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

Also known as D

Where: England, United Kingdom (51.7° N, 1.2° W: paleocoordinates 42.5° N, 8.6° E)

• coordinate estimated from map

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Titanites giganteus ammonoid zone, Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Ancholme Group), Tithonian (152.1 - 145.0 Ma)

• "Here only about 100 feet thick. At its base are scattered a few Coprolites; a few feet upward we find Thracia depressa, Gryphsea virgula; still higher, two 'flats' of Ostrea deltoidea; and at a height of fifteen feet a limestone-band, partly septariate, yielding Rhynchonella inconstans, and occasionally Pleiosaurian, Ichthyosaurian, and Steneosaurian bones, which also occur below it."

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: marine; unlithified, fine-grained, glauconitic, green claystone

• "The lowest part of the clay as seen near Oxford appears in the Heddington pits, resting on coralline oolite. About eight feet above the junction is a calcareous band eight inches thick. With these exceptions, and some parts more shaly than others, the clay appears nearly uniform in quality. There are probably two or three beds of Ostrea deltoidea, one near the base being often recognized, even as far to the north as Yorkshire.... but in Shotover Hill it does not exceed 100 feet on the western side.... The upper part is observed to be greenish in the vicinity of Oxford, and sandy, the tint being derived from glauconite, the common ingredient of greensand. In the railway cutting of Shotover Hill sandstones of a greenish tint interlaminated the upper parts of the clay, and announced the proximity of the next deposit by containing ammonites, pholadomya, and other fossils of the Portland group above."

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: coprolite

Collected by Viscount Cole; W. Buckland; reposited in the BMNH

• Viscount Cole (later 3rd Earl of Enniskillen)

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 98478: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Hallie Street on 07.10.2010, edited by Roger Benson, Jonathan Tennant, Grace Varnham and Matthew Carrano

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Bivalvia
 Ostreida - Gryphaeidae
"Ostrea deltoidea" = Deltoideum (Deltoideum) delta Smith 1817 oyster
 Thraciida - Thraciidae
Thracia depressa Sowerby 1823 clam
Rhynchonellata
 Rhynchonellida - Cyclothyrididae
"Rhynchonella inconstans" = Torquirhynchia inconstans
"Rhynchonella inconstans" = Torquirhynchia inconstans Sowerby 1821
Reptilia
  -
Plesiosaurus doedicomus n. sp.2 Owen 1840 reptile
humerus (in collection of Sir Phillip Egerton)
 Ichthyosauria -
 Loricata - Teleosauridae
Steneosaurus indet. Saint-Hilaire 1825 marine crocodile
Teleosaurus asthenodeirus3 Owen 1842 marine crocodile
cervical neural arch, dorsal centrum (RCS)
 Loricata - Metriorhynchidae
Metriorhynchidae indet.1, Torvoneustes sp.4, "Steneosaurus palpebosus n. sp." = Metriorhynchus palpebosus1
Metriorhynchidae indet.1 Fitzinger 1843 marine crocodile
Torvoneustes sp.4 Andrade et al. 2010 marine crocodile
OUMNH J.50061, OUMNH J.50079–J.50085: incomplete isolated tooth crowns and roots.
"Steneosaurus palpebosus n. sp." = Metriorhynchus palpebosus1 Phillips 1871 marine crocodile
Holotype: OUM J.29823, partial skull and incomplete lower jaw
 Plesiosauria - Cryptoclididae
"Plesiosaurus trochanterius n. sp." = Colymbosaurus trochanterius2
"Plesiosaurus trochanterius n. sp." = Colymbosaurus trochanterius2 Owen 1840 plesiosaur
BMNH 31787 (holotype humerus), 31785 (left femur), 31795 (left humerus)
 Plesiosauria -
Plesiosaurus truncatus3 Owen 1854 plesiosaur
cervical vertebrae (RCS)
Plesiosaurus levis3 Owen 1854 plesiosaur
dorsal vertebrae (RCS)