Marnes de Dives

The Marnes de Dives is a geological formation in Normandy, France. It dates back to the upper part of the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic.[1] And is partially equivalent to the Oxford Clay in England. It predominantly consists of ooidal marl, rich in pyrite and lignite, interbedded with thin limestone horizons.[2] It is best exposed at the base of the Falaises des Vaches Noires (Cliffs of Black Cows) as well as the foreshore at low tide. It is known for its fossils, notably those of ammonites, marine crocodiles and fragmentary remains of dinosaurs, mostly theropods.

Panorama of the Falaises des Vaches Noires
Marnes de Dives
Stratigraphic range: Late
Falaises des Vaches Noires
TypeGeological formation
UnderliesMarnes de Villers
Thickness8–10 metres (30–30 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryMarl
OtherLimestone
Location
RegionNormandy
Country France
ExtentParis Basin
Type section
Named forDives-sur-Mer

Vertebrate fauna
Dinosaurs of the Marnes de Dives
Taxa Species Presence Description Images
Piveteausaurus[1] P. divesensis Vaches Noires

Braincase.[3]
Streptospondylus S. altdorfensis Vaches Noires[4] Megalosaurid dinosaur. Originally a chimera of dinosaur and marine crocodile material. redefined to solely refer to the syntype dinosaur material consisting of "several vertebrae series, single vertebrae, a partial left pubis and limb elements". May be from the overlying Marnes de Villers, but the Marnes de Dives is much more productive and was better exposed when it was collected in the 18th century.
Sauropoda Indeterminate Vaches Noires Remains consist of a single vertebra, destroyed in 1944, may be from the overlying Marnes de Villers[5]
Stegosauria Indeterminate Vaches Noires Remains consist of 2 associated vertebra in hard limestone[6]
Theropoda[1] Indeterminate Vaches Noires Multiple taxa represented, including indeterminate megalosaurid material possibly referrable to the two named taxa alongside fragmentary remains of Allosauroids,[7] Including dentary and maxilla fragments. Other theropod remains include an associated braincase and frontal.[8][9] Allosauroid material bears similarities to metriacanthosaurids. Material is of unclear stratigraphic provenance, and may belong to overlying cliff strata.[10]
Crocodyliformes of the Marnes de Dives
Taxa Species Presence Description Images
Tyrannoneustes[11] T. lythrodectikos Vaches Noires A geosaurine metriorhynchid
Metriorhynchus M. geoffroyii Vaches Noires A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid
Proexochokefalos P. heberti Villers-sur-Mer A teleosaurid
Fish of the Marnes de Dives[12]
Taxa Species Presence Description Images
Leedsichthys[13] L. problematicus Vaches Noires A giant pachycormiform fish, may be from overlying Marnes de Villiers
Trachymetopon Indeterminate A giant coelacanth
cf. Hypsocormus Indeterminate A pachycormid fish
Pycnodontiformes Indeterminate
Lepidotidae Indeterminate A ginglymodian
Ichthyodectiformes Indeterminate A stem-group teleost

See also

References
  1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Middle Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 538–541. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
  2. Lebrun, Patrice; Courville, Philippe (2013). "Le Jurassique des falaises des Vaches-Noires".
  3. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 73.
  4. Brignon, Arnaud (April 2016). "L'abbé Bacheley et la découverte des premiers dinosaures et crocodiliens marins dans le Jurassique des Vaches Noires (Callovien/Oxfordien, Normandie)". Comptes Rendus Palevol (in French). 15 (5): 595–605. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2015.10.004.
  5. A. Bigot Vertèbre de Cetiosaurus de l’Oxfordien de Dives Bull. Soc. Linn. Normandie, 9 (1895), p. XXXIII
  6. Buffetaut, Eric; Tabouelle, Jérôme (July 2019). "Thyreophoran vertebrae from the Callovian (Middle Jurassic) of the Vaches Noires cliffs (Normandy, France), with remarks on the dinosaur assemblage from the Vaches Noires". Comptes Rendus Palevol. 18 (7): 891–896. doi:10.1016/j.crpv.2019.04.009.
  7. Un metatarsien de dinosaure theropode dans le Jurassique des Falaises des Vaches Noires (Calvados, Normandie, France). Bulletin Sciences et Geologie Normandes 1:49-53
  8. Evariste, Monvoisin (2019). "Diversité des dinosaures théropodes dans le Jurassique des Falaises des Vaches Noires (Calvados, Normandie) (Masters Thesis)" (PDF). Centre de Recherche Sur la Paléobiodiversité et les Paléoenvironnements (CR2P), MNHN, CNRS, Sorbonne Science Université.
  9. E. Buffetaut, J. Enos Un nouveau fragment crânien de dinosaure théropode du Jurassique des Vaches Noires (Normandie, France) remarques sur la diversité des théropodes jurassiques européens C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. II, 314 (1992), pp. 217-222
  10. Monvoisin, Evariste; Allain, Ronan; Buffetaut, Eric; Picot, Laurent (2022-03-24). "New data on the theropod diversity from the Middle to Late Jurassic of the Vaches Noires cliffs (Normandy, France)". Geodiversitas. 44 (12). doi:10.5252/geodiversi-tas2022v44a12. ISSN 1280-9659.
  11. Mark T. Young; Marco Brandalise de Andrade; Stephen L. Brusatte; Manabu Sakamoto; Jeff Liston (2013). "The oldest known metriorhynchid super-predator: a new genus and species from the Middle Jurassic of England, with implications for serration and mandibular evolution in predacious clades". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 11 (4): 475–513. doi:10.1080/14772019.2012.704948.
  12. Simon Beaufils (2022) Composition et réseau trophique de l'ichtyofaune du Jurassique moyen (Callovien) des Vaches Noires, Calvados, Normandie
  13. J. J. Liston and D. Gendry. 2015. Le Python de Caen, les algues géantes d'Amblie, et austres spécimens perdus de Leedsichthys d'Alexandre Bourienne, Jules Morière, Eugène Eudes-Deslongchamps et Alexandre Bigot. L'Echo des falaises 19:17-34
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