Pant 4 (St. Bride's Island): Hettangian - Sinemurian, United Kingdom

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
Reptilia - Archosauria
Archosauria indet. Cope 1869
several different archosaurs (Saila 2005, Whatley pers. com. 2005)
Reptilia - Rhamphorhynchidae
Rhamphorhynchidae indet. Seeley 1870
Gill et al. 2006
"Non-serrated archosaurian teeth"
Reptilia - Theropoda
? Theropoda indet. Marsh 1881
Saila 2005
Saila "in prep."
Reptilia - Sphenosuchidae
Sphenosuchidae indet. Huene 1922
Saila 2005
Reptilia - Rhynchocephalia
Gephyrosaurus sp. Evans 1980
Reptilia
Sphenodontia indet. (Jaekel 1910)
Saila 2005 1 specimen
NHMUK R7547, dentary, distinct from Clevosaurus convallis
Reptilia - Clevosauridae
Clevosaurus sp. Swinton 1939
600 specimens
    = Clevosaurus convallis n. sp. Saila 2005
Saila 2005
Around 600 sphenodontian jaw fragments in NHMUK (BMNH) collections + many additional specimens. All but one specimen referred to Clevosaurus convallis
Haramiyidae
Thomasia sp. Poche 1908
    = Thomasia cf. moorei Owen 1871
Clemens 2007
NHMUK M45420 (= U 568, “Pacey’s specimen”), fragmentary molariform assumed to be a right upper; and M63693 (= “2003 specimen”), right upper molariform
Kuehneotheriidae
Kuehneotherium sp. Kermack et al. 1968
    = Kuehneotherium praecursoris Kermack et al. 1968
Saila 2005
Morganucodonta
Morganucodonta informal Group 1
Clemens 2011 4 specimens
NHMUK M45922, M45923, M45925, M45926 (upper molariforms)
Morganucodonta informal Group 2
Clemens 2011 3 specimens
NHMUK M45929–M45931 (upper molariforms)
Paceyodon davidi n. gen., n. sp. Clemens 2011
Clemens 2011 1 specimen
NHMUK M45920 (University of London catalog number U567), right lower molariform
Morganucodonta - Morganucodontidae
Morganucodon watsoni Kuehne 1949
Morganucodonta
Bridetherium dorisae n. gen., n. sp. Clemens 2011
Clemens 2011 134 specimens
NHMUK M45693 (holotype left mesial molariform); Upper mesial molariforms. NHMUK M45712, M45727, M45743, M45848–M45850, M45853–M45857, M45859, M45860, M45862, M45864, M45865, M45868, M45871, M45873, M45876, M45878, M45881, M45883, M45888–M45891, M45896, M45898, M45900, M45907, M45915–M45916, M45932. Upper distal molariforms. NHMUK M45851–M45853, M45858, M45866, M45884, M45887, M45894, M45903, M45908, M45911, M45914, M45919, M45927, M45928. Lower mesial molariforms. NHMUK M45690–45695, M45700– 45702, M45704, M45707, M45710, M45713–M45716, M45718, M45721, M45723, M45727, M45730, M45733–M45735, M45738, M45740, M45742, M45750, M45752, M45754–M45757, M45760, M45762, M45767, M45769, M45772, M45776, M45781, M45784, M45785, M45789, M45791, M45793, M45798, M45800, M45804, M45806, M45809, M45813, M45814, M45817, M45819, M45822, M45826, M45827, M45837, M45839, M45842, M45844–M45846. Lower distal molariforms. NHMUK M45696–M45699, M45703, M45706, M45717, M45720, M45726, M45732, M45736, M45737, M45739, M45741, M45761, M45764, M45771, M45773, M45782, M45783, M45786–M45788, M45790, M45794, M45796, M45797, M45807, M45821, M45823, M45824, M45827, M45828, M45838, M45840, M45841.
Tritylodontidae
Oligokyphus major Kühne 1956
    = Oligokyphus sp. Hennig 1922
Gill et al. 2006
Oligokyphus minor Kühne 1956
    = Oligokyphus sp. Hennig 1922
Gill et al. 2006
see common names

Geography
Country:United Kingdom State/province:Wales County:Glamorgan
Coordinates: 51.5° North, 3.6° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:37.7° North, 1.8° East
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:small collection
Time
Period:Jurassic Epoch:Early/Lower Jurassic
10 m.y. bin:Jurassic 1
Key time interval:Hettangian - Sinemurian
Age range of interval:201.40000 - 192.90000 m.y. ago
Stratigraphy
Stratigraphic resolution:bed
Stratigraphy comments: Fissure fills in Late Carboniferous (Dinantian) limestone. Deposits resulting from Liassic transgression over Carboniferous limestones. Kermack, Mussett, and Rigney (1981) note that a Lower Sinemurian age for the Welsh fissures is supported by evidence in David Pacey's unpublished thesis (1978).

Whiteside et al. 2016 suggest Pant 4 fauna is likely latest Hettangian-earliest Sinemurian in age
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology: "limestone"
Secondary lithology:hematitic,gray,green,red,yellow marl
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: The matrix filling of the fissures ranges from soft clay to hard marl and often is rich in hematite grains. Matrix color varies from red to yellow, green and gray, and the bone can be white to dark gray and brown. Typically bone is white and matrix is red. Plant fossils are often preserved as charcoal (fusain) in gray matrix (also in yellow and red).
Environment:fissure fill
Glacial or sequence phase:transgressive
Geology comments: Fissures in limestone filled with silt, acting as traps for small animals. Localities lie on a small limestone plateau that formed an island (Robinson, 1971) or archipelago in Jurassic times. Triassic to Jurassic subsidence and a transgression by Tethys Ocean gradually resulted in inundation by Early Jurassic (Sinemurian). Such fissure fills formed in open joints in the limestone and are from 0.3 to 1 m wide.
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,charcoalification
Degree of concentration:-multiple events
Size of fossils:mesofossils,microfossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Articulated whole bodies:none
Associated major elements:none
Disassociated major elements:some
Disassociated minor elements:some
Fragmentation:frequent
Temporal resolution:time-averaged
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:selective quarrying,chemical,field collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Taxonomic list comments:Pant 4 occurrences are reported in Evans and Kermack (1994), but a more detailed study can be found in Pacey (1978) unpublished PhD thesis.

Pers. comm. from Susan Evans (1/18/2005): Clevosaurus sp. is present at Pant 4, though not at other Early Jurassic Fissure Fills.
Metadata
Also known as:Pant Fissure System 4, Pant Quarry, SS 896 760, SS 896760, St. Brides
Database number:46137
Authorizer:R. Whatley, R. Butler, M. Carrano, R. