The Turritellenplatte of Ermingen ("Erminger Turritellenplatte" near Ulm,

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

) is a type of very rich, fossil-bearing rock which is of particular interest to

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the structure, composition, and History of Earth, history of Earth. Geologists incorporate techniques from physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics, and geography to perform research in the Field research, ...

s and

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

s. It occurs in a very restricted outcrop and is protected in its entirety as a natural monument. This outcrop of these marine sedimentary rocks is situated in the northern part of the North Alpine Foreland Basin (NAFB) and it is famous for a superabundance of shells of the

sea snail Sea snails are slow-moving marine (ocean), marine gastropod Mollusca, molluscs, usually with visible external shells, such as whelk or abalone. They share the Taxonomic classification, taxonomic class Gastropoda with slugs, which are distinguishe ...

'' Turritella turris'', a marine

gastropod Gastropods (), commonly known as slugs and snails, belong to a large Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic class of invertebrates within the phylum Mollusca called Gastropoda (). This class comprises snails and slugs from saltwater, freshwater, and fro ...

mollusk Mollusca is a phylum of protostomic invertebrate animals, whose members are known as molluscs or mollusks (). Around 76,000 extant species of molluscs are recognized, making it the second-largest animal phylum after Arthropoda. The ...

in the

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

Turritellidae Turritellidae, with the common name "tower shells" or "tower snails", is a Taxonomy (biology), taxonomic family (biology), family of small- to medium-sized sea snails, marine gastropod molluscs in the Sorbeoconcha clade. They are filter feeders; ...

. The fauna of this gastropod-rich sandstone reflects mainly near-coastal and shallow marine conditions. Petrographical and palaeontological data allow a correlation of the ''Turritellenplatte'' of Ermingen with

Burdigalian The Burdigalian is, in the geologic timescale, an age (geology), age or stage (stratigraphy), stage in the early Miocene. It spans the time between 20.43 ± 0.05 annum, Ma and 15.97 ± 0.05 Ma (million years ago). Preceded by the Aquitanian (sta ...

(Lower

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

). The Sr-isotope composition of

shark Sharks are a group of elasmobranch cartilaginous fish characterized by a ribless endoskeleton, dermal denticles, five to seven gill slits on each side, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the ...

teeth in the deposit suggests an age of about 18.5 million years for the ''Turritellenplatte'' of Ermingen. Johannes Baier: ''Ein Beitrag zur Erminger Turritellenplatte (Mittlere Schwäbische Alb, SW-Deutschland).'' - Jahresbericht Mitt. oberrhein. geol. Ver., N.F. 90, 9-17; Stuttgart, 2008.
Abstract

References

{{coord, 48.389, N, 9.893, E, display=title, source:dewiki Paleontological sites of Europe Turritellidae