Klettgau Formation

The Klettgau Formation is a geological formation in Switzerland. It is Late Triassic in age, covering most of the mid to late Norian, the Carnian, and into the Rhaetian, spanning a period of 26-30 million years.[1]

Klettgau Formation Stratigraphic range: Carnian-Rhaetian ~235–202 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Keuper
Sub-units	Ergolz, Gansingen, Berlingen, Seebi, Gruhalde & Belchen Members
Underlies	Staffelegg Formation
Overlies	Bänkerjoch Formation
Thickness	30–60 m (98–197 ft) locally up to 75 m (246 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone, marl
Other	Dolomite, sandstone
Location
Coordinates	47.7°N 8.5°E
Approximate paleocoordinates	35.2°N 10.7°E
Region	Aargau, Schaffhausen
Country	Switzerland
Type section
Named for	Klettgau
Named by	Jordan et al.
Location	Seebi quarry
Year defined	2016
Klettgau Formation (Switzerland)

Description

The primary depositional environment was that of a playa with marine and fluvial intercalations. The lithology is quite variable consisting primarily of fine grained rocks typically claystones and dolocretes, often with sandstone or carbonatic fluvial channel fills.[2]

Fossil content

Dinosaur fossils are known from the formation, including those of Plateosaurus, Notatesseraeraptor frickensis and Schleitheimia[3][4]

The following other fossils were found in the formation:[1]

Mammals

• Hallautherium schalchi[5]
• Helvetiodon schutzi[5]
• ?Thomasia sp.[6]
• cf. Thomasia sp.[6]
• Thomasia antiqua[6]
• T. moorei[6]
• Tricuspes cf. tuebingensis[6]
• ?Haramiyidae indet.[6]

Therapsids

• Morganucodon peyeri[6]
• ?Morganucodon sp.[6]

Reptiles

• Deltadectes elvetica[7]
• Termatosaurus albertii[6]
• Paleollanosaurus sp.[7]
• ?Variodens sp.[6]
• cf. Diphydontosaurus sp.[7]
• cf. Eudimorphodon sp.[6]
• Archosauriformes indet.[8]
• Nothosauridae indet.[6]
• Pterosauria indet.[6]
• Sphenodontia indet.[7]
• Theropoda indet.[9]

Amphibians

• Labyrinthodontia indet.[6]

Fish

• Ceratodus parvus[10]
• Sargodon tomicus[10]
• Dapedium sp.[11]
• Hybodus sp.[10]
• Osteichthyes indet.[6]

Invertebrates

• Crinoidea indet.[6]
• Echinodermata indet.[6]
• Mollusca indet.[6]

References

1. Klettgau Formation at Fossilworks.org
2. Jordan et al., 2016
3. Zahner & Brinkmann, 2019
4. Rauhut et al., 2020
5. Tatarinov, 1985
6. Clemens, 1980
7. Whiteside et al., 2017
8. Butler et al., 2006
9. Carrano, 2020
10. Schalch & Peyer, 1919
11. Peyer, 1956

Bibliography

• Carrano, M. T. 2020. Taxonomic opinions on the Dinosauria, .. unpublished.
• Rauhut, Oliver W. M.; Femke M. Holwerda, and Heinz Furrer. 2020. A derived sauropodiform dinosaur and other sauropodomorph material from the Late Triassic of Canton Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 113. 8. doi:10.1186/s00015-020-00360-8 ISSN 1661-8726
• Zahner, M., and W. Brinkmann. 2019. A Triassic averostran-line theropod from Switzerland and the early evolution of dinosaurs. Nature Ecology & Evolution 3. 1146–1152. doi:10.1038/s41559-019-0941-z PMID 31285577 ISSN 2397-334X PMC 6669044
• Whiteside, D. I.; C. J. Duffin, and H. Furrer. 2017. The Late Triassic lepidosaur fauna from Hallau, North-Eastern Switzerland, and a new 'basal' rhynchocephalian Deltadectes elvetica gen. et sp. nov.. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie 285. 53–74.
• Jordan, Peter; Johannes S. Pietsch; Hansruedi Bläsi; Heinz Furrer; Nicole Kündig; Nathan Looser; Andreas Wetzel, and Gaudenz Deplazes. 2016. The middle to late Triassic Bänkerjoch and Klettgau formations of northern Switzerland. Swiss Journal of Geosciences 109. 257–284. doi:10.1007/s00015-016-0218-3 ISSN 1661-8726
• Butler, R. J.; L. B. Porro, and A. B. Heckert. 2006. A supposed heterodontosaurid tooth from the Rhaetian of Switzerland and a reassessment of the European Late Triassic record of Ornithischia (Dinosauria). Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 10. 613–633.
• Tatarinov, L. P. 1985. New data on a collection of tetrapod teeth from the Rhaetian of Hallau (Switzerland). Paleontological Journal 1. 138–140.
• Clemens, W. A. 1980. Rhaeto-Liassic mammals from Switzerland and West Germany. Zitteliana 5. 51–92.
• Peyer, B. 1956. Über Zähne von Haramiyiden, von Triconodonten und von wahrscheinlich synapsiden Reptilien aus dem Rhät von Hallau, Kt. Schaffhausen, Schweiz - On the teeth of haramiyids, triconodonts, and probable synapsid reptiles from the Rhaetic of Hallau, Kanton Schaffhausen, Switzerland. Schweizerische Paleontologische Abhandlungen 72. 1–72.
• Schalch, F., and B. Peyer. 1919. Über ein neues Rhätvorkommen im Keuper des Donau-Rheinzuges - On a new occurrence of the Rhaetian in the Keuper of the Danube-Rhine valleys. Mitteilungen der Badischen Geologischen Landesanstalt 8. 263–315.