ABSTRACT
The Late Cretaceous holothurians have been barely studied for over a century, and it is normally assumed that holothurian fossils are so rare and non-diverse as to be of little importance. This poster introduces Late Cretaceous holothurian faunas from several Late Cretaceous successions of Europe (50 000 holothurian ossicles and pieces from nearly 500 samples), that contradict this view. The taxonomy, palaeoecology, biostratigraphy, and palaeogeography of Late Cretaceous holothurians have been reviewed including new records from the Turonian, Campanian and Maastrichtian of Germany, Denmark, Netherlands, Poland, France, Austria, and the U.K. Currently slightly more than 70 paraspecies and species of Holothuroidea from Late Cretaceous sediments (99-65 Myr) are known. All paraspecies have been assigned orthotaxonomical to Recent holothurian orders and families – all modern holothurian orders (Dendrochirotida, Dactylochirotida, Aspidochirotida, Elasipoda, Molpadiida, and Apodida) are present. Compared to the other Upper Cretaceous stages, the knowledge of sea cucumbers from the Coniacian, Santonian, and Campanian periods are very poor, reported as follows: Cenomanian (13 paraspecies), Turonian (12), Coniacian (1), Santonian (1), Campanian (6), and Maastrichtian (45). Localities yielding body fossil of holothurians are very rare in the world. Previously, only one such Late Cretaceous Fossillagerstätte have been reported – the Late Cenomanian lithographic limestone of Lebanon.
