Johan Lindgren
Senior lecturer
Food resources and habitat selection of a diverse vertebrate fauna from the upper lower Campanian of the Kristianstad Basin, southern Sweden
Author
Summary, in English
During the latest early Campanian, a diverse vertebrate assemblage inhabited the shallow coastal waters of the Kristianstad Basin, southernmost Sweden. The taxon-rich fauna includes numerous species of sharks, rays, chimaeroids, bony fish, mosasaurs, plesiosaurs, aquatic birds, crocodiles, and turtles. Vertebrate fossils have been found at several localities within the basin, representing at least three different environments: near-shore waters around a rocky island, presumably murky, shallow waters adjacent to a river mouth, and more open coastal waters. Many vertebrates in the marine faunal community were high-level predators, others were piscivorous, bottom-dwellers that fed primarily on benthic invertebrates and fish, or omnivores that fed on algae and invertebrates. The fauna thus exploited a wide range of food sources and habitats. Six trophic levels, ranging from primary producers to fifth-level consumers, are recognised, indicating a high loss of energy and reflecting a mixture of shallow coastal and more open water ecosystems. The trophic structure suggests that the basin was a rich palaeoenvironment with high faunal diversity and productivity. (c) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Department/s
- Lithosphere and Biosphere Science
Publishing year
2013
Language
English
Pages
85-92
Publication/Series
Cretaceous Research
Volume
42
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Geology
Keywords
- Marine vertebrates
- Trophic structure
- Late Cretaceous
- Kristianstad
- Basin
- Sweden
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0195-6671