Palaeobiology of Triassic and Jurassic Vertebrates

Section: Palaeontology

Responsible staff: Ben Thuy

Research strategy: Understanding and Preserving Nature, Society and Natural History

The palaeontological collection of the MNHNL houses a large number of Jurassic and Triassic vertebrates, including marine reptiles, fishes and amphibians.

Two parts of the MNHNL’s fossil‑vertebrate collection are particularly significant:

1) Fossil fishes and marine reptiles from the Lower Jurassic “schistes‑carton”.
Some of these specimens are unique worldwide, either because they belong to species known only from the Luxembourg region or because of their exceptional preservation. Studying these fossils provides important information on vertebrate evolution and can also yield scientific results of great public interest.

2) Amphibians and microvertebrates from the Upper Triassic. Various bonebeds—accumulations of bones and teeth within specific rock layers—offer exceptional insights into the vertebrate fauna of the Late Triassic.

Recent publications :

Weis, R., Delsate, D., Klug, C. et al. Pachycormid fish fed on octobrachian cephalopods: new evidence from the ‘Schistes bitumineux’ (early Toarcian) of southern Luxembourg. Swiss J Palaeontol 143, 5 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-023-00295-1

Bonnevier Wallstedt, I., Sjövall, P., Thuy, B., De La Garza, R.G., Eriksson, M.E. & Lindgren, J. (2024): Skin Anatomy, Bone Histology and Taphonomy of a Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) Ichthyosaur (Reptilia: Ichthyopterygia) from Luxembourg, with Implications for Paleobiology. Diversity, 2024, 16, 492. https://doi.org/10.3390/d16080492

Sachs, S., Madzia, D., Thuy, B., Kear, B.P. (2023): The rise of macropredatory pliosaurids near the Early-Middle Jurassic transition. Scientific Reports, 13: 17558 https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43015-y

Greenfield, T., Delsate, D. & Candoni, L. (2022) Toarcibatidae fam. nov., a replacement for the unavailable name Archaeobatidae Delsate & Candoni, 2001 (Chondrichthyes, Batomorphii). Zootaxa, 5195 (5), 499–500. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5195.5.8

Fischer, V., Laboury, A., Bernacki, K., Garbay, L., Gillen, Y., Rollinger, C., Thill, A., Weis, R. & Thuy, B. (2022): A fragmentary leptonectid ichthyosaurian from the lower Pliensbachian of Luxembourg. Palaeontologia Electronica, 25, a24.

Laboury, A., Bennion, R.F., Thuy, B., Weis, R., Fischer, V. (2022): Anatomy and phylogenetic relationships of Temnodontosaurus zetlandicus (Reptilia: Ichthyosauria). Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society, 20, 1-23.

Fischer, V., Weis, R. & Thuy, B. (2021): Refining the marine reptile turnover at the Early–Middle Jurassic transition. PeerJ, 9:e10647 DOI 10.7717/peerj.10647.

Klug, C., Schweigert, G., Hoffmann, R. et al. Fossilized leftover falls as sources of palaeoecological data: a ‘pabulite’ comprising a crustacean, a belemnite and a vertebrate from the Early Jurassic Posidonia Shale. Swiss J Palaeontol 140, 10 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-021-00225-z