charbonnier, Sylvain (December 2014). "High biodiversity in Polychelida crustaceans from the Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte". Geodiversitas. 36 (4): 489–525. doi:10.5252/g2014n4a1.
  14. ^ a b Jauvion, Clément; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Bernard, Sylvain (December 2017). "A new look at the shrimps (Crustacea, Decapoda, Penaeoidea) from the Middle Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte". Geodiversitas. 39 (4): 705–716. doi:10.5252/g2017n4a3.
  15. ^ a b c d e Charbonnier, Sylvain; Audo, Denis; Caze, Bruno; Biot, Vincent (July 2014). "The La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte (Middle Jurassic, France)". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 13 (5): 369–381. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2014.03.001.
  16. ^ Charbonnier, Sylvain; Vogt, Günter; Forel, Marie-Béatrice; Hieu, Nathan; Devillez, Julien; Laville, Thomas; Poulet-Crovisier, Nathalie; King, Andrew; Briggs, Derek E. G. (31 July 2024). "The La Voulte-sur-Rhône Konservat-Lagerstätte reveals the male and female internal anatomy of the Middle Jurassic clawed lobster Eryma ventrosum". Scientific Reports. 14 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-024-67357-3.
  17. ^ Sylvain Charbonnier; Alessandro Garassino; Günter Schweigert; Martin Simpson (2013). A worldwide review of fossil and extant glypheid and litogastrid lobsters (Crustacea, Decapoda, Glypheoidea). National Museum of Natural History. pp. 1–304. ISBN 978-2-85653-706-0.
  18. ^ Lagrange, F.; Audo, D.; Odin, G. P.; De Grave, S.; Fernandez, V.; Dollman, K.; Charbonnier, S. (2025). "A new caridean shrimp fossil with exceptionally preserved organs from the Middle Jurassic of La Voulte-sur-Rhône, France". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 70 (4): 775–794. doi:10.4202/app.01275.2025.
  19. ^ Audo, Denis; Schweigert, Günter (10 May 2018). "Large polychelidan lobsters with a rounded carapace from the Middle Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte: taxonomic clarifications". Geodiversitas. 40 (2): 183. doi:10.5252/geodiversitas2018v40a9.
  20. ^ Luque, Javier; Gerken, Sarah (4 December 2019). "Exceptional preservation of comma shrimp from a mid-Cretaceous Lagerstätte of Colombia, and the origins of crown Cumacea". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 286 (1916) 20191863. doi:10.1098/rspb.2019.1863.
  21. ^ Audo, Denis; Robin, Ninon; Luque, Javier; Krobicki, Michal; Haug, Joachim T.; Haug, Carolin; Jauvion, Clément; Charbonnier, Sylvain (29 March 2019). "Palaeoecology of Voulteryon parvulus (Eucrustacea, Polychelida) from the Middle Jurassic of La Voulte-sur-Rhône Fossil-Lagerstätte (France)". Scientific Reports. 9 (1). doi:10.1038/s41598-019-41834-6.
  22. ^ a b c Charbonnier, S; Vannier, J; Riou, B (22 October 2007). "New sea spiders from the Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 274 (1625): 2555–2561. doi:10.1098/rspb.2007.0848.
  23. ^ Sabroux, Romain; Edgecombe, Gregory D.; Pisani, Davide; Garwood, Russell J. (July 2023). "New insights into the sea spider fauna (Arthropoda, Pycnogonida) of La Voulte‐sur‐Rhône, France (Jurassic, Callovian)". Papers in Palaeontology. 9 (4). doi:10.1002/spp2.1515.
  24. ^ a b c d Laville, Thomas; Forel, Marie-Béatrice; Charbonnier, Sylvain (5 October 2023). "Re-appraisal of thylacocephalans (Euarthropoda, Thylacocephala) from the Jurassic La Voulte-sur-Rhône Lagerstätte". European Journal of Taxonomy. 898. doi:10.5852/ejt.2023.898.2295.
  25. ^ a b c Villier, Loic; Charbonnier, Sylvain; Riou, Bernard (May 2009). "Sea stars from Middle Jurassic lagerstätte of La Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France)". Journal of Paleontology. 83 (3): 389–398. doi:10.1666/08-030.1.
  26. ^ Manni, Riccardo Pier Celestino; Nicosia, Umberto; Riou, B. (1987). "Rhodanometra lorioli n.gen n.sp. and the other Callovian crinoids from La Voulte-sur-Rhone (Ardeche, France)". Geologica Romana. 24: 87–100.
  27. ^ a b c d Allessandrello, Anna; Bracchi, Giacomo; Riou, Bernard (2004). "Polychaete, sipunculan and enteropneust worms from the Lower Callovian (Middle Jurassic) of La Voulte-sur-Rhône (Ardèche, France)" (PDF). Memorie della Società Italiana di Scienze Naturali e del Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. 32 (1): 3–14.
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