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Terebralia (horn snails) from "Fuggaberg-6", St. Josef, Austria, Styria


FranzBernhard

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Hello,

another fossil hunting trip to the "Florianer Schichten" in St. Josef, Styria, Austria (Styrian basin, Miocene - Langhian, ca. 15 Ma).

This time I went to a locality (Fuggaberg-6), that is dominated by the horn snails Terebralia lignitarum. This is one of the most common molluscs in the "Florianer Schichten", but only in some localities. The recent species Terebalia palustris is living in mangrove forests in the intertidal zone and is a herbivore.

I discovered this locality at 10/22/2016 and collected there at 04/22/2017. Now, about 1 1/2 years later, I visited it again. Not much was to see, it looked nearly natural again, so I had to scratch a few minutes to make an outcrop. I have done this scratching at 11/08/2018 and made the photos at 11/11/2018.

First "pic" is a geological overview of Styria with the position of St. Josef southwest of Graz.

Second "pic" is a map of the area, site "Fuggaberg-6" is near the "H" of Höllerkogel.

Third pic is an overview of the area with the outcrop in the center.

Fourth pic is the outcrop. Scale bar is 1x1 m, left of the green x is a layer rich in gastros, left of the red x is a layer rich in oysters.

Fifth pic is a detail of the outcrop. Terebralia are enriched in some spots, field of view is about 16 cm.

To be continued...

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Fuggaberg_6_11112018_Aufschluss_kompr.jpg

Fuggaberg_6_11112018_TerebraliaAufschluss_2_kompr.jpg

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First pic are some loose Terebralia from the bed left of the green x.

The second pic shows both valves of a giant oyster from the bed left of the red x - Crassostrea gryphoides. This oyster forms locally extensive beds in the "Florianer Schichten".

To be continued...

Fuggaberg_6_11112018_Terebralialose_kompr.jpg

Fuggaberg_6_11112018_CrassostreaGryphoides_kompr.jpg

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This last post shows some matrix specimens from this two hunting trips to Fuggaberg-6, St. Josef, Styria, Austria:

First pic is a specimen with two Terebralia lignitarum, specimen is about 9 cm wide.

Second pic is another specimen of this species, snail is about 4.5 cm long. Near the apex is a small arc clam, Barbatia barbata.

Thirth pic is also a Terebralia, but probably another species, perhaps T. duboisi. Its about 3 cm long.

Fourth pic: There are more molluscs in this outcrop, e.g. some mud snails Granulolabium bicintum. This is one of the most abundant gastros in the "Florianer Schichten", besides Turritella, Terebralia and Vitta. Wide of specimen is about 4 cm, one of the snails has a small oyster growing on it.

Fifth pic: There are also some bivalves in this site, the most abundant, beside the Crassostrea gryphoides, are tellinids and Anadara. This is a rather rare bivalve in the "Florianer Schichten", an arc clam Barbatia barbata. Wide of clam is about 15 mm. Nearby is a part of an Anadara diluvii.

Thats all, thanks for watching!
Franz Bernhard

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Pirenella_Fuggaberg6_kompr.jpg

BarbatiaBarbata_Fuggaberg6_a_kompr.jpg

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33 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Nice report and lovely specimens!:)

Thanks for sharing. 

Thanks! You are welcome!

Just ol´ molluscs, but I like them :).

10 minutes ago, FossilDAWG said:

Wonderful preservation! :wub: You also seem to have some nice variety of species there.

Thanks! Some are quite nicely preserved, some are not so...

There are about 200-300 mollusc species described from the "Florianer Schichten". But a revision is really overdue!

Franz Bernhard

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Now that's some detail! Those are beautiful.:wub:

Each dot is 50,000,000 years:

Hadean............Archean..............................Proterozoic.......................................Phanerozoic...........

                                                                                                                    Paleo......Meso....Ceno..

                                                                                                           Ꞓ.OSD.C.P.Tr.J.K..Pg.NgQ< You are here

Doesn't time just fly by?

 

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18 hours ago, UtahFossilHunter said:

Now that's some detail! Those are beautiful.:wub:

 

7 hours ago, Monica said:

Beautiful molluscs! :drool:

Thanks for your appreciations!
Despite being just ol´ gastros and bivs, I also like them very much.

Franz Bernhard

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Nice finds! The Gastros are beautiful! The matrix pieces are my favorite. 

Dipleurawhisperer5.jpg

I like Trilo-butts and I cannot lie.

