Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin

2025  47  23 geodiversitas Geodiversitas est une revue en flux continu publiée par les Publications scientifiques du Muséum, Paris Geodiversitas is a fast track journal published by the Museum Science Press, Paris Les Publications scientifiques du Muséum publient aussi / The Museum Science Press also publish: Adansonia, Zoosystema, Anthropozoologica, European Journal of Taxonomy, Naturae, Cryptogamie sous-sections Algologie, Bryologie, Mycologie, Comptes Rendus Palevol Diffusion – Publications scientifiques Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle CP 41 – 57 rue Cuvier F-75231 Paris cedex 05 (France) Tél. : 33 (0)1 40 79 48 05 / Fax : 33 (0)1 40 79 38 40 [email protected] / http://sciencepress.mnhn.fr © Publications scientifiques du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, 2025 ISSN (imprimé / print) : 1280-9659/ ISSN (électronique / electronic) : 1638-9395 Directeur De la publication / Publication director : Gilles Bloch, Président du Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle réDacteur en chef / editor-in-chief : Didier Merle réDacteur associé / associate editor: Sylvain Charbonnier assistant De réDaction / assistant editor : Emmanuel Côtez ([email protected]) Mise en page / Page layout : Emmanuel Côtez coMité scientifique / scientific board : Christine Argot (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Beatrix Azanza (Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales, Madrid) Raymond L. Bernor (Howard University, Washington DC) Henning Blom (Uppsala University) Gaël Clément (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Ted Daeschler (Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphie) Cédric Del Rio (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle) Gregory D. Edgecombe (The Natural History Museum, Londres) Ursula Göhlich (Natural History Museum Vienna) Jin Meng (American Museum of Natural History, New York) Brigitte Meyer-Berthaud (CIRAD, Montpellier) Zhu Min (Chinese Academy of Sciences, Pékin) Isabelle Rouget (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris) Sevket Sen (Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, retraité) Stanislav Štamberg (Museum of Eastern Bohemia, Hradec Králové) Paul Taylor (The Natural History Museum, Londres, retraité) couverture / cover : Réalisée à partir des Figures de l’article/Made from the Figures of the article. 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Robert WEIS Paleontological Department, National Museum of Natural History Luxembourg, 25 rue Münster L-2160 Luxembourg (Luxembourg) [email protected] Nino MARIOTTI Johannes PIGNATTI Department of Earth Sciences, “La Sapienza” University, Rome (Italy) [email protected] [email protected] Dominique DELSATE Paleontological Department, National Museum of Natural History Luxembourg, 25 rue Münster L-2160 Luxembourg (Luxembourg) [email protected] Submitted on 31 December 2024 | accepted on 10 March 2025 | published on 18 December 2025 Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:5EE9ED75-B90C-4AD2-AF4C-3557CD066F05 Weis R., Mariotti N., Pignatti J. & Delsate D. 2025. — Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin. Geodiversitas 47 (23): 767-781. https://doi.org/10.5252/geodiversitas2025v47a23. http://geodiversitas.com/47/23 ABSTRACT Jurassic belemnites have been widely studied by pioneering paleontologists in the early to late 19th century; it is therefore not surprising that most taxa still valid today were originally erected during that century. However, the standards for description and figuration having considerably evolved since then, many “historical” taxa have been repeatedly the subject of diverging taxonomic interpretation. It is therefore of great importance to revise these taxa and provide more detailed descriptions and illustrations of the type material. Herein, we restudy abundant material of Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827 and Belemnites subgiganteus Branco, 1879, two characteristic belemnite taxa of the Minette-type ironstones of Lorraine (France, Region Grand-Est, departments Moselle and Meurthe-et-Moselle), southern Luxembourg and Gaume (Southeast Belgium). Over the years, the taxonomic interpretation and species boundaries of these two taxa have remained unclear, with diverging opinions. We therefore maintain that for the purposes of a precise application of these nominal species and to clarify their stratigraphic position, systematic characters, and phylogenetic relationship, a typification is necessary. Herein, we designate a neotype for B. subgiganteus, illustrate the types of both species, and provide details about their type localities and stratigraphic occurrence. Their peculiar morphological characters also lead us to introduce a new genus, Lotharingibelus n.gen., with Belemnites meta Blainville as a type species. Lotharingibelus n. gen. is a megateuthidid with a relatively short stratigraphical range (upper Toarcian) that had its dispersal center in the north-eastern Paris Basin. The occurrence of specimens with or without an epirostrum allows us to discuss aspects of their ontogeny and the long-debated issue of a possible sexual dimorphism in belemnites. 768 GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) Weis R. et al. INTRODUCTION Belemnites of the Minette-type ironstones of Lorraine and Luxembourg have been extensively treated in early monographs by Blainville (1827), Voltz (1830), Branco (1879), and Benecke (1898, 1905). However, the descriptions and illustrations of these belemnites lack sufficient detail, and their stratigraphic distribution is often not known in detail, leading to diverging interpretations. Moreover, part of the original specimens, kept in collections in Strasbourg, cannot currently be retrieved and were most likely destroyed in a fire in 1967. Therefore, a redescription and the designation of a neotype become necessary. The extensive belemnite collections from the Minette formation of Lorraine, Belgium and Luxembourg comprise nine genera with 14 species from the late Toarcian and four genera with five species from the Aalenian. An updated faunal list of belemnites from the Minette ironstones is given in Table 1. As yet, only the species from Luxembourg have been restudied by Weis (1999) and Weis& Mariotti (2008). Here, we focus on the taxonomic, stratigraphic, and paleobiogeographic revision of two related species, Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827 and Belemnites subgiganteus Branco, 1879, two taxa that are widely found in the Minette ironstones, and whose taxonomic attribution has long been unclear. We furthermore discuss aspects of their ontogeny (Bandel& Spaeth 1988) and a possible sexual dimorphism. GEOLOGICAL SETTING The informally named Minette ironstone formation corresponds to ferruginous oolites, which cover an area of about 1000 km2 from the southern part of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and Belgium in the north towards the sur - roundings of Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle, France) in the south (Fig. 1). We use here the name Minette ironstone formation, as it is used in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg (Lucius 1945). In France, the corresponding deposits are termed Formation ferrugineuse (Mégnien 1980). In Belgium the ferruginous deposits are included in the Mont-SaintMartin Formation (Boulvain etal. 2001). The formation is characterized by oolitic ironstones at several horizons of up to 15 detrital coarsening upward cycles, with a total thickness of 10-65 m. The deposit is subdivided into several basins and sub-basins: the Nancy basin in the southern part, and, in the northern part, the Briey basin, which is subdivided into the Ars, Orne, Ottange-Esch/ Alzette and Longwy-Differdange sub-basins. Important regional and vertical facies variations can be observed: in the lower part of the deposits, silicate ores are dominant, while in the upper parts calcareous goethitic ores prevail. The ironstone facies consists mainly of cross-bedded iron oolites and biocalcarenitic limestone of a high energy environment. Intercalated, bioturbated mudand siltstone facies MOTS CLÉS Systématique, Belemnitida, Céphalopodes, Jurassique, néotypification, genre nouveau, combinaisons nouvelles. RÉSUMÉ Lotharingibelus n. gen., un nouveau genre de bélemnites du minerai de fer de la Minette du Toarcien supérieur du NE du bassin parisien. Les bélemnites du Jurassique ont été abondamment étudiées par les paléontologues pionniers du début à la fin du 19e siècle ; il n’est donc pas surprenant que la plupart des taxons encore valides aujourd’hui aient été érigés à l’origine au cours de ce siècle. Cependant, les standards de description et de figuration ayant considérablement évolué depuis lors, de nombreux taxons « historiques » ont fait l’objet d’interprétations taxonomiques divergentes au fil du temps. Il est donc d’une grande importance de réviser ces taxons et de fournir des descriptions et des illustrations plus détaillées du matériel type. Nous avons ici réétudié de nombreux spécimens de Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827 et Belemnites subgiganteus Branco, 1879, deux taxons caractéristiques parmi les bélemnites présentes dans les roches du type Minette en Lorraine (France, région Grand-Est, départements de la Moselle et de la Meurthe-et-Moselle), dans le sud du Luxembourg et en Gaume (sud-est de la Belgique). Au fil des ans, l’interprétation taxonomique et les délimitations de ces deux taxons sont restées floues, suscitant des opinions divergentes. Nous soutenons donc qu’une caractérisation est nécessaire pour une identification précise de ces espèces nominales et pour clarifier leur position stratigraphique, leurs caractères systématiques et leur relation phylogénétique. Nous désignons ici un néotype pour B.subgiganteus, illustrons les types des deux espèces et fournissons des détails sur leurs localités types et leur occurrence stratigraphique. Leurs caractères morphologiques particuliers nous ont également amenés à introduire un nouveau genre, Lotharingibelus n. gen., avec Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827 comme espèce type. Lotharingibelus n. gen. est un mégatéuthididé dont l’intervalle stratigraphique est relativement restreint (Toarcien supérieur) et dont le centre de dispersion se situait dans le nord-est du bassin parisien. La présence de spécimens avec ou sans épirostre nous permet d’aborder certains aspects de leur ontogénie et la question, longtemps débattue, d’un éventuel dimorphisme sexuel chez les bélemnites. 769 Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) indicate a lower energy environment. The alternation of the two facies builds up a sequence of shallowing-upward cycles. The Minette sediments were deposited in a nearshore shallow marine environment in the subsiding gulf of Luxembourg, surrounded by the lowlands of the Hercynian Rhenish Massif (Siehl& Thein 1989). Numerous ammonite findings have contributed to the establishment of the stratigraphic extension of the Minette ironstones (Di Cencio& Weis 2020 and references therein). In 1962, at the Colloque du Jurassique de Luxembourg it was decided that the Toarcian/Aalenian boundary corresponds to the boundary of the Pleydellia aalensis/Leioceras opalinum Zones (Lecompte 1963), as later ratified with the recognition of the GSSP of the Toarcian-Aalenian Boundary (Cresta etal. 2001). Maubeuge (1947, 1961) reattributed the ammonites identified as (Aalenian) Leioceras Hyatt, 1867 by numerous former scholars to Pleydellia buckmani Maubeuge, 1947 and related taxa of late Toarcian age (Di Cencio& Weis 2020). In the main, the Minette ironstone formation is upper Toarcian; the material investigated herein ranges from the Dispansum Zone to the Aalensis Zone (Mactra subzone). However, the stratigraphic extension of the ironstone varies regionally, ranging from the upper Toarcian Dispansum Zone to the upper Aalenian Concavum Zone, with a distinctive stratigraphic gap in the lower Aalenian (Opalinum Zone) (Maubeuge 1947; Di Cencio& Weis 2020). MATERIAL AND METHODS This study is based on 146 belemnite rostra (130 assigned to L.meta n. comb. and 16 assigned to L.subgiganteus n. comb.); the specimens originate from several localities in France, Luxembourg and Belgium. The studied material belongs to collections that have been mostly gathered between the early 19th century and the 1980’s, during the active period of the iron ore mining. AbbreviAtions Repositories MAN Paleontological collections of the Muséum-Aquarium de Nancy, France; MNHNL Paleontological collections of the Musée national d’histoire naturelle de Luxembourg; UCBL-EM Invertebrate Paleontological Collection of Paris Mines School, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Villeurbanne, France. Shell terminology The total length of the preserved rostrum is generally subdivided into descriptive size categories, defined herein as follows: very small (<30 mm), small 30-60 mm, medium (61-100 mm), large (101-150 mm), and very large (>150 mm). Standard measurements (expressed in mm) and ratios are defined as follows (see also Fig. 2) and summarized in Table2: TL Total length of the preserved rostrum (rostrum cavum and rostrum solidum); PAL post-alveolar length, distance between the position of the protoconch and the tip of the apex; SD sagittal (or dorso-ventral) diameter measured at the protoconch level; LD lateral diameter, measured at the protoconch level; Compression Index ratio SD/LD; an index of <1.00 indicates a (dorso-ventrally) depressed rostrum, and index of >1.00 indicates a (dorso-ventrally) compressed rostrum; Elongation Index ratio SD/PAL, gives an indication on the growth pattern (slender or stout) of the rostrum solidum. Methods To create the images of the belemnite specimens, we employed the “digital whitening” technique as described by Kiselev (2021), an approach more convenient than traditional chemical bleaching methods. This digital method enhances the contrast and clarity of fossil structures by processing multiple images taken from the same point of view under different lighting angles into a single composite image, without applying substances to the specimen. Initial images were captured using a Canon EOS R7 digital mirrorless camera and illuminated with a Rotolight Neo 2 LED light, allowing the repositioning of the light source between shots. For each final image, a series of seven to ten photographs of a fossil were taken and subsequently combined using 10 km Nancy Metz FRANCE GERMANY BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG . 1 . 2 fig. 1 . — Geographical extension of the Minette ironstones (red color) in France, Luxembourg and Belgium: 1, Oberkorn, type locality of L. subgiganteus n. comb.; 2, surroundings of Nancy, type locality of L. meta (Blainville, 1827) n. comb. Author: Marianne Kayser (MNHNL). 770 GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) Weis R. et al. Adobe Photoshop. The workflow involves importing the images as layers into a Photoshop file, followed by removing the background in each. Subsequently, one of the images is chosen as the base layer and is not processed further. All other layers are inverted into a negative state and their transparency reduced to under 10%. In the final step, the entire stack of layers is converted to grayscale and adjustments to brightness and contrast are made until the specimen features are adequately depicted, this result