Jörg Ansorge

• Dipl. Geol., Dr. rer. nat.
• Researcher at Universität Greifswald

We describe Cretobibio montsecensis, gen. et sp. nov. based on two female specimens from the Lower Cretaceous of Montsec, Spain. The new genus would key to the subfamily Pleciinae based on the presence of a short vein R 2+3 and slender legs. However, some characters suggest an affinity with Bibioninae, notably the weakening of R 2+3 , the oblique c...

The fossil record of Megaloptera (Insecta: Holometabola: Neuropterida) is very limited. Both megalopteran families, i.e., Corydalidae and Sialidae, have been found in the Eocene Baltic amber, comprising two named species in one genus of Corydalidae (Chauliodinae) and four named species in two genera of Sialidae. Here we report a new species of Chau...

Glacially dislocated fossiliferous clay – hitherto called Cyprina clay– and associated Pleistocene sediments are exposed at the northeastern German coast. They were uplifted as glacial rafts from a position of about 30 m below the sea level and incorporated into glaciotectonic complexes of Dornbusch (Hiddensee), Arkona (Rügen) and Greifswalder Oie...

Thyreophora is a clade of globally distributed herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs. The earliest forms are known from the Early Jurassic, and their latest surviving representatives witnessed the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. Throughout their evolutionary history, these ‘shield bearers’ became lumbering quadrupeds, evolved a wide array of bony arm...

We describe the oldest Kalligrammatidae, two distantly related species of different subfamilies from the Lower Jurassic (lower Toarcian) of Germany: Liassopsychops curvatus Bode, 1953, sit. nov. (Liassopsychopinae n. subfam.) and Ophtalmogramma klopschari n. gen. n. sp. (Kallihemerobiinae). They lived in warm and relatively dry conditions. Subfamil...

Pterosaurs are a well-known component of many Mesozoic fossil ecosystems worldwide. To date, marine and terrestrial faunal elements such as cephalopods, fish, marine reptiles, dinosaurs and insects have been discovered in the Lower Jurassic clay pit near Grimmen (Western Pomerania). A new fragmentary bone is thoroughly described herein and interpre...

The Lower Jurassic (lower Toarcian) Grimmen Formation (formerly known as "Green Series") of Mecklenburg and Western Pomerania (Northeast Germany) yielded two articulated anterior skeletons of fossil fish, which represent a new lepisosteiform genus and species: Mengius acutidens gen. et sp. nov. The new taxon is described. Osteology of the species i...

Throughout the Latest Triassic and the Early Jurassic, major changes in paleogeography, climate and eustatic sea-level impacted on the development of shelf depositional environments. Secular trends in environmental conditions were punctuated by transient perturbations that occurred in relation to large-scale volcanic events, such as the emplacement...

Extreme global warming and environmental changes associated with the Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE, ~183 Mya) profoundly impacted marine organisms and terrestrial plants. Despite the exceptionally elevated abundances of fossil insects from strata of this age, only assemblages from Germany and Luxembourg have been studied in...

First Upper Triassic dipterans (Nematocera) are described based on isolated wings from Fuchsberg near Seinstedt (Sevatian, uppermost Norian of Lower Saxony, Germany): Crivoptychoptera nebrias gen. et sp. nov. (Psychodomorpha, Ptychopteridae), Ptychopteridae incertae sedis, Dohloboyia triassica gen. et sp. nov. (Bibionomorpha, Boholdoyidae) and Chir...

Toarciconiopteryx dipterosimilis gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Toarcian of Grimmen (Western Pomerania, Germany) based on a hind wing. This enigmatic wing superficially resembles a dipteran forewing, but analysis in detail establishes that it belongs to the Neuroptera. We assign it to the Coniopterygidae with great confidence by its g...

Liassodites obsti gen. et sp. nov., an Early Jurassic member of Trachypachidae, is described from Western Pomerania (Germany). An epoxy resin transfer method is applied for the preparation of three-dimensionally preserved fossil. An annotated list of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic trachypachid genera was elaborated. For each trachypachid fossil member and...