 

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Nice spot you've found there! The preservation/concentration reminds me of the Whiskey Bridge site in Texas (which I've not been to but have some specimens from).

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21 hours ago, Darktooth said:

Nice finds! The Gastros are beautiful! The matrix pieces are my favorite. 

Thanks! I also like the matrix specimens more then the loose ones. And these gastros are super-abundant localy.

19 hours ago, Archie said:

Very interesting report and beautiful specimens :) 

Thanks for your appreciation! I am a little bit surprised, that so many of you find these snails beautiful. Maybe its the geometric chessboard pattern that is rather unusual and somewhat appealing?

As all of you may have noticed, these Terebralia are not really cleaned. But only the remaining dark matrix between the small rectangular, bright nodes makes them appealing. I have one or two of them totally cleaned, every bit of matrix between the nodes removed. Now, these are not so appealing anymore...

13 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Nice spot you've found there! The preservation/concentration reminds me of the Whiskey Bridge site in Texas (which I've not been to but have some specimens from).

Thanks! I have found several such rich spots in this area (about 30 km2) during about 2 years of prospecting :). Fossils are superabundant here, but outcrops are very rare... But now I have several dozens of spots to choose from; from many spots I have not even one fossil...

The diversity of molluscs is great (200-300 species are described), but some of them are clearly dominating in most outcrops (> 90%): Granulolabium bicinctum; Granulolabium plicatum; Turritella partschi; Terebralia lignitarum; Vitta picta; Crassostrea gryphoides, Tellinid bivalves (hard to collect, nearly always broken) and maybe Linga columbella. Some of them nearly exclude each other: E.g. Granulolabium and Turritella. They have different habitats, intertidal vs. shallow subtidal.

Franz Bernhard

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The pattern on these Terebralia certainly is very aesthetically pleasing and I definitely agree that leaving the matrix between the nodes highlights this all the more! 

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Those specimens are exquisite. I love the idea of modern looking shells in rock. Congratulations and thanks for sharing them.  

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I would take them either way, cleaned or not, but I do like a specimen in matrix, I suppose because it shows that it is a fossil and not a modern snail.  ;)

Do you consolidate your matrix with anything, or is it more or less firm enough without consolidant to hold up to handling?

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18 hours ago, Jeffrey P said:

Those specimens are exquisite. I love the idea of modern looking shells in rock. Congratulations and thanks for sharing them.

Thanks, you are welcome! And another matrix-fan out there ;)!

 

11 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

I do like a specimen in matrix

...and the next matrix fan :)!

 

11 hours ago, Wrangellian said:

Do you consolidate your matrix with anything, or is it more or less firm enough without consolidant to hold up to handling?

In most cases (>99%), the matrix is stable enough to allow easy handling without crumbling, no consolidation necessary. If it is not stable enough, I am applying a water-diluted multi-purpose glue to the still damp specimen. Thats usually sufficient.

But there is one exception: The tellinid bivalves. If you are lucky enough to recover a +/- complete one, the shells are usually cracked and tend to fall off the matrix when the specimen tries out. In this case, I am applying a few drops of water-diluted multi-purpose glue to the still damp shell. Thats sufficient to hold the fragmented shell stable on the matrix. Examples of such fragmented and stabilized shells:

https://www.franzbernhard.lima-city.de/Peronae_Panopea.html

Btw, the one in the lower left corner was one of the first of this type I have recovered. It looked stable, I did not stabilize it - a few weeks later, large parts have been fallen off...

Franz Bernhard

 

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16 hours ago, ynot said:

Neet looking shells.

Wonderful report, thanks for sharing.

You are welcome, ynot!

13 hours ago, jpc said:

Nice shells.  Looks like you have had a lot of fun looking for the elusive outcrops.  Good work.  

Thanks! Yes, discovering a new fossil site is always thrilling and satisfying.

Franz Bernhard

 

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Hi Franz Bernhard

this is a very interesting topic we have in the south of France very similar miocene outcrops
the mollusc fauna looks very similar

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21 hours ago, niber said:

we have in the south of France very similar miocene outcrops
the mollusc fauna looks very similar

Yes, very similar! Very nice, thanks for sharing!

This stuff is relatively abundant through central and southern Europe - Greetings from the Paratethys sea :).

Btw, if someone is interested in visiting "Fuggaberg-6", here are the directions, unfortunately in german (and with outdated taxonomy... ;).)

https://franzbernhard.lima-city.de/Fossilfundstellen_Internet_Fuggaberg_6.pdf

Franz Bernhard

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