Cenomanian Cretaceous Puy-Puy Lagerstätte Yields Vertebrate Fossils, Including a Feather

Vertebrate remains from the Cenomanian (Late Cretaceous) plant-bearing Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Charente-Maritime, France)

Authors:

1. Romain Vullo (a)
2. Didier Néraudeau (a)
3. Eric Dépré (b)

Affiliations:

a. Université Rennes 1, Géosciences, CNRS UMR 6118, Campus de Beaulieu, bât. 15, 263 avenue du Général Leclerc, 35042 Rennes cedex, France

b. 25 bis rue de Frace, 17290 Aigrefeuille-d'Aunis, France

Abstract:

The vertebrate remains from the early Cenomanian Lagerstätte of Puy-Puy (Tonnay-Charente, Charente-Maritime, France) are described. They consist of two hybodont shark egg capsules (Palaeoxyris sp.) and a single isolated body contour feather. The hybodont shark Tribodus is regarded as the most likely producer of the egg capsules, while the feather belonged to an indeterminate (avian or non-avian) theropod. These rare specimens are the first vertebrate fossils recovered from the plant-bearing clay of Puy-Puy and add to the short faunal list of the locality, thus providing important information for the palaeoecological reconstruction of this mid-Cretaceous paralic Lagerstätte. The fossils described here represent the first Cenomanian occurrence of Palaeoxyris and one of the very few records of Cenomanian feathers.