is then exported as a raster image file. table 1. — Updated faunal list of belemnites described from the Minette ironstones (upper Toarcian Dispansum Zone to upper Aalenian Concavum Zone) of Lorraine (France), Gaume (Belgium) and Luxembourg. Species Family References Chronostratigraphy (Zone) Brevibelus breviformis (Voltz, 1830) Megateuthididae Benecke (1898, 1905); Weis (1999); Weis & Mariotti (2008) (also as Brevibelus subbreviformis (Lissajous, 1927)) upper Toarcian (PseudoradiosaAalensis); Aalenian (Murchisonae-Concavum) Megateuthis athletica (Simpson, 1855) Megateuthididae Benecke (1905) (as Belemnites inornatus and B. rhenanus); Weis (1999) (as Mesoteuthis rhenana) upper Toarcian (PseudoradiosaAalensis) Megateuthis beneckei (Schwegler, 1938) Megateuthididae Weis & Mariotti (2008) Aalenian (Murchisonae) Homaloteuthis murielae Weis & Mariotti, 2008 Megateuthididae Weis & Mariotti (2008) Aalenian (Concavum) Homaloteuthis spinata (Quenstedt, 1848) Megateuthididae Weis & Mariotti (2008) Aalenian (Murchisonae) Acrocoelites oxyconus (Hehl in Zieten, 1831) Megateuthididae Weis (1999) upper Toarcian (Aalensis) Acrocoelites quenstedti (Oppel, 1856) Megateuthididae Benecke (1905) (as Belemnites tripartitus); Weis (1999) upper Toarcian (DispansumAalensis) Acrocoelites conoideus (Oppel, 1856) Megateuthididae Benecke (1898) upper Toarcian (Dispansum) Odontobelus pyramidalis (Münster in Zieten, 1831) Megateuthididae Weis (1999) upper Toarcian (Pseudoradiosa) Odontobelus brevirostris (d’Orbigny, 1842) Megateuthididae Benecke (1905) (as Belemnites incurvatus); Weis (1999) (as Acrocoelites (Odontobelus) curtus (d’Orbigny, 1842) and A. (O.) subvulgaris Weis, 1999 upper Toarcian (PseudoradiosaAalensis) Dactyloteuthis similis (von Seebach, 1864) Megateuthididae Benecke (1898) (as Belemnites irregularis) upper Toarcian (Dispansum) Lotharingibelus meta (Blainville, 1827) n. comb. Megateuthididae Benecke (1898); Weis (1999) (also: Arcobelus lucilinburhucensis Weis, 1999) upper Toarcian (DispansumAalensis) Lotharingibelus subgiganteus (Branco, 1879) n. comb. Megateuthididae Branco (1879); Benecke (1905); Weis (1999) (also: Dactyloteuthis crossotela) upper Toarcian Parabrachybelus subaduncatus (Voltz, 1830) Megateuthididae Weis (1999) (as Catateuthis sp.) upper Toarcian (Pseudoradiosa) Salpingoteuthis longisulcata (Voltz, 1830) Salpingoteuthididae Benecke (1898); Weis (1999) upper Toarcian (Dispansum) Hastites subclavatus (Voltz, 1830) Hastitidae Benecke (1905); Weis (1999) upper Toarcian (PseudoradiosaAalensis) Hastites compactus (Kolb, 1942) Hastitidae Weis (1999) upper Toarcian Holcobelus blainvillii (Voltz, 1830) Holcobelidae Weis & Mariotti (2008) Aalenian (MurchisonaeConcavum) Rostrum solidum (stem and apical part)(alveolar part) PALLD Rostrum cavum dorsal Apex protoconch ventral anterior posterior TL SD fig. 2. — Morphological terms and measurements employed in a belemnite rostrum after Weis et al. (2017). Author: Marianne Kayser (MNHNL). 771 Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) SYSTEMATIC PALEONTOLOGY Class CEPHALOPODA Cuvier, 1795 Order BELEMNITIDA Haeckel, 1866 Suborder BELEMNITINA Zittel, 1895 Family MegAteuthididAe Sachs& Nalnjaeva, 1967 Genus Lotharingibelus n.gen. urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:52A6174E-E1DD-40F7-985A-B17B98090679 t ype species . — Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827 (synonym of Belemnites brevis var. C Blainville, 1827). etyMology. — Named after Lotharingia, a medieval kingdom comprising present-day Lorraine (France), Luxembourg, Saarland (Germany), Netherlands, most of Belgium, and Germany west of the Rhine, and corresponding roughly to the main geographic distribution of the taxa herein included. included species. — Belemnites meta Blainville, 1827; Belemnites subgiganteus Branco, 1879. o ccurrence . — Late Toarcian (Dispansum to Aalensis zones) of NE