Dinosaur and pterosaur unguals from Rhaetian bonebed in Germany + Rhaetian vertebrates from Exter Formation bone beds in Germany + Mosasaurus type skull recovery in 1778 (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Jul 13, 2026, 5:12:58 PM (3 days ago) Jul 13
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Ben Creisler
John W.M. Jagt, Kevin Amendt, Lars P.J. Barten, Dylan Bastiaans, Rudi W. Dortangs, Bregtje Groenendijk, Frank Hovens & Eric W.A. Mulder (2026)
The recovery in October 1778 of the skull of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 (Squamata, Mosasauridae; upper Maastrichtian, the Netherlands) - a reconstruction
Deinsea 24: 22 - 32.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21056233
https://zenodo.org/records/21056233
Ever since the first mention and illustration, in 1798, of what was to become the type specimen of the late Maastrichtian marine monitor lizard, Mosasaurus hoffmanni, three decades later, the tale of its discovery, recovery, preparation and conservation has fascinated scientists and the general public alike. After having been lifted from the subterranean galleries of the Sint-Pietersberg near Maastricht, the limestone block with the skull came into the possession of canon Godding, who owned part of the galleries. The account of events presented by Barthélemy Faujas de Saint Fond, the geologist who arrived in Maastricht in January 1795 to assist the French revolutionary troops in procuring collections, has lately proved to be severely embellished, if not to say, altogether false. In the present paper, two issues are addressed. The first revolves around the fact that Godding quite possibly had additional skeletal remains of the same individual of which the skull was recovered; unfortunately, these must be presumed lost. The second pertains to the method used in extracting the block containing the skull. On the basis of fieldwork, as well as literature and archive studies, into the manner of block extraction in the Sint-Pietersberg subterranean galleries, two scenarios for the discovery and lifting of this particular block are proposed. The second scenario, here favoured, assumes a situation where workers (‘blokbrekers’ in Dutch) would have come across skeletal remains in a horizontal plane by breaking loose the lower (bottom) side of a block which would then have revealed pieces of the skeleton on the surface thus created. Following this, these skeletal remains, including the skull, were disengaged by working around them and the block containing the skull subsequently lifted in its entirety.
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Recent papers:
Julia Hack, Darius Nau, Achim Schwermann & P. Martin Sander (2026)
Two ornithodiran unguals from the Rhaetian bonebed of Warburg-Bonenburg (Germany): Possible evidence for dinosaurs and pterosaurs
Geologie und Palaeontologie in Westfalen 99: 1-21
doi: https://doi.org/10.64369/mkcm4334
https://www.lwl-naturkundemuseum-muenster.de/de/doi/journals/1/issues/1/articles/1/
Free pdf:
https://doi.lwl.info/media/articles/pdfs/2026_GPW99_1-21.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/408456126_Two_ornithodiran_unguals_from_the_Rhaetian_bonebed_of_Warburg-Bonenburg_Germany_Possible_evidence_for_dinosaurs_and_pterosaurs
The clay pit of the Lücking Company near Warburg-Bonenburg (Höxter District, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) includes multiple bone beds within the Rhaetian Exter Formation. These provide records of a wide range of Late Triassic marine vertebrates. However, so far, a single tooth of a cynodont and a presumable sphenodont jaw fragment are the only terrestrial records among the fauna of otherwise marine and limnic affinity. Here we describe two unguals from Bone Bed 2 of this locality, which are not referable to any taxon previously identified from this fossil site. The larger of the two most closely resembles unguals of early-branching sauropodomorphs, especially Plateosaurus or Massospondylus. Although theropods cannot be fully excluded, we tentatively identify the smaller ungual as that of a pterosaur. This is suggested by morphological features, including the presence of sharp edges on the ventral margin, and by morphometric evidence. The described specimens represent the first record of either taxon for the locality of Bonenburg. Furthermore, they not only constitute one of the geologically youngest fossils of a non-sauropod sauropodomorph from Europe but also potentially the largest Triassic pterosaur.
