Vol. 32 (2014): A catalogue of Danian gastropods from the Baunekule facies, Faxe Formation, Denmark

Bodil W. Lauridsen and K.I. Schnetler

Fossiliferous middle Danian limestones of the Faxe Formation, exposed in a large quarry on the Stevns peninsula, eastern Denmark, yield a detailed record of the complex ecosystem associated with cold-water coral mounds. A particular sedimentary–diagenetic facies, the Baunekule facies, preserves the faunal record in exceptional detail.

This bulletin presents a catalogue of the gastropod fauna from the Baunekule facies, providing the taxonomic status of 194 taxa; one new species (Zaclys? nuetzeli) is introduced. The catalogue is fully illustrated with a combination of detailed drawings and photographs, the former produced in the 1960s by Erna Nordmann, Gunni Jørgensen and Betty Engholm under the direction of Professor Alfred Rosenkrantz. The bulletin documents the high diversity of the gastropod fauna and the overwhelming dominance of small (millimetre-sized) carnivorous forms that browsed on the coral substrate. Over 80% of this unusual fauna may be endemic to the Faxe Formation, probably reflecting the specialised nature of the cold-water coral mound ecosystem.