We redescribe the holotype of Epigambria longipennis Handlirsch, 1939 from the Early Jurassic of Dobbertin (Germany), the type of the family Epigambriidae Handlirsch, 1939. Two other early Toarcian genera from Germany (Polyosmylus Ansorge, 1996 from Grimmen and Rasnitsyneura gen. nov., the type species R. aequabilis (Bode, 1953), comb. nov. from Sc...

We revise the genus Mesotipula Handlirsch, 1920 (Diptera, Limoniidae) described from the Lower Toarcian (Lower Jurassic) of Northeast Germany. Mesotipula was originally separated from other Architipulinae on the base of a bifurcated vein M 3 , which appeared artificial after the restudy of its holotype. Holotypes of all Limoniidae described by Hand...

During the archaeological investigations of the Slavic hill fort of Schwerin (Germany, Federal state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania) a considerable number of rhinoceros beetles (Oryctes nasicornis (LINNAEUS, 1758)) and lesser stag beetles (Dorcus parallelipipedus (LINNAEUS, 1758)) were excavated from mineral soil and organic rich layers of about 960...

Cretaceous flint pebbles found in the lime kiln of Lergrav and on the nearby beach (Rute parish, NE Gotland, Sweden) are late 19 th century ship ballast, most probably originating from the English Channel coast or the London Thames gravel. It is uncertain whether the ballast was directly introduced from England or via one of the ports at the southe...

Two archaeological excavation sites, Fundplatz 225 „Mischwasserspeicher“ and Fundplatz 290 „Ozeaneum“, located close to the medieval town centre of Stralsund at the Strelasund were investigated. Using methods of sedimentology and (micro)palaeontology, the aim of this study was the reconstruction of environmental changes from Mesolithic to Modern Ti...

Lepidopteran scales exhibit remarkably complex ultrastructures, many of which produce structural colors that are the basis for diverse communication strategies. Little is known, however, about the early evolution of lepidopteran scales and their photonic structures. We report scale architectures from Jurassic Lepidoptera from the United Kingdom, Ge...

Pathologies of fossils are often difficult to assign to specific causes based solely on their outer shape. For the first time, we applied high-resolution computed-tomography data (18.7 and 6.2 μm voxel size) to describe a pathological belemnite rostrum (Goniocamax sp.). The rostrum was collected from Lower Santonian deposits of Bavnodde (Denmark, B...

Twelve specimens of early Toarcian Mecoptera and Diptera from the vicinity of Wolfsburg were investigated for the present study. The material was found during house building activities in the 1980s at the locality Große Kley in Mörse, an urban district of the city of Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The specimens were found in calcareous nodules o...

A new genus and species of pycnodontiform fishes, Grimmenodon aureum, from marginal marine, marine-brackish lower Toarcian (Harpoceras exaratum ammonite subzone) clay deposits of Grimmen in northeastern Germany is described. The single specimen represents a diagnostic left prearticular dentition characterized by unique tooth arrangement and ornamen...

A coral bead chain from the Hanseatic City Greifswald (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germa-ny) from around 1300 was archaeometrically examined by non-destructive or minimally invasive methods. Thereby, this artefact was established as a genuine red coral from the Medi¬terranean Sea, and therefore corresponding trade routes towards central Europe can be s...

Fossil rich upper Liassic carbonate concretions (Toarcian, tenuicostatum-falciferum-zone) are rarely be found as glacial erratic boulders. Erratic boulders of so-called Grätensandstein (fishbone sandstone) can be dated by their ammonite content as bifrons and thouarcense zones, respectively. Upper Liassic (Toarcian) sandstones with concentrations o...

The butterfly fossil described by WANGRIN (1939) from a middle Oligocene Stettin sand nodule is a forgery. A recent brown butterfly (Nymhalidae: Satyrinae) was inserted into a gypsum matrix applied to the fracture surface of the nodule. Preserved in the gypsum is the imprint of the butterfly with wing scales and some chitinous leg remains.

Unconsolidated bentonites and carbonate-cemented volcanic ashes occur in northern Germany within the clay sequence of the Lamstedt and Schlieven Formations documented by several wells. Ash-bearing carbonate concretions (so-called cementstones) are also known from glacially transported rafts and erratic boulders on the Baltic Sea island Greifswalder...

Recent discovery of disarticulated sea cucumber material from Font de la Plata (Sierra del Montsec, Lleida, Catalonia, Spain) resulted in the identification of at least six holothurian taxa, belonging to the Apodida (Synaptidae, Chiridotidae), Molpadiida (?stem group Molpadiidae), and Aspidochirotida (Holothuriidae). Three new genera (Cruxopadia, E...

Mimamontsecia cretacea gen. nov. et sp. nov. and Chalicoridulum montsecensis gen. nov. et sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous deposits of Sierra del Montsec, north-eastern Spain are described. It is the first record of the family Mimarachnidae in Europe. Palaeobiogeographical and palaeoecological implications of the findings are discussed.

First record of the genus Ipsvicia (Hemiptera: Ipsviciidae) outside Gondwana - an Australian genus from the Upper Triassic of Germany Ipsvicia langenbergensis sp. n. (Hemiptera: Ipsviciidae) from the Upper Norian (Upper Triassic) deposits of the Langenberg near Seinstedt, Lower Saxony (Germany) is described and illustrated. This is the first defini...

  Several new taxa of snakeflies (Raphidioptera) are described from the Lower Cretaceous deposits of the Wealden, UK (Barremian), Montsec, Spain (Barremian) and the Crato Formation, Brazil (Aptian). Mesoraphidia ednae sp. nov. and M. hilli sp. nov. are described from the Wealden; Nanoraphidia lithographica sp. nov. and Iberoraphidia dividua gen. et...

Two new fossil species of Nymphidae (Neuroptera) are described: Nymphes georgei sp. nov. from the Early Eocene locality at Republic, Washington, U.S.A., and Pronymphes hoffeinsorum sp. nov. from Late Eocene Baltic amber. The assignment of the new Republic species to Nymphes Leach maintains some doubt. This is the first fossil record of the genus (o...

Two new fossil species of Nymphidae (Neuroptera) are described: Nymphes georgei sp. nov. from the Early Eocene locality at Republic, Washington, U.S.A., and Pronymphes hoffeinsorum sp. nov. from Late Eocene Baltic amber. The assignment of the new Republic species to Nymphes Leach maintains some doubt. This is the first fossil record of the genus (o...

FIGURE 2. Pronymphes hoffeinsorum sp. nov., photographs of holotype specimen BaB 1544 - 2. A, specimen as preserved. B, left wings (mainly the forewing visible). Scale bar = 2 mm.

FIGURE 3. Drawings of wings of Pronymphes hoffeinsorum sp. nov., holotype specimen BaB 1544 - 2. A, left forewing. B, right forewing. C, right hind wing. Trichosors and hairs omitted. Scale bar = 2 mm.

FIGURE 1. Hind wings of Nymphes georgei sp. nov. and N. aperta. A, photograph of holotype specimen SR 09 - 07 - 08. B, N. georgei sp. nov., holotype specimen SR 09 - 07 - 08. C, N. aperta (re-drawn from New, 1982: Fig. 42; vein labelling is ours). Scale bar = 5 mm (for A – B; C, scale not provided by New, 1982).

A new insect from a sequence called the 'Strohgelbe Kalke' of the Upper Buntsandstein (uppermost Röt; Early Anisian, early Middle Triassic) of Gambach on the River Main in Unterfranken (Lower Franconia), northern Bavaria (South Germany) is identified as Chauliodites cf. picteti Heer, 1865 (Grylloblattida: Chaulioditidae). A more detailed determinat...

Types of the Lower Jurassic cockroaches described by Geinitz, Scudder, Handlirsch and Bode from Germany and England are redescribed. Forty-five previously described Lower Toarcian cockroach species are synonymised into six species. The type genera of the Mesoblattinidae (Mesoblattina Geinitz, 1880) and Caloblattinidae (Caloblattina Handlirsch, 1906...

