Palaeobiogeographic implications in the co-fauna of the World’s Largest Ammonite Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis (Landois, 1895)

The world’s largest ammonite, Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis (Landois, 1895), has fascinated the world ever since the discovery in 1895 of a specimen measuring 1.74 metres (m) in diameter near Seppenrade in Westfalia, Germany. Its co-fauna was describedin detail The species was also found in sections in Mexico and southern England. The high-resolution integrated stratigraphy allows for precise trans-Atlantic correlation of these occurrences, and the Tepeyac section in Mexico has become Associated Stratotype Section and Point for the base of the Campanian (Gale et al. 2023). It yields giant ammonites in original deposition context (Ifrim et al., 2021) together with a rich macrofossil assemblage (Ifrim and Stinnesbeck, 2021) which is correlated to other parts of the world by ammonoid and inoceramid stratigraphy and the stable carbon isotope curve. The ammonoids in the co-fauna of P.(P.) seppenradensis in Germany and Mexico show common and endemic species. They allow for the interpretation of partially unexpected paleobiogeographic relations.

References

Gale, A., Batenburg, S et al. 2023. The Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) of the Campanian Stage at Bottaccione (Gubbio, Italy) and its Auxiliary Sections: Seaford Head (UK), Bocieniec (Poland), Postalm (Austria), Smoky Hill, Kansas (U.S.A), Tepayac (Mexico). Episodes. doi: 10.18814/epiiugs/2022/022048.

Ifrim, C., Gale, A.S. et al. 2021. Ontogeny, Evolution and palaeobiogeographic distribution of Parapuzosia (P.) seppenradensis, the world's largest ammonite. PLoS ONE 16, e0258510. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258510.

Ifrim, C., Stinnesbeck, W., 2021. Ammonoids and their biozonation across the Santonian-Campanian boundary in north-eastern Coahuila, Mexico. Paleontologia Electronica 24.3.a34. doi: https://doi.org/10.26879/1046.