SilesianTriassic

Bobasatrania scutata tooth plate assoc. marine carnivore coprolite

Dating uncertain – probably the boundary of Upper Röt and Lower Gogolin Beds, Triassic

Upper Silesia, Poland

Description

A limestone slab containing two fossils: a fragment of a crushing tooth plate from a Triassic fish, probably Bobasatrania scutata, and a small coprolite of a marine predator containing undigested fish fragments. The association of the two specimens on the same slab is almost certainly coincidental.

Bobasatrania scutata tooth plate 47/LMK

The specimen is a small cluster of closely packed, dome-shaped crushing teeth, approximately 1 mm in diameter. The teeth have smooth, glossy crowns. The cluster measures approximately 8 × 12 mm. The specimen closely resembles tooth plates found in the literature and described as Colobodus?, a Triassic actinopterygian (ray-finned) fish.

Marine carnivore coprolite 48/LMK

A small, spindle- or tear-shaped coprolite, approximately 10 mm long. Undigested food remains are visible on its surface, including scales and possibly fish bones, suggesting a piscivorous diet.

References

• Antczak, M., Ruciński, M., Stachacz, M., Matysik, M., & Król, J. (2020). Diversity of vertebrate remains from the Lower Gogolin Beds (Anisian) of southern Poland. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae. https://doi.org/10.14241/asgp.2020.22
• Haarhuis, H. F. A., & Diependaal, H. (2019). The fish fauna of the Winterswijk Vossenveld Formation Grondboor & Hamer Jaargang 73 nr 5/6-2019—Editie Staringia 16.
• Sun, Z., Tintori, A., Lombardo, C., Jiang, D., Weicheng, H., Yuanlin, S., Wu, F., & Rusconi, M. (2008). A New Species of the genus Colobodus Agassiz, 1844 (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the Pelsonian (Anisian, Middle Triassic) of Guizhou, South China. Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia, 114, 363–376. https://doi.org/10.13130/2039-4942/5908
• Böttcher, R. (2015). BÖTTCHER, R. (2015): 8. Fische des Lettenkeupers. – In: HAGDORN, H., SCHOCH, R. & SCHWEIGERT, G. (eds.): Der Lettenkeuper – Ein Fenster in die Zeit vor den Dinosauriern. – Palaeodiversity, Sonderband: 141–202. Palaeodiversity, Sonderband, 141–202.

Changes

• 2026-08-26 – Tooth plate identification changed to Bobasatrania scutata (thanks to Dr W. Pawlak for the correction)