The late Middle Miocene (Sarmatian s.str.) fossil site Gratkorn – the first decade of research, geology, stratigraphy and vertebrate fauna

Abstract

This article summarises the history of research, the geological background and the stratigraphy of the Gratkorn locality (SE Austria). Since its discovery in 2005, 65 vertebrate taxa, comprising fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small and large mammals have been documented, as well as a variety of plant and invertebrate fossils. Due to its origin from a rapidly accumulated floodplain paleosol, time-averaging is low and the taphocoenose reflects well the original vertebrate community. The Gratkorn site is dated by integrated stratigraphy, but independent from vertebrate biochronology, to about 12.2–12.0 Ma (late Middle Miocene). Thus, it probably yields the most diverse, systematically excavated vertebrate fauna of that age in Europe and is an extremely important benchmark for a vertebrate-based, continental biostratigraphy of the Central Paratethyan realm and beyond.