France (Lorraine), Luxembourg, SE Belgium (Gaume), Northern Germany. diAgnosis. — Megateuthidid possessing a conical to cylindroconical orthorostrum with a short and obtuse apical part, and a small cavity on the tip of the apex. Apical grooves absent; a shallow dorsolateral depression on each flank. Alveolus deeply penetrating and eccentric. Alveolar angle 28-32°. Epirostrum rudimentary or well-developed. reMArks The taxa included herein in Lotharingibelus n. gen. have been attributed in the past to the genera Dactyloteuthis Bayle, 1878, Arcobelus Sachs in Sachs& Nalnjaeva, 1967, Brevibelus Doyle, 1991 (synonym of Brachybelus Naef, 1922), Homaloteuthis Stolley, 1919, Megateuthis Lissajous, 1915, and Mesoteuthis Lissajous, 1915. Lotharingibelus n.gen. is distinguished from the similarly shaped Dactyloteuthis by its more conical profile, the deeper penetrating alveolus and the absence of apical grooves on the orthorostrum. It is distinguished from the Boreal-Arctic genus Arcobelus by the presence of epirostral development and a lower alveolar angle. The genus Megateuthis (synonym of Mesoteuthis) differs from Lotharingibelus n.gen. by the presence of two dorsolateral apical grooves and a shallower alveolus. The coeval genus Brevibelus is distinguished from Lotharingibelus n.gen. by the shorter and more slender, cylindrical rostrum, a typically mucronate apex and the absence of an epirostral development. Lotharingibelus meta (Blainville, 1827) n. comb. (Figs 3A-E; 4A-D) Belemnites meta [also cited as Belemnites brevis var. C] Blainville, 1827: 87, pl. 3, fig. 3.— Deshayes 1830: 131. — d’Orbigny 1846a: pl. 77, figs 8, 9; 1846b: pl. 37, figs 8, 9; 1846c: 566, pl.77, figs 8, 9; 1855: 357, pl. 77, figs 8, 9.— Giebel 1852: 114. — Hébert 1865: 203.— Benecke 1898: 36, pl. 2, figs 5, 8, 9; 1905: 299.— Schwegler 1938: 473; 1969: 191, fig. 76a, b. table 2. — Measurements of Lotharingibelus meta (Blainville, 1827) n. comb. and Lotharingibelus subgiganteus (Branco, 1879) n. comb. Values in brackets represent estimates. Abbreviations: OR, orthorostrum; ER, epirostrum-bearing specimen; CI, compression index; EI, elongation index; AA, alveolar angle. No. Taxon Collection number TL PAL SD LD CI EI AA Locality Notes Lotharingibelus meta n. comb. 1–UCBL-EM 75009 89 33 26 22 (1.25 at alveolus end) 0.79 near Nancy Lectotype 2 – MAN 2023.0.168 74 34 24 19 1.26 0.71 – Lay-Saint-Christophe Joly collection 3 – MNHNL DOU989b 65 29 21 – – 0.72 32° Halanzy-Musson – 4 – MNHNL DOU989a 75 30 24 – – 0.8 31° Halanzy-Musson – 5 – MNHNL DOU989aa 66 31 - 18 – – – Halanzy-Musson – 6 – MNHNL DOU989ac 62 26 23 19 1.21 0.88 – Halanzy-Musson – 7 – MNHNL DOU989ae 62 30 24 19 1.26 0.8 – Halanzy-Musson – 8 – MNHNL DOU989ad 62 27 21 17 1.24 0.78 – Halanzy-Musson – 9 – MNHNL DOU989af 46 16 16 14 1.14 1.00 – Halanzy-Musson – 10 – MNHNL DOU989ag 66 27 19 17 1.12 0.7 – Halanzy-Musson – 11 – MNHNL DOU989ah 55 25 20 17 1.18 0.8 – Halanzy-Musson – 12 – MNHNL DOU989ai 50 25 21 18 1.17 0.84 – Halanzy-Musson – 13 – MNHNL DOU989ab 60 25 22 19 1.16 0.88 – Halanzy-Musson – 14 – MNHNL DOU989f 64 24 21 19 1.10 0.88 30° Halanzy-Musson – 15 – MNHNL DOU989g 72 26.5 20 16 1.25 0.75 29° Halanzy-Musson – 16 – Benecke (1898: pl. 2 fig. 8) – – – – – 0.7 (28°) Algringen – Lotharingibelus subgiganteus n. comb. 17 [ER] MNHNL TO265 240 (155) (19) (17) (1.12) (0.12) – Kiemerchen Neotype 18 [OR] MNHNL LG101 80 35 22 19 1.16 0.63 – Rumelange – 19 [OR] MNHNL DOT505a 105 45 22 – – 0.49 30° Thil TL with ER: 177 mm 20 [OR] MNHNL DOT511b 103 43 18 14 1.11 0.42 28° Kiemerchen 21 [OR] Branco (1879: pl. 6, fig. 2e) (67) (55) (18) – – (0.33) (33°) Ars-sur-Moselle TL with ER: (120) mm 22 [ER] Branco (1879: pl. 6, fig. 2a-d) (172) – – – – – – Ars-sur-Moselle – 23 [ER] MAN 2023.0.166 158 (72) (17) – – (0.24) – Ludres – 772 GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) Weis R. et al. Belemnites meta var. compressa – Benecke 1898: 39, pl. 2, figs6, 6a, 7, 7a (correct identification: Arcobelus lucilinburhucensis Weis, 1999). non Belemnites meta – Janensch 1902: 111, pl. 12, figs4, 4a.