First record of a gladius-bearing coleoid Teudopsis bollensis Voltz (Cephalopoda, Coleoidea) in the Toarcian of the Western Carpathians (Slovakia)

Abstract

A fairly complete and relatively well-preserved gladius of the vampyropod coleoid cephalopod Teudopsis bollensis Voltz is recorded from the Lower Toarcian succession of the Kysuca Unit in the Pieniny Klippen Belt of Slovakia. These sediments are represented by dark-grey and black shales laid down in an oxygen-depleted environment during the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event and potentially represent the first Jurassic ‘Konservat-Lagerstatte’ in the Western Carpathians. The first reliable record of the Early Jurassic genus Teudopsis from this area notably extends its palaeogeographic distribution to the northwestern continental margin of the Tethys Ocean. The systematics, palaeogeography and stratigraphy are briefly discussed in a European context.