Recent excavations at the Eocene maar lake of Mahenge (Tanzania) by a German/Tanzanian team produced more than 1,900 fossil vertebrate, plant and trace fossils, among which fishes (51 %) make up the largest part, followed by plant remains (36 %). Surface outcrops of lacustrine sediments suggest that the Eocene crater lake was about 400 m in diamete...

Praeratavites daohugou Rasnitsyn, Ansorge & Zhang, gen. et sp. n., Grimmaratavites mirabilis Rasnitsyn, Ansorge & Zhang, gen. et sp. n., and Praeparyssites orientalis Rasnitsyn, Ansorge & Zhang, sp. n. are described from the Lower Jurassic (Lower Toarcian) of Grimmen, NE Germany (G. mirabilis) and Middle Jurassic of Daohugou. Karatavitidae Rasnitsy...

The grey-blue, plastic and non calcareous clay of Wobbanz (SE-Rügen) contains similar phosphatic and sideritic nodules as the Lower Eocene clay of Friedland and Pisede (Mecklenburg), as weil as the London Clay (or Tarras) of Fehmarn in Holstein (NW-Germany). The ichnofossil assemblage of the flat sideritic concretions indicates a sedimentation of t...

The grey-blue, plastic and non calcareous clay of Wobbanz (SE-Rügen) contains similar phosphatic and sideritic nodules as the Lower Eocene clay of Friedland and Pisede (Mecklenburg), as well as the London Clay (or Tarras) of Fehmarn in Holstein (NW-Germany). The ichnofossil assemblage of the flat sideritic concretions indicates a sedimentation of t...

Insect remains occur in the Lias nodules of the Ahrensburg geschiebe assemblage first of all in elegantulum- nodules and in lesser respect in siemensi- nodules. Most common are isolated beetle elytra, which were washed to the sea by rivers draining Fennoscandia to the South. Heterothemis brodiei (BUCKMAN, 1843) comb. nov. [Odonata: Liassogomphidae]...

An incomplete skull of the lower Toarcian ichthyosaurStenopterygius cf.quadriscissus is described from the lower Toarcian of Dobbertin (Mecklenburg, northeastern Germany). It represents both the northeasternmost occurrence of this ichthyosaur genus and the first diagnostic specimen from East Germany. It therefore extends the palaeobiogeographic ran...

Zusammenfassung: Aufgrund neuen umfangreichen Materials wurden die Magensteine von Baddeckenstedt im nördlichen Harzvorland erneut untersucht. Das Vorkommen Kreide-zeitlicher Magensteine umfasst Material von der Sand- bis in die Steinfraktion. Form und Oberflächen-Beschaf- fenheit der Magensteine zeigen, dass es sich um vormalige Gerölle handelt. A...

An archaeological excavation in the old Hanse town Greifswald in Northeastern Germany revealed muddy sediments rich in molluscs and ostracods from the pre-industrial period. The sample was taken from the town moat of the old fortification system. A faunistic and floristic analysis by means of palaeoecological methods as well as comparison with the...

Lower Toarcian insect localities of Middle Europe and England are reviewed. The insects come from carbonate concretions (falciferum zone) which are intercalated in Northern Gerrnany within the marine clay of the "Green Series " and elsewhere in the Posidonia Shale. Beside one spider and one scorpion, insects of 21 orders were recognized. The specie...

Three new hymenopteran species are described from different Lower Toarcian localities of Northern Germany. Xyelula benderi (Scpulcidae, Symphyta) is based on three isolated fore-wings. Wingless bodies of six females and one male are tentatively attributed to this species. Brigittepterus brauckmanni n. g. n. sp. and Thilopterus lampei n. g. n. sp. a...

The unicorn beetle Oryctes nasicornis L. was recorded in large quantities in wasted tan (milled oak bark), which was used short after 1385 AD as filling material on the vaulting in the town hall of Stralsund (Germany, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern). This medieval record indicates that the synanthropoid unicorn beetle appeared much earlier than previously...