— Werner 1912: 138, pl. 12, figs 5-7 (correct identification: Dactyloteuthis levidensis (Simpson, 1855), fide Schlegelmilch [1998]). non Belemnites cf. meta – Janensch 1902: 112, pl. 12, figs3, 3a (correct identification: Dactyloteuthis levidensis (Simpson, 1855), fide Schlegelmilch [1998]). Homaloteuthis meta – Bülow-Trummer 1920: 123. Brachybelus meta – Naef 1922: 241. Belemnites (?Homaloteuthis) meta – Ernst 1924: 81; pl. 6, figs 6a, 6b. Dactyloteuthis meta – Lissajous 1925: 27, 109. — Sturz 1958: 54, pl. 6, fig. 4; pl. 7, fig. 1. — Schirardin 1961: 114. Dactyloteuthis cf. meta – Kolb 1942: 155, pl. 7, figs 8a, 8b. non Dactyloteuthis aff. meta – Nutsubidze 1966: 156, pl. 37, figs5,6 (correct identification: Acrocoelites conoideus (Oppel, 1856) fide Dzyuba etal. [2015]). non Acrocoelites (Toarcibelus) meta – Riegraf etal. 1984: 154, fig.48g (correct identification: Acrocoelites levidensis (Simpson, 1855)). Brevibelus cf. gingensis – Doyle 1992: 63, pl. 24, fig. 6. Catateuthis meta – Riegraf 1995: 32. Arcobelus meta – Schlegelmilch 1998: 68, pl. 11, fig.5.— Riegraf etal. 1998: 66, 211. — Weis 1999: 220, fig. 36. — Neige etal. 2021: appendix S3 (taxonomical dataset). Arcobelus lucilinburhucensis Weis, 1999: 221, fig. 35 (compressed variety). type MAteriAl And locus typicuM. — Lectotype. France • Paris Basin, surroundings of Nancy, designated by Hébert (1865) as ‘type’ of the species; UCBL-EM 75009 (Deshayes coll.) (Fig. 3A). AdditionAl MAteriAl. — France • 1 specimen; Paris Basin, Meurtheet-Moselle, Lay-Saint-Christophe near Nancy; “Aalénien” (nowadays upper Toarcian); MAN 2023.0.168 (Fig. 3B) • 1 specimen; Paris Basin, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Moulins, Bouxières-aux-Chênes; “Aalénien (zone du minerai)” (= upper Toarcian); MAN 2023.0.165 (Fig. 4B). Belgium • 125 specimens; Paris Basin, Halanzy and Musson, Mont-Saint-Martin Formation, old mining heaps; upper Toarcian; Dominique Delsate leg.; MNHNL DOU989a-h (Figs 3D, E; 4C-E). Luxembourg • 1 specimen; Paris Basin, Esch-sur-Alzette; ironstones; upper Toarcian; MNHNL DOU882 (Fig. 3C) • 1 specimen, Paris Basin, Differdange; Mactra subzone, Aalensis Zone; MNHNL DOT500 (Fig. 4A). occurrence. — Upper Toarcian. Dispansum Zone (common): Luxembourg; Gaume, Belgium; Lorraine, France.— Dispansum Zone (very rare): Dehmen, Northern Germany; Blea Wyke Point, North Yorkshire, United Kingdom; ?Mistelgau, Franconia, Southern Germany (Kolb 1942).— Pseudoradiosa and Aalensis (Mactra subzone) zones (occasionally present): Luxembourg; Gaume, Belgium; Lorraine, France. description Medium-sized, stout, conical rostrum (elongation index between 0.7 and 1; Table 2). The profile is ventrally asymmetrical, conical. The outline is symmetrical and cylindriconical. Orthorostrum without grooves. Cross section elliptical, strongly compressed (compression index between 1.12 and 1.26; Table 2). Apical region smooth, sometimes with shallow dorsolateral depressions that extend laterally towards the rostrum cavum. The tip of the apical region shows often a looser calcification resulting in a navel-shaped cavity, which is indicative of a very short epirostral stage. The flanks are more or less flattened. The alveolus occupies approximately two third of the rostrum and is ventrally displaced. The apical line is weakly goniolineate. Alveolar angle 29-32°. reMArks Lotharingibelusmeta n. comb. is distinguished from the taxa assigned to Dactyloteuthis by its more conical profile, the deeply penetrating alveolus and the absence of a ventral apical groove. ‘Dactyloteuthis’ crossotela (Blake in Tate& Blake, 1876) from the United Kingdom is a slightly younger species, that bears some resemblance with L.meta n. comb. (see also