Environmental Disturbances at the End of the Early Jurassic

Section: Palaeontology

Responsible staff: Ben Thuy

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

The end of the Early Jurassic, i.e.  the Pliensbachian and Toarcian intervals, was a period of global environmental change.

Following climatic shifts comparable to today’s global warming, Jurassic ecosystems were forced to adapt, leading to intense faunal turnover. The rock record of Luxembourg provides an exceptionally complete and important archive of these geological intervals.

It therefore allows detailed study of the causes and effects of these ancient environmental disturbances.

In this project, we explore various aspects of environmental and faunal change during the Early Jurassic.

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

Fuchs, D., Weis, R. & Thuy, B. Simoniteuthis, a new vampyromorph coleoid with prey in its arms from the Early Jurassic of Luxembourg. Swiss J Palaeontol 143, 6 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-024-00303-y

Di Cencio, A. & Weis, R. (2023). Re-description of Lingularia longoviciensis (Terquem, 1851), a small-sized brachiopod (Lingulidae) from the lower Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of the NE Paris Basin. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie – Abhandlungen, 310, 1 – 12.

Heads, S.W., Thuy, B. & Tamarri, J. (2022): Two new species of Archelcana (Orthoptera, Elcanidae) from the Lower Jurassic of Luxembourg. Kentiana, 1: 1-13.

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

De Baets, K., Nätscher, P.S., Rita, P. et al. The impact of the Pliensbachian–Toarcian crisis on belemnite assemblages and size distribution. Swiss J Palaeontol 140, 25 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-021-00242-y

Rita, P., Weis, R., Duarte, L. V., & De Baets, K. (2021). Taxonomical diversity and palaeobiogeographical affinity of belemnites from the Pliensbachian-Toarcian GSSP (Lusitanian Basin, Portugal). Papers in Palaeontology, 7(3), 1321–1349.

Thuy, B. & Numberger-Thuy, L.D. (2021): Brittlestar diversity at the dawn of the Jenkyns Event (early Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event): new microfossils from the Dudelange drill core, Luxembourg. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 514: 83 – 119. https://doi.org/10.1144/SP514-2021-3

Li, Q., McArthur, J.M., Thirlwall, M.F., Turchyn, A.V., Page, K., Bradbury, H.J., Weis, R. & Lowry, D. (2021). Testing for ocean acidification during the Early Toarcian using δ44/40Ca and δ88/86Sr. Chemical Geology, 574, 120228.

McArthur, J.M.; Page, K.; Duarte, L.V.; Thirlwall, M.F.; Li, Q.; Weis, R.; Comas-Rengifo, M.J. (2020). Sr-isotope stratigraphy (87Sr/86Sr) of the lowermost Toarcian of Peniche, Portugal, and its relation to ammonite zonations. Newsletters on Stratigraphy, 53, 297 – 312.