The holotype of Metaxybittacus (?) decipiens BODE, 1953 from the Lower Toarcian of Hondelage (Lower Saxony) is revised and transferred from Mecoptera: Neorthophlebiidae to the genus Praemacrochile KALUGINA, 1985 (Diptera: Tanyderidae). Additonal wing material of Praemacrochile decipiens ( BODE 1953) is described from Schandelah (Lower Saxony) and D...

Dobbertinia reticulata HANDLIRSCH 1920 from the Lower Toarcian of Dobbertin is redescribed. Originally described as a mecopteran in the family Dobbertiniidae, the species is now considered as the oldest known representative of Sialidae (Megaloptera). Accordingly Dobbertiniidae is regarded as a synonym of Sialidae. Austrosialis sp. from the Paleocen...

Vitisma occidentalis sp. nov. from the Lower Cretaceous of Spain, closely related to V. rasnitsyni from the Lower Cretaceous of Siberia, is described based on isolated forewings. An isolated hindwing is tentatively attributed to the same species. Besides representatives of the Blattulidae and Mesoblattinidae, two similar species of Polyphagidae, on...

Metatrichopteridium confusum HANDLIRSCH, 1939 from the Upper Liassic of Dobbertin (Mecklenburg, Germany) is revised and recognized as a representative of the Hennigmatidae. Hennigma SHCHERBAKOV, 1995, with its type species H. cladistorum from the lowermost Cretaceous of Mongolia, is a junior synonym of Metatrichopteridium. The family Hennigmatidae...

Four new Lower Cretaceous species of the rhagionid genus Ptiolinites are described: Ptiolinites heidiae sp. nov. and P. raypearcei sp. nov. from southern England, P almuthae sp. nov. from Spain and P. oudatchinae sp. nov. from northern Transbaikalia. Re-evaluation of the antennal structure allows us to assign Ptiolinites to the subfamily Rhagionina...

Four new species of Hymenoptera are described from the Early Cretaceous (Lower Barremian) lithographic limestones of the Sierra del Montsec (Lérida Province, NE Spain):Prosyntexis montsecensis n. sp. (Sepulcidae),Manlaya lacabrua n. sp. (Gasteruptiidae),Meiagaster cretaceus n. gen., n. sp. (Bethylonymidae),Angarosphex lithographicus n. sp. (Sphecid...

Prohirmoneura jurassica HANDLIRSCH 1906 (Diptera: Nemestrinidae) from the Lower Tithonian Lithographic limestones of Eichstätt (Bavaria) is redescribed. A checklist of the known fossil Nemestrinoidea is given.

Prosepididontus calopteryx HANDLIRSCH 1920, from the upper Lower Jurassic of Germ a ny, is transferred from Trichoptera to Grylloblattida: Geinitziidae. The anal loop like structure of Prosepididontus calopteryx is built of the concave CuP and two anal veins. Prosepididontidae HANDLIRSCH, 1920 is synonymised under Geinitziidae HANDLIRSCH, 1906.

Two new hymenoterans are described from the Lower Barremian lithographic limestones of Sierra del Montsec (Lleida, Spain), Leridatoma pulcherrimapulcherima n.gen., n.sp. (Xyelotomidae RASNITSYN, 1968) that combines the most and the least advanced character states in the family (in structure of antenna and fore wing RS, respectively), and Cretephial...

Aenne Iiasina gen. et sp. n. the earliest lineage of chironomids is described based on isolated wings from the Lower Jurassic (Lower Toarcian) of Grimmen (NE Germany). The proposed new subfamily Aenneinae subfam. n. is probably the sistergroup of all other chironomids. The Middle Jurassic family Luanpingitidae ZHANG, 1986 is recognized as a junior...

The age of the erratic chalk deposit of Quitzin (Western Pomerania) is determined by the microfauna as early Lower Maastrichtian. The microfauna is highly diverse. ln an appendix the foraminifers, ostracods, holothurians and articulate brachiopods are listed, other microfauna is shortly discussed. The environment of the Quitzin chalk is characteriz...