Doyle 1992); it is however distinguished from the latter by its more cylindrical profile and the presence of an epirostrum. Further investigation of the type material of D.crossotela is needed to investigate the question whether D.crossotela could represent an early taxon of Lotharingibelus n.gen. rather than Dactyloteuthis. Lotharingibelusmeta n. comb. is chiefly distinguished from L.subgigantea by the presence of a well-developed epirostrum and a more conical orthorostrum in the latter. tAxonoMic history In his monograph on the belemnites, Blainville (1827) established Belemnites brevis and distinguished three varieties, A, B, and C; for the latter, he proposed conditionally the name Belemnites meta. According to Article 15.1 of the ICZN (1999), “A new name or nomenclatural act proposed conditionally and published before 1961 may be available”. Thus, the valid name for variety C of Belemnites brevis is Belemnites meta. This nominal species-group taxon was based on syntypes: a single specimen of the Deshayes collection from the “Oolithe ferrugineuse” (Minette ironstones) from the surroundings of Nancy (Meurthe-et-Moselle; Fig. 1), and an unspecified number of specimens from the d’Orbigny collection from the vicinity of L’Aiguillon-la-Presqu’île, Vendée department, in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. Deshayes (1830) considered that “pour éviter toute méprise, nous conservons le nom de Belemnites brevis à la variété C”. He thus designated as (lecto)type for Belemnites brevis the specimen of var. C figured in Blainville (1827: pl. 3, figs 3, 3a) and thus B.brevis and B.meta would have the same type and would become synonyms. However, this nomenclatural act is to be considered invalid, because Blainville (1827) introducing the name B.meta for var. C, restricted the syntypes of B.brevis to the specimens included in his varieties A and B. The nomenclatural act by Deshayes (1830) of chosing as lectotype for B.brevis a specimen attributed by Blainville (1827) to another species-group taxon (B.meta), corresponds to the proviso of Art. 74.2 of the ICZN (1999): “Lectotype found not to have been a syntype. If it is demonstrated that 773 Lotharingibelus n. gen., a new belemnite genus from the upper Toarcian Minette ironstones of the NE Paris Basin GEODIVERSITAS • 2025 • 47 (23) a specimen designated as a lectotype was not a syntype, it loses its status of lectotype”. This issue was solved by Hébert (1865), who recognized the three varieties of Blainville (1827) as distinct species and indicated as (lecto)type for B.meta the specimen of var. C figured in Blainville (1827). The generic attribution of Belemnites meta has varied. Earlier authors (Bülow-Trummer 1920; Naef 1922) attributed it to Homaloteuthis, or to Brachybelus (synonym of Brevi belus). Lissajous (1925) was the first to attribute it to the genus Dactyloteuthis due to its stout rostrum and blunt A1 C1 C2 D E A2 B1 B2 B3 fig. 3. — Lotharingibelus meta (Blainville, 1827) n. comb.: A, lectotype, “Oolithe ferrugineuse”, upper Toarcian, from the surroundings of Nancy, Lorraine, France, UCBL-EM 75009; A1, lateral view; A2, ventral view; B, (sub)adult, complete specimen, “Aalénien” (= upper Toarcian) of Lay-Saint Christophe, Lorraine, France, MAN 2023.0.168; B1, lateral view; B2, ventral view; B3, cross section at alveolus; C, incomplete adult specimen, alveolar part only partially preserved, Minette formation, upper Toarcian, Esch-sur-Alzette, Luxembourg, MNHNL DOU882; C1, lateral view; C2, ventral view; D, longitudinal section of an adult specimen, Mont-Saint-Martin Formation, upper Toarcian, old mining heaps of Halanzy-Musson, Gaume, Belgium, MNHNL DOU989a; E, longitudinal section of an adult specimen, Mont-SaintMartin Formation, upper Toarcian, old mining heaps of Halanzy-Musson, Gaume, Belgium, MNHNL DOU989b. 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