Systematic revision of the Cretaceous actinopterygian fauna from Bernissart, Belgium

Abstract

The Cretaceous locality of Bernissart, Belgium, is well known for the Iguanodon remains it yielded. Fossils were collected during coalmine exploitation at the end of the 19th century. In the frame of the ColdCase project, which aims to understand the ecological and geological conditions in the Bernissart lake/swamp during the Barremian, a revision of the actinopterygian fauna from Bernissart, found alongside Iguanodons, has been launched. The revision of the ichtyofauna has started with taxa, unstudied since 1911: Coccolepis macroptera, Lepidotus bernissartensis, L. brevifulcratus and L. arcuatus. The study shows that the material attributed to both genera could likely be attributed to other genera and that the reduced actinopterygian taxic diversity found at Bernissart confirms the lacustrine to swampy environment

Keywords

• barremian
• belgium
• bernissart
• coccolepis
• lepidotes