The Turonian–Coniacian continental fossil record in Europe is scarce. Here we present a new fossil assemblage of early Coniacian age that was systematically collected from the coal-bearing Gosau Group of the Tiefengraben locality near St. Wolfgang, Austria. The diverse assemblage is composed of at least 60 taxa including sporomorphs and Normapolles-related pollen, seeds and leaves of angiosperms and gymnosperms, charophytes, gastropods, bivalves, ostracods, termites, fishes, crocodiles and dinosaurs. Concerning charophytes, ostracods, gastropods, crocodiles and dinosaurs, the discovered specimens either extend the temporal and spatial range of specific groups (in some cases as possible relict forms) or suggest the occurrence of new taxa. The discovered remains of algae, molluscs, ostracods, calcareous nannofossils and lepisosteid fish represent a mixed faunal assemblage from different palaeohabitats, from marginal marine to low salinity and freshwater or terrestrial environments. As Normapolles-related angiosperm plants dominate the flora with a relatively high number of dentate leaves, a slightly cooler microenvironment compared to other Turonian–Coniacian Central European localities is indicated. The characteristically grooved crocodylian teeth of Tiefengraben differ from the previously known Upper Cretaceous European crocodyliform teeth and suggest a more diverse crocodyliform fauna in the region. Dinosaurs are represented by teeth of at least three different theropods, the largest of which is referred here to as basal tetanurans. The fossil assemblage of this early Gosau Group occurrence is of great importance for our understanding of the continental floristic and faunistic composition of the western Tethyan archipelago during the Cenomanian–Campanian gap.

欧洲的图伦阶-柯尼亚斯阶大陆化石记录很少。在这里，我们展示了从奥地利圣沃尔夫冈附近 Tiefengraben 地区的含煤 Gosau 群中系统收集的早期 Coniacian 时代的新化石组合。多样化的组合由至少 60 个分类群组成，包括孢子形和 Normapolles 相关的花粉、被子植物和裸子植物的种子和叶子、轮藻、腹足类、双壳类、介形类、白蚁、鱼类、鳄鱼和恐龙。关于轮藻类、介形类动物、腹足类动物、鳄鱼和恐龙，所发现的标本要么扩展了特定群体的时空范围（在某些情况下为可能的遗存形式），要么暗示了新分类群的出现。发现的藻类、软体动物、介形动物的遗骸，钙质纳米化石和鱼鳞鱼代表了来自不同古生境的混合动物群，从边缘海洋到低盐度和淡水或陆地环境。由于与 Normapolles 相关的被子植物在植物群中占主导地位，齿状叶数量相对较多，因此与其他图伦-科尼亚西亚中欧地区相比，微环境略冷。Tiefengraben 特有的带凹槽的鳄鱼牙齿不同于先前已知的上白垩纪欧洲鳄鱼形牙齿，表明该地区的鳄鱼形动物群更为多样化。恐龙由至少三种不同的兽脚亚目恐龙的牙齿代表，其中最大的一种在这里被称为基底破伤风。