Hordle Cliff Crocodile Bed, Hampshire: Priabonian, United Kingdom

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Spalacodon n. gen. sp.
part of a lower jaw
Helix labyrinthicus
Wood 1846
Helix striatella
Wood 1846
Potomomya subangulata
Wood 1846
Potomomya piapa
Wood 1846
Potomomya angulata
Hastings 1853
uncertain whether this is a re-id of S. subangulata or not
Plantae indet. Haeckel 1866
Hastings 1853
Charales - Characea
Chara sp. Linnaeus 1753
Hastings 1853
"Charae"
Gastropoda - Cerithiidae
Cerithium pyrgatum
Garnder et al. 1888
Gastropoda - Potamididae
Potamides margaritaceus (Brocchi 1814)
Wood 1846
recombined as Mesohalina margaritaceus
Potamides cinctum
Wood 1846
Potamides duplex
Wood 1846
Potamides funatum
Wood 1846
Gastropoda - Melanopsidae
Melanopsis fusiformis
Wood 1846
Melanopsis brevis
Wood 1846
Melanopsis carinata
Wood 1846
Gastropoda - Thiaridae
Melania carinata
Wood 1846
synonym of Thiara
Melania subulaspira
Wood 1846
synonym of Thiara
Melania circineta
Wood 1846
synonym of Thiara
Gastropoda - Viviparidae
Paludina unicolor
Wood 1846
Paludina conciana
Wood 1846
Paludina ? minima
Wood 1846
Paludina ? impurata
Wood 1846
Paludina lenta
Hastings 1853
Gastropoda - Heterostropha - Planorbidae
Planorbis euomphalus
Wood 1846
Planorbis ? hemistoma
Wood 1846
Planorbis leus
Wood 1846
Planorbis obtusus
Wood 1846
Planorbis planalatus
Wood 1846
Planorbis platystoma
Wood 1846
Planorbis ? rotundatus Brongniart 1810
Wood 1846
Ancylus elegans
Wood 1846
Gastropoda - Heterostropha - Succineidae
Succinea imperspicua
Wood 1846
Gastropoda - Neritidae
Neritina concava
Wood 1846
Bivalvia - Lucinida - Lucinidae
Cyclas exigua
Wood 1846
spelled with current rank as Lucina (Cyclas)
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Cyrenidae
Cyrena deperdita
Wood 1846
Cyrena obliquata
Wood 1846
Cyrena cycladiformis
Wood 1846
Cyrena pisum
Wood 1846
Bivalvia - Cardiida - Dreissenidae
Dreissena brardii
Wood 1846
Bivalvia - Unionida - Unionidae
Unio solandri
Wood 1846
Polychaeta - Sabellida - Serpulidae
Serpula tenuis
Wood 1846
Serpula tenuis
Hastings 1853
Mammalia - Primates - Omomyidae
Microchoerus erinaceus n. gen., n. sp. Wood 1844
"an imperfect cranium": entered as "Microchaerus'
Mammalia - Perissodactyla - Palaeotheriidae
Paloplotherium sp.
Hastings 1853
spelled with current rank as Plagiolophus (Paloplotherium)
"new species" a series of jaws and bones
Paloplotherium annectens n. gen., n. sp.
Owen 1847 1 specimen
spelled with current rank as Plagiolophus (Paloplotherium)
portion of the skull and upper teeth
Palaeotherium sp. Cuvier 1804
scapula and portion of upper jaw
Palaeotheriidae indet. Bonaparte 1850
Owen 1847
some fragments of inferior molar teeth of a smaller Palaeotherioid, among which was an entire crown
    = Palaeotherium muehlbergi Stehlin 1904
Cray 1973
P. muehlbergi praecursum
Palaeotherium cf. medium Cuvier 1804
Owen 1847
teeth
Mammalia - Dichobunidae
Dichobune sp. Cuvier 1822
Wood 1846
teeth
Dichobune sp. Cuvier 1822
Hastings 1853
many specimens
Mammalia - Xiphodontidae
Dichodon cuspidatus n. gen., n. sp. Owen 1847
Owen 1847 2 specimens
lower jaw and teeth, parts of the upper jaw and teeth
Mammalia - Creodonta - Oxyaenidae
Argillotherium toliapicum Davies 1884
Davies 1884
not clear if this is a new taxon or not, a "mutilated skull"
Mammalia - Creodonta - Hyaenodontidae
Hyaenodon sp. Laizer and Parieu 1838
Hastings 1853 1 specimen
one unique lower jaw
    = Hyaenodon cf. minor Lange-Badré 1979
Cray 1973
Mammalia
Carnivora indet. Bowdich 1821
some type of seal,isolated teeth; ref 10850 has part of a carnivore skull
    = Quercygale hastingsiae
Cray 1973
Viverra hastingsae n. sp. Davies 1884
Davies 1884
recombined as Quercygale hastingsae
Mammalia - Macroscelidea - Amphilemuridae
? Gesneropithex grisollensis
Norris and Harrison 1998 1 specimen
periotic bone HZM 245.18628
Mammalia - Insectivora
Insectivora indet. Bowdich 1821
part of an upper jaw
Reptilia - Testudines
Emys crassus Owen 1849
Hastings 1853
recombined as Cuvierichelys crassa
Reptilia - Testudines - Emydidae
Emys sp. Dumeril 1806
Hastings 1853
n. sp., entire carapace and plastron collected
Reptilia - Testudines
Anostira anglica n. sp. Lydekker 1889
Lydekker 1889
synonym of Allaeochelys delheidi
BMNH 33198
Reptilia - Testudines - Trionychidae
Trionyx henrici n. sp. Owen and Bell 1849
Hastings 1853
Trionyx barbarae n. sp. Owen and Bell 1849
Hastings 1853
synonym of Trionyx henrici
Trionyx marginatus n. sp. Owen and Bell 1849
Hastings 1853
synonym of Trionyx henrici
Trionyx circumsulcatus n. sp. Owen and Bell 1849
Hastings 1853
synonym of Trionyx henrici
Reptilia - Testudines - Cheloniidae
Trachyaspis hantoniensis n. sp. Lydekker 1889
Lydekker 1889
BMNH R1443
Reptilia
Alligator hantoniensis n. sp. Wood 1846
most of the "head" with almost all of the upper teeth, humerus, dermal scutes and other post cranial elements
Crocodilus hastingsiae n. sp. Owen 1848
Owen 1849
synonym of Alligator hantoniensis
Aves indet. Linnaeus 1758
Hastings 1853
two different humeri, coracoids and various other undescribed bird bones
Actinopteri - Lepisosteiformes - Lepisosteidae
Lepisosteus sp. Agassiz 1843
Actinopteri
Teleostei indet. Müller 1846
Hastings 1853
fish scales
unclassified
Limnaea longiscata
Wood 1846
Limnaea fusiformis
Wood 1846
Limnaea columellaris
Wood 1846
Limnaea pyramidalis
Wood 1846
Limnaea minima
Wood 1846
Limnaea strigosa
Wood 1846
Limnaea ? elodes
Wood 1846
see common names

