Trossingen Formation

The Trossingen Formation, formerly the Knollenmergel, is a geological formation in Germany. It dates back to the late Norian.[1]

Trossingen Formation Stratigraphic range: Norian-Rhaetian
Excavation in 1912
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Keuper
Sub-units	Knollenmergel Member
Underlies	Exter Formation
Overlies	Löwenstein Formation
Thickness	55- 60 m in Franconia, 10 m in southern Wuttemberg
Lithology
Primary	Claystone
Location
Region	Europe
Country	Germany

Vertebrate fauna

Fauna of the Trossingen formation

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.

Dinosaurs of the Trossingen Formation
genus	species	location	material	Notes	Images
Plateosaurus[2]	P. erlenbergiensis		"Partial skull and skeleton."[3]		cf. Liliensternus Plateosaurus specimens from Trossingen Pterospondylus Plateosaurus
	P. longiceps[2]	Sachsen-Anhalt[4] Biedersachsen[5]		Includes "cf. Palaeosaurus ?diagnosticus."[4]
	P. plieningeri		"Partial skeleton."[3]
	P. quenstedti		"Partial skeleton."[3]
	P. engelhardti[1]			Includes P. longiceps, P. fraasianus, P. integer, P. trossingensis.[1][6][7][8][9][10]
Prosauropoda[1]	Indeterminate remains.[1]			Includes P. plieningeri, P. quenstedti and, Gresslyosaurus robustus. "Pachysaurus" species P. ajax, P. giganteus, P. magnus, P. reiningeri, and P. wetzelianus[1] Several of these may belong to Plateosaurus engelhardti
Pterospondylus[11]	P. trielbae		Known from a Vertebra.
Gresslyosaurus[12]	G. ingens		"Incomplete sacrum, caudals, metacarpal, partial hindlimb."[13]
	G. torgeri[12]	Kanton Baselland[12]	"Postcranial skeleton."[13]	Indeterminate prosauropod remains.[12] A referred skull was once known but has since been lost.[13]
Halticosaurus[14]	H. liliensterni[15]	Thuringen[15]
	H. longotarsus[4]	Sachsen-Anhalt[4]		Indeterminate ceratosaur remains.[4]
Liliensternus[15]	L. liliensterni[15]	Thuringen[15]	Two partial skeletons of subadults.[16]	"(=Halticosaurus liliensterni)"[15]
Pachysaurus	P. ajax		"Partial skeleton."[13]
	P. magnus		"Fragmentary skeleton."[13]
	P. wetzelianus		"Fragmentary skeletons."[13]
Palaeosaurus[17]	P. diagnosticus[17]	Sachsen-Anhalt[4]		Actually Plateosaurus longiceps remains.[4]
Ruehleia[15]	R. bedheimensis[15]	Thuringen[15]	"Nearly complete skeleton, [two] incomplete skeletons, juvenile to adult."[18]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

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. "17.1 Biedersachsen, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel" and "17.4 Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
3. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 237.
4. "17.4 Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
5. "17.1 Biedersachsen, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
6. Huene, F. von (1928). "Lebensbild des Saurischier-Vorkommens im obersten Keuper von Trossingen in Württemberg" ["Pictures of the life of the Saurischia present in the upper-most Keuper of Trossingen in Württemberg"]. Palaeobiologica 1:103–116 [German]
7. Huene, F. von (1932). "Die fossile Reptil-Ordnung Saurischia, ihre Entwicklung und Geschichte" ["The fossil order of reptiles Saurischia, their development and history"]. Monographien zur Geologie und Paläontologie 4:1–361 [German]
8. Galton, P.M. (1984). "Cranial anatomy of the prosauropod dinosaur Plateosaurus from the Knollenmergel (Middle Keuper, Upper Triassic) of Germany. I. Two complete skulls from Trossingen/Württ. With comments on the diet". Geologica et Palaeontologica 18:139–171
9. Moser, M. (2003). "Plateosaurus engelhardti Meyer, 1837 (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) aus dem Feuerletten (Mittelkeuper; Obertrias) von Bayern" ["Plateosaurus engelhardti Meyer, 1837 (Dinosauria, Sauropodomorpha) from the Feuerletten (Mittelkeuper; Obertrias) of Bavaria"]. Zitteliana Reihe B, Abhandlungen der Bayerischen Staatssammlung für Paläontologie und Geologie 24:1–186 [German with extended English summary]
10. Yates, A.M. (2003). "Species taxonomy of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the Löwenstein Formation (Norian, Late Triassic) of Germany". Palaeontology 46(2):317–337.
11. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 50.
12. "18.1 Kanton Baselland, Switzerland; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
13. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 236.
14. "17.4 Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel" and "17.5 Thuringen, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
15. "17.5 Thuringen, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
16. "Table 3.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 48.
17. Listed as "cf. Palaeosaurus ?diagnosticus" in "17.4 Sachsen-Anhalt, Germany; 1. Knollenmergel," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 524.
18. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 235.

Further reading

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