Shotover Hill, Oxford Clay (Jurassic of the United Kingdom)

Also known as A

Where: England, United Kingdom (51.7° N, 1.2° W: paleocoordinates 42.4° N, 8.7° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Oxford Clay Formation (Ancholme Group), Oxfordian (163.5 - 157.3 Ma)

• "In the railway cutting at Kcnnington this sand, fully exposed, is varied with beds and large nodules of sandstone slightly calcareous, while, for a considerable space towards Littlemore, lie widely-interrupted parts of the next rock above, viz. coralline oolite. The oolite lies in separated patches on the same plane, which were probably connected; the intervals between them are occupied by sand which may be supposed to have been left after the decomposition of the oolite. The upper parts of the oolite are absent for a large tract hereabout; and it may be supposed that the large waste of them was caused by long exposure to atmospheric agency in very ancient times (pre-glacial or earlier). This process of surface waste has affected a great part of the area of coralline oolite in Oxfordshire, Berkshire, and Wilts, and seems to explain the patchy and irregular distribution often observable in this rock; though, as far as relates to the purely oolitic and not shelly part of the rock, the original circumstances of deposit must be taken into account."

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; poorly lithified, fine-grained, shelly/skeletal sandstone

• "This deposit has been penetrated, by a boring for water at St. Clement's, to a depth of 400 feet. (Add 70 for the higher beds up to the calcareous grit.) The lower parts, which are seen but rarely in the Oxford district, yield Ammonites Duncani; the upper parts, Ammonites vertebralis. Gryphaea dilatata appears in the upper half; and bones of Plesiosaurus occur both in the upper and the lower parts."

Size class: macrofossils

Primary reference: J. Phillips. 1871. Geology of Oxford and the Valley of the Thames. Clarendon Press, Oxford 1-523 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/E. Vlachos]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 100669: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Hallie Street on 11.12.2010, edited by Roger Benson

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• Taxa known from the well at St. Clement's along the section between Oxford and Shotover Hill.
Anthozoa
 Scleractinia - Microsolenidae
"Anabacia orbulites" = Chomatoseris orbulites
"Anabacia orbulites" = Chomatoseris orbulites Lamouroux 1821 stony coral
Cephalopoda
 Belemnitida - Belemnopseidae
"Belemnites hastatus" = Belemnopsis hastata
"Belemnites hastatus" = Belemnopsis hastata Blainville 1808 belemnite
 Belemnitida - Belemnitidae
 Ammonitida - Kosmoceratidae
"Ammonites gemmatus" = Kosmoceras gemmatum
"Ammonites gemmatus" = Kosmoceras gemmatum Phillips 1835 ammonite
 Ammonitida - Cardioceratidae
"Ammonites cordatus" = Cardioceras (Cardioceras) cordatum
"Ammonites cordatus" = Cardioceras (Cardioceras) cordatum Sowerby 1813 ammonite
 Ammonitida -
Gastropoda
 Sorbeoconcha - Aporrhaidae
"Alaria bispinosa" = Dicroloma
"Alaria bispinosa" = Dicroloma snail
Bivalvia
 Ostreida - Palaeolophidae
"Ostrea gregarea" = Actinostreon gregareum
"Ostrea gregarea" = Actinostreon gregareum Sowerby 1816 oyster
 Cardiida - Anthracosiidae
"Myacites recurvus" = Unionites
"Myacites recurvus" = Unionites clam
 Trigoniida - Myophorelloidae
"Trigonia clavellata" = Myophorella (Clavitrigonia) clavellata Sowerby 1826 clam
 Trigoniida - Trigoniidae
 Nuculanida - Nuculanidae
"Nucula nuda" = Leda subtrigona, "Nucula elliptica" = Leda elliptica
"Nucula nuda" = Leda subtrigona Münster 1841 pointed nut clam
"Nucula elliptica" = Leda elliptica Goldfuss 1837 pointed nut clam
Lingulata
 Discinida - Disciniidae
Stenolaemata
 Cyclostomata - Diastoporidae
Malacostraca
 Decapoda - Erymidae
"Glyphea stricklandi" = Eryma stricklandi
"Glyphea stricklandi" = Eryma stricklandi Phillips 1871 decapod
Crinoidea
 Isocrinida - Pentacrinitidae
"Extracrinus sp." = Pentacrinites
"Extracrinus sp." = Pentacrinites Blumenbach 1804 Sea lily
Echinoidea
 Cidaroida - Cidaridae
Cidaris inspirata pencil urchin
 Salenioida - Acrosaleniidae
Acrosalenia spinosa Agassiz 1847 sea urchin
Chondrichthyes
 Hybodontiformes - Hybodontidae
"Hybodus grossiconus" = Orthybodus grossiconus
"Hybodus grossiconus" = Orthybodus grossiconus Agassiz 1839 elasmobranch
 Chimaeriformes - Callorhynchidae
Ischyodus egertoni Buckland 1835 plownose chimaera
Reptilia
 Ichthyosauria - Ichthyosauridae
Ichthyosaurus dilatatus Phillips 1871 ichthyosaur
 Loricata - Metriorhynchidae
Dakosaurus sp. Quenstedt 1856 marine crocodile
 Pterosauria - Rhamphorhynchidae
"Rhamphorhynchus bucklandi" = Rhamphocephalus bucklandi
"Rhamphorhynchus bucklandi" = Rhamphocephalus bucklandi Meyer 1832 pterosaur
 Plesiosauria - Cryptoclididae
Plesiosaurus oxoniensis Phillips 1871 plesiosaur
 Plesiosauria - Pliosauridae
Pliosauridae indet. Seeley 1874 plesiosaur
Spelled "Pleiosaurus"
Actinopteri
 Pycnodontiformes - Gyrodontidae
Gyrodus sp. Agassiz 1833
 Lepisosteiformes -
Lepidotus macrocheirus Egerton 1845 gar
 Life -
"Hybodus polyprion" = Secarodus polyprion
"Hybodus polyprion" = Secarodus polyprion Agassiz 1839