Geography
Country:United Kingdom State/province:England County:Hampshire
Coordinates: 50.7° North, 1.6° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:49.2° North, 5.5° West
Basis of coordinate:based on nearby landmark
Geographic resolution:local area
Time
Period:Paleogene Epoch:Eocene
Stage:Priabonian 10 m.y. bin:Cenozoic 3
Key time interval:Priabonian
Age range of interval:38.00000 - 33.90000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Formation:Headon Beds
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: part of the Lower Headon Beds, this bed is approx. 6 m above the base, and is is approx. 2m thick. At this locality the Crocodile Bed lies above the Leaf Bed and almost immediately below the upper ironsone band. Age is Upper Eocene (Lower Ludian)
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:white sandstone
Secondary lithology:concretionary,ferruginous sandy,calcareous claystone
Includes fossils?Y
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: whitish sands in the upper part but the lower layers are harder and brownish in color, the rest of the Headon Beds are predominantly clays, with varying amounts of sand, limestone and ironstone
Environment:terrestrial indet.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body
Size of fossils:macrofossils,mesofossils
Articulated whole bodies:some
Associated major elements:some
Disassociated major elements:some
Disassociated minor elements:some
Collection methods and comments
Collection excludes:some macrofossils
Collection methods:field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Collection method comments: stratigraphic relationships are based on compilation by Cray, 1973.
In 1852, the Marchioness of Hastings published an almost identical paper to her 1853 report. I used the later English version, but the earlier paper is the more primary reference.
Taxonomic list comments:Cray, 1973 comments that further investigations in the Crocodile Bed have produced only scales of Lepisosteus and occasional crocodile and turtle bones, concluding that the early museum collections came from richly fossiliferous pockets which were largely worked out by the Marchioness.
Metadata
Also known as:Hordwell
Database number:39643
Authorizer:J. Alroy, A. Dunhill, D. Nicholson Enterer:E. Leckey, B. Allen, D. Nicholson
Modifier:P. Mannion Research group:marine invertebrate,vertebrate
Created:2004-06-01 16:21:08 Last modified:2019-07-01 06:54:50
Access level:the public Released:2004-06-01 16:21:08
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:

10566. S. Wood. 1844. Record of the discovery of an Alligator with several new Mammalia in the Freshwater Strata at Hordwell. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 14:349-351 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/M. Uhen]

Secondary references:

10423 P. E. Cray. 1973. Marsupialia, Insectivora, Primates, Creodonta and Carnivora from the Headon Beds (upper Eocene) of southern England. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Geology Series 23(1):1-102 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
10850 W. Davies. 1884. Notes on some new carnivores from the British Eocene formations. The Geological Magazine 1(10):433-438 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/M. Uhen]
11308 J. S. Garnder, H. Keeping, and H. W. Monckton. 1888. The Upper Eocene, comprising the Barton and Upper Bagshot Formations. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 44:578-635 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
10789 M. Hastings. 1853. On the Tertiary Beds of Hordwell, Hampshire. Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, Fourth Series 6(36):1-11 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
58741 R. Lydekker. 1889. Preliminary notice of new fossil Chelonia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History 6th Series 3:53-54 [D. Nicholson/D. Nicholson]
10328 C. A. Norris and D. L. Harrison. 1998. Mammalian periotic bones from the Eocene deposits at Hordle, Hampshire. Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 41(1):69-77 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
11032 R. Owen. 1847. On the fossil remains of Mammalia referable to the genus Palaeotherium, and to two genera, Paloplotherium and Dichodon, hitherto undefined: from the Eocene Sand at Hordle, Hampshire. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 4:17-42 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]
67602 R. Owen. 1849. A History of British Fossil Reptiles, Part I. 1-328 [A. Dunhill/B. Allen/B. Allen]
69293 J. P. Rio, P. D. Mannion, E. Tschopp, J. E. Martin, and M. Delfino. 2020. Reappraisal of the morphology and phylogenetic relationships of the alligatoroid crocodylian Diplocynodon hantoniensis from the late Eocene of the United Kingdom. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 188:579-629 [P. Mannion/P. Mannion/P. Mannion]
10722 S. Wood. 1846. On the discovery of an alligator and of several new Mammalia in the Hordwell Cliff; with observations upon the geological phenomena of that locality. The London Geological Journal, and Record of Discoveries in British and Foreign Paleontology 1:1-7 [J. Alroy/E. Leckey/E. Leckey]