====
Free pdf:
P. Martin Sander, Julia Gravendyck, Julia Hack, Josephina Hartung, Jelle Heijne, René Kindlimann, Dorota Konietzko-Meier, Tim Lamsfuß, Darius Nau, Marcello Perillo, Andrea Prino, Tanja Schaaf & Achim H. Schwermann (2026)
Late middle Rhaetian vertebrates from Exter Formation bone beds of Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany): Implications for the end-Triassic extinction event
Geologie und Palaeontologie in Westfalen 99: 23-68
doi: https://doi.org/10.64369/tfku3347
https://www.lwl-naturkundemuseum-muenster.de/de/doi/journals/1/issues/1/articles/2/
Free pdf
https://doi.lwl.info/media/articles/pdfs/2026_GPW99_23-68.pdf
There is a long history of collecting and studying Rhaetian marine condensation horizons rich in vertebrate remains, termed “bone beds”, in Central and Western Europe. However, most outcrops are small and ephemeral. The recently discovered Rhaetian bone beds at the village of Warburg-Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany) have been systematically excavated since 2015, producing a wealth of primarily marine fossils, both in terms of number of specimens and taxonomic diversity. In addition, the richest bone bed (Bone Bed 2) has been dated with high precision to the late middle Rhaetian (ca. 203 million years) based on palynostratigraphy. We here review the finds from the locality and their implications for our understanding of Rhaetian marine and terrestrial vertebrate faunas and the end-Triassic extinction event (ETEE), updating our 2016 report. In general, the Bonenburg fauna is similar to many other Rhaetian bone beds. Selachian diversity is high and rare new elements are represented. Among osteoichthyans, the birgeriid Severnichthys and, in particular, mawsoniid coelacanth fossils are important elements. Many of the latter were previously assigned to the enigmatic reptile Pachystropheus. Although the presence of temnospondyl remains in European Rhaetian bone beds has been questioned, such remains are common in Bonenburg. They pertain to at least two taxa of capitosauroids, including cf. Cyclotosaurus, and to plagiosaurids, including Plagiosaurus. Ichthyosaur remains are common as well, the most distinctive of which are large but very short shastasaurid vertebral centra and fragments of cortical bone of the giant shastasaurid cf. Ichthyotitan. Vertebrae and long bones of bona fide and presumed plesiosaurians are the most abundant remains of large-bodied vertebrates. At least three taxa are represented in Bonenburg based on vertebral morphology, body size and ontogenetic stage, as indicated by bone histology and neurocentral suture fusion. The most common reptilian remains, however, are vertebrae and long bones of Pachystropheus rhaeticus E. v. Huene 1935, which is interpreted either as the geologically oldest choristodere or as the youngest surviving thalattosaur. Humeri are up to 16 cm long. Continental input is represented by rare sphenodontid and non-mammalian synapsid remains, a phytosaur osteoderm, a pterosaur ungual and a sauropodomorph dinosaur ungual resembling Plateosaurus. The Bonenburg fauna is important because of the unequivocally last global occurrence of certain taxa (i.e., non-brachyopoid temnospondyls and phytosaurs) and the unequivocally Triassic occurrence of others (i.e., plesiosaurians). The Bonenburg records of non-brachyopid temnospondyls, giant shastasaurid ichthyosaurs, Pachystropheus and phytosaurs suggest a severe vertebrate mass extinction at the end of the Triassic as opposed to gradual extinction during the Late Triassic. A strong reduction in plesiosaurian body size is similarly suggestive of a mass extinction.
====
=======
Free pdf:
Free pdf:
Julia Hack, Darius Nau, Achim Schwermann & P. Martin Sander (2026)
Two ornithodiran unguals from the Rhaetian bonebed of Warburg-Bonenburg (Germany): Possible evidence for dinosaurs and pterosaurs
Geologie und Palaeontologie in Westfalen 99: 1-21
doi: https://doi.org/10.64369/mkcm4334
https://www.lwl-naturkundemuseum-muenster.de/de/doi/journals/1/issues/1/articles/1/
Free pdf:
https://doi.lwl.info/media/articles/pdfs/2026_GPW99_1-21.pdf
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/408456126_Two_ornithodiran_unguals_from_the_Rhaetian_bonebed_of_Warburg-Bonenburg_Germany_Possible_evidence_for_dinosaurs_and_pterosaurs
The clay pit of the Lücking Company near Warburg-Bonenburg (Höxter District, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany) includes multiple bone beds within the Rhaetian Exter Formation. These provide records of a wide range of Late Triassic marine vertebrates. However, so far, a single tooth of a cynodont and a presumable sphenodont jaw fragment are the only terrestrial records among the fauna of otherwise marine and limnic affinity. Here we describe two unguals from Bone Bed 2 of this locality, which are not referable to any taxon previously identified from this fossil site. The larger of the two most closely resembles unguals of early-branching sauropodomorphs, especially Plateosaurus or Massospondylus. Although theropods cannot be fully excluded, we tentatively identify the smaller ungual as that of a pterosaur. This is suggested by morphological features, including the presence of sharp edges on the ventral margin, and by morphometric evidence. The described specimens represent the first record of either taxon for the locality of Bonenburg. Furthermore, they not only constitute one of the geologically youngest fossils of a non-sauropod sauropodomorph from Europe but also potentially the largest Triassic pterosaur.