Abstract The holotype ofSchesslitziella haupti Kuhn 1952 from the Upper Liassic of northern Franconia is redescribed. The species is considered a representative of the Chresmodellinae (Phasmatodea: Aerophasmatidae).Chresmodella Bode 1953 is a younger synonym ofSchesslitziella Kuhn 1952. Kurzfassung Der Holotypus vonSchesslitziella haupti Kuhn 1952...

Upper Liassic insects of Grimmen (Pomerania, North Germany). An extensive insect fauna is described for the first time from the Upper Liassic clay pit at Klein Lehmhagen near Grimmen (North Germany). Well preserved insect remains have been found in carbonate concretions which are intercalated in marine clays of the lower Toarcian (ammonite zone of...

Eatonisca tertiaria (Diptera, Psychodidae) described by MEUNIER (1905) from the Baltic amber is recorded in the Saxonian amber, too. The correspondence of a number of Dipteran species from Baltic and Saxonian amber indicates a minor age difference of Baltic and Saxonian amber as indicated by the age of the amber bearing sediments.

Kurzfassung Die Holotypen vonMesorhyphus nanus Handlirsch 1920,M. areolatus Handlirsch 1939,M. anomalus Handlirsch 1939,Eoplecia primitiva Handlirsch 1920,Heterorhyphus latus Bode 1953,H. analivarius Bode 1953 undProtorhyphus (?)ovisimilis Bode 1953 wurden nachuntersucht. Dabei stellte sich heraus, daß der Holotyp vonE. primitiva der Gegendruck vom...

The forewing of a new species of Hemiptera is described from the Lower Röt (Upper Buntsandstein) of the Rhön mountain in northern Hesse and assigned to a new genus, Rhoeniella granulata gen. et sp. nov. Besides another forewing, found in beds of approximately the same age in Lower Franconia and described under open nomenclature, it is the first evi...

A Rippenscheitel - as a shell injury - is described in an Ordovician Nautiloid from Red Orthoceras limestone (Roter Orthocerenkalk).

Wings of the oldest known tanyderid flyNannotanyderus krzeminskii gen. et sp. nov. and the oldest known psychodidsTanypsycha connexa gen. et sp. nov. andLiassopsychodina pommerana gen. et sp. nov. are described from the Lower Jurassic (Toarcian) of NE-Germany. A review of tanyderids and psychodids in the fossil record is given. The very similar ven...

Der Holotypus vonParabittacus analis Handlirsch 1939 aus dem Oberen Lias von Dobbertin wird nach einer Präparation neu beschrieben und den Neorthophlebiidae zugeordnet. Die GattungPolydicrobittacus Bode 1953 aus dem Oberen Lias von Hondelage wird als Synonym vonParabittacus betrachtet. The holotype ofParabittacus analis Handlirsch 1939 from the Upp...

Aus dem Oberen Lias von Dobbertin (Mecklenburg/Deutschland) wird die erste SteinfliegeDobbertiniopteryx capniomimus gen. et sp. nov. (Plecoptera: Nemouroidea) beschrieben. Es handelt sich vermutlich um einen Vertreter der Capniidae oder einen ihrer Stammgruppenverteter. Als Ursache für die Seltenheit der Plecopteren im europäischen Jura werden lang...

The Lower Barremian lithographic limestones of the Sierra del Montsec are intercalated as the pelagic facies of a limnic/lacustrine environment within litoral charophytic limestones. In the lithographic limestones some remarkable "Lebensspuren" underline the exceptional preservation. An Actinopterygian with an "in situ" coprolite, an insect feeding...

The Lower Barremian lithographie limestones of the Sierra del Montsec are intercalated as the pelagic facies of a limnic/lacustrine environment within litoral charophytic limestones. In the lithographic limestones some remarkable "Lebensspuren" underline the exceptional preservation. An Actinopterygian with an "in situ" coprolite, an insect feeding...