Sunnydown Farm Quarry (lower clay): Early/Lower Berriasian - Middle Berriasian, United Kingdom

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Vertebrata indet. Lamarck 1801
Kielan-Jaworowska and Ensom 1992
coprolites
Amphibia - Temnospondyli
Sunnybatrachus sp. Evans and McGowan 2002
Evans and Searle 2002
Batrachosauroididae indet. Auffenberg 1958
    = Apricosiren ensomi n. gen., n. sp. Evans and McGowan 2002
Evans and McGowan 2002
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Batrachosauroididae
? Batrachosauroididae indet. Auffenberg 1958
Evans and Searle 2002
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Albanerpetontidae
Celtedens cf. megacephalus (Costa 1864)
McGowan and Ensom 1997 5 specimens
DORCM GS 27, 29, 31, 34, 36
Reptilia - Dromaeosauridae
cf. Nuthetes destructor Owen 1854
Reptilia - Crocodilia
Crocodilia indet. Owen 1842
spelled with current rank as Crocodylia
Reptilia - Sphenodonta
Sphenodonta indet.
synonym of Sphenodontia
Reptilia - Squamata
Squamata informal indet. 2 Oppel 1811
Evans and Searle 2002
Reptilia - Paramacellodidae
Paramacellodus sp. Hoffstetter 1967
Evans and Searle 2002
Becklesius sp. Estes 1983
Reptilia - Dorsetisauridae
Dorsetisaurus sp. Hoffstetter 1967
Evans and Searle 2002
Reptilia
Parasaurillus pseudobtusus Evans and Searle 2002
Evans and Searle 2002
Morganucodonta
Purbeckodon batei n. gen., n. sp. Butler et al. 2012
Butler et al. 2012 4 specimens
DORCM GS 701, holotype left upper molar; upper molars: DORCM GS 698, DORCM GS 699, DORCM GS 700
Mammalia - Spalacotheriidae
Spalacotherium evansae Ensom and Sigogneau-Russell 2000
Ensom and Sigogneau-Russell 2000 1 specimen
DORCM GS 323, sample 09
Mammalia - Peramura - Peramuridae
Peramus sp. Owen 1871
Mammalia - Thereuodontidae
Thereuodon taraktes n. sp. Sigogneau-Russell and Ensom 1998
Sigogneau-Russell and Ensom 1998 5 specimens
upper molars: DORCM GS 351, 419, 545, 665 and 679
Pisces
Pisces indet. Linnaeus 1758
synonym of Osteichthyes
Chondrichthyes - Hybodontiformes - Hybodontidae
aff. Hybodus sp. Agassiz 1834
see common names

Geography
Country:United Kingdom State/province:England County:Dorset
Coordinates: 50.6° North, 2.0° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:41.5° North, 7.9° East
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Altitude:0 meters
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Cretaceous Epoch:Early/Lower Cretaceous
Stage:Berriasian 10 m.y. bin:Cretaceous 1
*Period:Late/Upper Jurassic *Epoch:Malm
*International age/stage:Tithonian
Key time interval:Early/Lower Berriasian - Middle Berriasian
Age range of interval:145.00000 - 140.60000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Purbeck Formation:Lulworth Member:Worbarrow Tout
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: Originally reported as Tithonian, 1 m approx. below layer containing multituberculates (Sunnydown Farm Quarry, clay). Sigogneau-Russel and Ensom, 1998 consider it to be Early Cretaceous, and elevate the Purebeck Limestone to a group, and the Lulworth to a Formation. Formation now considered Berriasian (MTC). Correlated to DB 98-100.
Cherty Freshwater Mbr now = top of Worbarrow Tour Mbr.
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: cherty/siliceous "limestone"
Secondary lithology: argillaceous,carbonaceous claystone
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: A dark carbonaceous clay with rootlets in between massive limestones and micrite, biomicrite and biomicrudite
Environment:wet floodplain
Geology comments: sediments deposited ias an extensive mud-flat bordering a large shallow freshwater lake.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,trace
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Disassociated minor elements:all
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:difficult macrofossils
Collection methods:sieve,field collection
Minimum sieve size:5.000 Maximum sieve size:3.000
Rock censused:10 cm (line intercept)
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Metadata
Also known as:Langton Matravers
Database number:28995
Authorizer:J. Alroy, R. Benson, M. Carrano Enterer:E. Leckey, J. Alroy, R. Benson, M. Carrano
Modifier:G. Varnham Research group:vertebrate
Created:2003-03-10 16:20:18 Last modified:2022-02-04 03:16:06
Access level:the public Released:2003-03-10 16:20:18
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
8338. P. C. Ensom. 1988. Excavations at Sunnydown Farm, Langton Matravers, Dorset: amphibians discovered in the Purbeck Limestone Formation. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 109:148-150 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/M. Carrano]

Secondary references:

39707 P. M. Butler, D. Sigogneau-Russell, and P. C. Ensom. 2012. Possible persistence of the morganucodontans in the Lower Cretaceous Purbeck Limestone Group (Dorset, England). Cretaceous Research 33:135-145 [R. Benson/R. Benson]
39148 P. Ensom and D. Sigogneau-Russell. 2000. New symmetrodonts (Mammalia, Theria) from the Purbeck Limestone Group, Lower Cretaceous, southern England. Cretaceous Research 21:767-779 [R. Benson/R. Benson]
31269ETE P. C. Ensom, S. E. Evans, J. E. Francis, Z. Kielan-Jaworowska, and A. R. Milner. 1994. The fauna and flora of the Sunnydown Farm footprint site and associated sites: Purbeck Limestone Formation, Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 115:181-182 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
30987 S. E. Evans and G. J. McGowan. 2002. An amphibian assemblage from the Purbeck Limestone Group. Special Papers in Palaeontology 68:103-119 [J. Alroy/J. Alroy]
34139ETE S. E. Evans and B. Searle. 2002. Lepidosaurian reptiles from the Purbeck Limestone Group of Dorset, southern England. In A. R. Milner, D. J. Batten (eds.), Life and Environments in Purbeck Times. Special Papers in Palaeontology 68:145-149 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
77075% 16620Z. Kielan-Jaworowska and P. C. Ensom. 1992. Multituberculate mammals from the Upper Jurassic Purbeck Limestone Formation of southern England. Palaeontology 35(1):95-126 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
31237ETE G. J. McGowan and P. C. Ensom. 1997. Albanerpetontid amphibians from the Lower Cretaceous of the Isle of Purbeck, Dorset. Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 118:113-117 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]
9437 D. Sigogneau-Russell and P. Ensom. 1998. Thereuodon (Theria, Symmetrodonta) from the Lower Cretaceous of North Africa and Europe, and a brief review of symmetrodonts. Cretaceous Research 19:445-470 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/R. Benson]