The Argiles d'lignite du Soissonnais is a geologic formation in the Oise department of northern France. The formation has provided fossil mammals, reptiles and fish as well as arthropods in the amber of the formation. The Argiles d'lignite du Soissonnais is dated to the Ypresian age of the Eocene period.Argiles d'lignite du Soissonnais at Fossilworks.org
Description The formation comprises a succession of lenticular bodies showing two main facies; clayey sands rich in frequently pyritised lignite, together with amber and grey clayey sands with less lignite (1 to 12% of the sediment), with continental vertebrate fauna. These facies, the rarity of mollusk shells and charophytes, probably due to decarbonatation and the presence of pyrrhotite (FeS4), reflect a hypoxic environment.
The strata were deposited at the bottom of two channels cutting into underlying Thanetian marine green sands. The channels prograde toward the northeast and were discovered under Oise River Quaternary deposits.
Fossil content The formation has provided among others the following fossils:
Mammals Primates
Teilhardina aff. belgica Cantius sp. Platychoerops sp.
Artiodactyls Diacodexis sp.
Cimolesta Esthonyx sp. cf. Apatotheria indet.
Eutheria Palaeosinopa sp. cf. Landenodon sp.
Ferae
Dormaalocyon latouri Gracilocyon solei Oxyaena woutersi Palaeonictis gigantea Palaeanodon sp. Vassacyon taxidiotisSolé et al., 2013a
Hyaenodonta
Arfia gingerichiSolé et al., 2013b Prototomus girardoti P. minimus
Macroscelidea cf. Macrocranion sp.
Multituberculata Multituberculata indet.
Perissodactyls Chowliia europeaBronnert et al., 2019 cf. Pachynolophus sp.
Placentalia Hyopsodus sp.
Rodents Pliolophus quesnoyensis Ischyromyidae indet.
Soricomorpha Leptacodon sp. Wyonycteris sp.
Theriiformes Peratherium sp. Pantodonta indet.
Reptiles Turtles
Merovemys ploegi Paleotrionyx cf. vittatus Cryptodira indet. Trionychidae indet.
Crocodiles
Allognathosuchus sp. Asiatosuchus sp. Diplocynodon sp.
Lizards
Eolacerta sp. Placosaurus sp. Plesiolacerta sp. Gekkonidae indet. Lacertidae indet. ?Anguinae indet. ?Cordylidae indet. ?Iguanidae indet. ?Necrosaurus indet.
Snakes
Dunnophis matronensis Saniwa cf. orsmaelensis Boidae indet.
Amphibians
Caudata indet. Pelobatidae indet. Salamandroidea indet. cf. Koaliella indet.
Fish
Anomotodon novusNel et al., 1999 Isurolamna inflata Lepisosteus fimbriatus Otodus obliquus Pachygaleus lefevrei Palaeogaleus vincenti Palaeohypotodus rutoti Squalus orpiensis Striatolamia striata Cyclurus sp. Heterodontus sp. Myliobatis sp. Notorynchus sp. Squatina sp. Percoidei indet.
Arthropods Diptera Eurodoliopteryx inexpectatusNel, 2006 Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Hymenoptera, Psocodea, ArachnidaOise amber at Fossilworks.org
Pancrustacea Collembola indet. Hexapoda indet.
Flora
Nitellopsis sp. Pinophyta indet. Arecaceae indet. Myricaceae indet. Juglandaceae indet. Lauraceae indet. Apocynaceae indet. Caesalpiniaceae indet. Celastraceae indet.
See also List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in France Ypresian formations Ieper Group of Belgium Fur Formation of Denmark London Clay Formation of England Silveirinha Formation of Portugal Wasatchian formations Nanjemoy Formation of the eastern United States Wasatch Formation of the western United States Itaboraian formations Itaboraí Formation of Brazil Laguna del Hunco Formation of Argentina
References
Bibliography