Löwenstein Formation

The Löwenstein Formation (Stubensandstein in Baden-Württemberg, Burgsandstein in Bavaria) is a lithostratigraphic formation of the Keuper in Germany. It is underlain by the Mainhardt Formation and overlain by the Trossingen Formation. It dates back to the middle Norian.[1]

Löwenstein Formation Stratigraphic range: Mid Norian (Alaunian) 215.6–212 Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Keuper
Underlies	Trossingen Formation
Overlies	Mainhardt Formation
Thickness	At least 80 m
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone
Other	Marl
Location
Region	Europe
Country	Germany
Extent	Bavaria, Baden-Württemberg

Vertebrate fauna

• Ceratodus elegans Vollrath, 1923, a lungfish from the Stubensandstein[2]
• Lisowicia, an elephant-sized dicynodont.

Archosaurs

Theropod tracks and an unnamed herrerasaur genus are known from the Lower Stubensandstein.[3]

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Archosaurs of the Stubensandstein
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Dolichosuchus[4]	D. cristatus[4]		Middle[4]	"Tibia."[5]	Actually indeterminate ceratosaur remains.[4]	Procompsognathus Life restoration of Plateosaurus gracilis, formerly known as Sellosaurus gracilis Teratosaurus Thecodontosaurus
Halticosaurus[4]	H. longotarsus[4]		Middle[4]	"Mandibular fragment, vertebrae, humerus, illium, femur, metatarsal."[5]	Actually indeterminate ceratosaur remains.[4]
Plateosaurus	P. giganteus			"Broad Lizard."[6]
Palaeosaurus[4]	P. diagnosticus [4]		Middle[4]		Actually Sellosaurus gracilis remains. Yates assigned the type material of Sellosaurus gracilis to Plateosaurus gracilis [7]
Procompsognathus[4]	P. triassicus[4]		Middle[4]	"Partial postcranial skeleton."[8]
Sellosaurus[9]	S. fraasi[4]		Middle[4]		Yates assigned the type material of Sellosaurus gracilis to Plateosaurus gracilis [7]
	S. gracilis[9]		Middle[4] Lower[3]	"[Twenty one] partial skeletons, isolated elements, [three] partial skulls, juvenile to adult."[6]	Yates assigned the type material of Sellosaurus gracilis to Plateosaurus gracilis [7]
Teratosaurus[4]	T. minor[4]		Middle[4]		Galton and Benton showed that Teratosaurus is actually a rauisuchian.[10][11]
	T. trossingensis[4]		Middle[4]		Galton and Benton showed that Teratosaurus is actually a rauisuchian.[10][11]
Thecodontosaurus[4]	T. hermannianus[4]		Middle[4]		Thecodontosaurus hermannianus was named by Huene (1905), and then recombined as Sellosaurus hermannianus by Huene (1914). Smith and Pol (2007) recombined it as Plateosaurus gracilis[12]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

Footnotes

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 521–525. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
2. Ceratodus elegans n. sp. aus dem Stubensandstein. P Vollrath, Jahresberichte und Mitteilungen des Oberrheinischen Geologischen Vereins, 1923
3. "17.2 Baden-Württemberg, Germany; 1. Lower Stubensandstein," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
4. "17.2 Baden-Württemberg, Germany; 2. Middle Stubensandstein," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
5. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 50.
6. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 236.
7. Yates, A.M. (2003). "Species taxonomy of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Löwenstein Formation (Norian, Late Triassic) of Germany". Palaeontology 46 (2): 317–337
8. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 48.
9. "17.2 Baden-Württemberg, Germany; '1. Lower Stubensandstein' and '2. Middle Stubensandstein,'" in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
10. Galton, P. M. (1985). "The poposaurid thecodontian Teratosaurus suevicus von Meyer, plus referred specimens mostly based on prosauropod dinosaurs". Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde, B, 116: 1-29.
11. Benton, M.J. (1986). "The late Triassic reptile Teratosaurus - a rauisuchian, not a dinosaur". Palaeontology 29: 293-301.
12. N. D. Smith and D. Pol. 2007. Anatomy of a basal sauropodomorph dinosaur from the Early Jurassic Hanson Formation of Antarctica. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 52(4):657-674

References

• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.