Special Issue: 100 years of scientific excavations at UNESCO World Heritage Site Monte San Giorgio and global research on Triassic marine Lagerstätten

Abstract

Only a few Swiss fossil localities are known globally and of which, the UNESCO World Heritage Site Monte San Giorgio, which extends from Switzerland into Italy, is the most important one. Following the discovery of the occurrence of articulated skeletons of marine reptiles in the local mines, large excavations were organized by Bernhard Peyer from the University of Zurich starting 1924. With this collection of articles, we commemorate the successful excavations and research, which initiated the publication of a series of monographies, mostly on the vertebrates but also on the invertebrates of this locality. Especially with the discovery of several remarkably similar Konservat-Lagerstätten in China, the discoveries from Monte San Giorgio gained global relevance. New methodologies such as computed tomography produced a wealth of new data, particularly on endocranial anatomy of several tetrapods.

Keywords: Exceptional preservation; Fishes; Konservat-Lagerstätten; Marine reptiles; Permian–Triassic mass extinction; Taphonomy; Triassic.

Fig. 1

The Swiss side of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Monte San Giorgio. a Monte San Giorgio (surrounded by the Lago di Lugano on its right) seen from the Monte Generoso ridge (summit on the left). b Lowermost mine entry at Cava Tre Fontane. c Heinz Furrer, the former curator of the Palaeontological Museum of the University of Zurich, guiding a field trip of the Swiss Palaeontological Association in 2020, at the site Acqua del Ghiffo. d The natural outcrop of the Kalkschieferzone (uppermost Meride Limestone) at Val Mara, where a rich fish and insect fauna was discovered

Fig. 2

The Italian side of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Monte San Giorgio. a View on Porto Ceresio and its lake), after which Ceresiosaurus was named. b Entrance of the mine Selvabella Piodelle 3. c Plate explaining the conglomerates of the Triassic Bellano Formation. d Entrance of the mine Selvabella Piodelle 2. e Yard of the Museo Civico dei Fossili di Besano with a model of the ichthyosaur Besanosaurus and palaeoart depicting Tanystropheus on the wall

Fig. 3

Impressions from the Museo dei fossili del Monte San Giorgio at Meride. a Entrance with the model of Ticinosuchus ferox by Beat Scheffold. b Models of marine reptiles by Beat Scheffold (from left to right: Cyamodus, Tanystropheus, Ceresiosaurus, Cymbospondylus and Mixosaurus). c, d Applications of virtual and augmented reality at the museum

Fig. 4

Publicly accessible sites on the Swiss side of Monte San Giorgio. a Explanatory plates at Cava superiore beds at Acqua del Ghiffo. b Platform at Val Mara, where the exposed Kalkschieferzone (uppermost Meride Limestone) yielded many actinopterygian fish, some crustacean, insect and plant fossils, but only one lariosaurid reptile

Fig. 5

Museo Civico di Storia Naturale di Milano. a The beautiful historical façade of the museum. b One of the best skeletons of Askeptosaurus italicus. c The historical diorama featuring Askeptosaurus and Tanystropheus, showing the earlier notion of a flexible neck and amphibious mode of life of the latter. d Holotype of the pachypleurosaurid Odoiporosaurus terruzzii

Fig. 6

Museo cantonale di storia naturale di Lugano. a Displays in the museum. b Plate with several skeletons of Neusticosaurus pusillus. c Cast and model of the rauisuchian Ticinosuchus ferox. d Skeleton and model (by. B. Scheffold) of Ceresiosaurus calcagnii

Fig. 7

Civico Museo Insubrico di Storia Naturale e Visitor Center Monte San Giorgio UNESCO di Clivio. a Entrance. b One of the show cases