====
Free pdf:
P. Martin Sander, Julia Gravendyck, Julia Hack, Josephina Hartung, Jelle Heijne, René Kindlimann, Dorota Konietzko-Meier, Tim Lamsfuß, Darius Nau, Marcello Perillo, Andrea Prino, Tanja Schaaf & Achim H. Schwermann (2026)
Late middle Rhaetian vertebrates from Exter Formation bone beds of Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany): Implications for the end-Triassic extinction event
Geologie und Palaeontologie in Westfalen 99: 23-68
doi: https://doi.org/10.64369/tfku3347
https://www.lwl-naturkundemuseum-muenster.de/de/doi/journals/1/issues/1/articles/2/
Free pdf
https://doi.lwl.info/media/articles/pdfs/2026_GPW99_23-68.pdf
There is a long history of collecting and studying Rhaetian marine condensation horizons rich in vertebrate remains, termed “bone beds”, in Central and Western Europe. However, most outcrops are small and ephemeral. The recently discovered Rhaetian bone beds at the village of Warburg-Bonenburg (Westphalia, Germany) have been systematically excavated since 2015, producing a wealth of primarily marine fossils, both in terms of number of specimens and taxonomic diversity. In addition, the richest bone bed (Bone Bed 2) has been dated with high precision to the late middle Rhaetian (ca. 203 million years) based on palynostratigraphy. We here review the finds from the locality and their implications for our understanding of Rhaetian marine and terrestrial vertebrate faunas and the end-Triassic extinction event (ETEE), updating our 2016 report. In general, the Bonenburg fauna is similar to many other Rhaetian bone beds. Selachian diversity is high and rare new elements are represented. Among osteoichthyans, the birgeriid Severnichthys and, in particular, mawsoniid coelacanth fossils are important elements. Many of the latter were previously assigned to the enigmatic reptile Pachystropheus. Although the presence of temnospondyl remains in European Rhaetian bone beds has been questioned, such remains are common in Bonenburg. They pertain to at least two taxa of capitosauroids, including cf. Cyclotosaurus, and to plagiosaurids, including Plagiosaurus. Ichthyosaur remains are common as well, the most distinctive of which are large but very short shastasaurid vertebral centra and fragments of cortical bone of the giant shastasaurid cf. Ichthyotitan. Vertebrae and long bones of bona fide and presumed plesiosaurians are the most abundant remains of large-bodied vertebrates. At least three taxa are represented in Bonenburg based on vertebral morphology, body size and ontogenetic stage, as indicated by bone histology and neurocentral suture fusion. The most common reptilian remains, however, are vertebrae and long bones of Pachystropheus rhaeticus E. v. Huene 1935, which is interpreted either as the geologically oldest choristodere or as the youngest surviving thalattosaur. Humeri are up to 16 cm long. Continental input is represented by rare sphenodontid and non-mammalian synapsid remains, a phytosaur osteoderm, a pterosaur ungual and a sauropodomorph dinosaur ungual resembling Plateosaurus. The Bonenburg fauna is important because of the unequivocally last global occurrence of certain taxa (i.e., non-brachyopoid temnospondyls and phytosaurs) and the unequivocally Triassic occurrence of others (i.e., plesiosaurians). The Bonenburg records of non-brachyopid temnospondyls, giant shastasaurid ichthyosaurs, Pachystropheus and phytosaurs suggest a severe vertebrate mass extinction at the end of the Triassic as opposed to gradual extinction during the Late Triassic. A strong reduction in plesiosaurian body size is similarly suggestive of a mass extinction.
====
Free pdf:
John W.M. Jagt, Kevin Amendt, Lars P.J. Barten, Dylan Bastiaans, Rudi W. Dortangs, Bregtje Groenendijk, Frank Hovens & Eric W.A. Mulder (2026)
The recovery in October 1778 of the skull of Mosasaurus hoffmanni Mantell, 1829 (Squamata, Mosasauridae; upper Maastrichtian, the Netherlands) - a reconstruction
Deinsea 24: 22 - 32.
DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.21056233
https://zenodo.org/records/21056233
Ever since the first mention and illustration, in 1798, of what was to become the type specimen of the late Maastrichtian marine monitor lizard, Mosasaurus hoffmanni, three decades later, the tale of its discovery, recovery, preparation and conservation has fascinated scientists and the general public alike. After having been lifted from the subterranean galleries of the Sint-Pietersberg near Maastricht, the limestone block with the skull came into the possession of canon Godding, who owned part of the galleries. The account of events presented by Barthélemy Faujas de Saint Fond, the geologist who arrived in Maastricht in January 1795 to assist the French revolutionary troops in procuring collections, has lately proved to be severely embellished, if not to say, altogether false. In the present paper, two issues are addressed. The first revolves around the fact that Godding quite possibly had additional skeletal remains of the same individual of which the skull was recovered; unfortunately, these must be presumed lost. The second pertains to the method used in extracting the block containing the skull. On the basis of fieldwork, as well as literature and archive studies, into the manner of block extraction in the Sint-Pietersberg subterranean galleries, two scenarios for the discovery and lifting of this particular block are proposed. The second scenario, here favoured, assumes a situation where workers (‘blokbrekers’ in Dutch) would have come across skeletal remains in a horizontal plane by breaking loose the lower (bottom) side of a block which would then have revealed pieces of the skeleton on the surface thus created. Following this, these skeletal remains, including the skull, were disengaged by working around them and the block containing the skull subsequently lifted in its entirety.
====
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