{"title":"Otoliths from the Lealt Shale Formation, Great Estuarine Group, Middle Jurassic (Bathonian), Inner Hebrides, Scotland","authors":"W. Schwarzhans, Matthew I. Wakefield","doi":"10.1144/sjg2024-002","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"\n The Lealt Shale Formation is known for its superb preservation of aragonitic molluscs. As fish otoliths are primarily composed of aragonite, and because of the semi-stable nature of this polymorph, records of otoliths become increasingly rare in deep time. Therefore, the Lealt Shale Formation provides a window through which to expand knowledge of Middle Jurassic otoliths. A total of 753 otoliths have been collected, representing ten species: three in\n Archaeotolithus\n , five in\n Leptolepis\n , one\n Archengraulis\n and a teleost incertae sedis (juveniles only). Four species are new:\n Archaeotolithus eiggensis, Archaeotolithus invernizziae, Leptolepis flexuosus\n and\n Leptolepis skyensis\n . Two species remain in open nomenclature and the remaining species are known from the Middle Jurassic of southern England and continental Europe:\n Archaeotolithus doppelsteini\n ,\n Leptolepis densus\n ,\n Leptolepis rotundatus\n and\n Archengraulis productus\n .\n \n The Lealt Shale Formation was deposited in a low salinity lagoonal environment with variable freshwater influx and a likely tenuous link to marine waters resulting in a complex palaeosalinity history. The relevance of the specific environment for the composition of the fish fauna as documented by otoliths is discussed. The evolution of the otolith morphospace during the Jurassic is discussed in the light of the new finds.","PeriodicalId":49556,"journal":{"name":"Scottish Journal of Geology","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.5000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Scottish Journal of Geology","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1144/sjg2024-002","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q4","JCRName":"GEOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
The Lealt Shale Formation is known for its superb preservation of aragonitic molluscs. As fish otoliths are primarily composed of aragonite, and because of the semi-stable nature of this polymorph, records of otoliths become increasingly rare in deep time. Therefore, the Lealt Shale Formation provides a window through which to expand knowledge of Middle Jurassic otoliths. A total of 753 otoliths have been collected, representing ten species: three in
Archaeotolithus
, five in
Leptolepis
, one
Archengraulis
and a teleost incertae sedis (juveniles only). Four species are new:
Archaeotolithus eiggensis, Archaeotolithus invernizziae, Leptolepis flexuosus
and
Leptolepis skyensis
. Two species remain in open nomenclature and the remaining species are known from the Middle Jurassic of southern England and continental Europe:
Archaeotolithus doppelsteini
,
Leptolepis densus
,
Leptolepis rotundatus
and
Archengraulis productus
.
The Lealt Shale Formation was deposited in a low salinity lagoonal environment with variable freshwater influx and a likely tenuous link to marine waters resulting in a complex palaeosalinity history. The relevance of the specific environment for the composition of the fish fauna as documented by otoliths is discussed. The evolution of the otolith morphospace during the Jurassic is discussed in the light of the new finds.
期刊介绍:
Although published only since 1965, the Scottish Journal of Geology has a long pedigree. It is the joint publication of the Geological Society of Glasgow and the Edinburgh Geological Society, which prior to 1965 published separate Transactions: from 1860 in the case of Glasgow and 1863 for Edinburgh.
Traditionally, the Journal has acted as the focus for papers on all aspects of Scottish geology and its contiguous areas, including the surrounding seas. The publication policy has always been outward looking, with the Editors encouraging review papers and papers on broader aspects of the Earth sciences that cannot be discussed solely in terms of Scottish geology.
The diverse geology of Scotland continues to provide an important natural laboratory for the study of earth sciences; many seminal studies in geology have been carried out on Scottish rocks, and over the years the results of much of this work had been published in the Journal and its predecessors.
The Journal fully deserves its high reputation worldwide and intends to maintain its status in the front rank of publications in the Earth sciences.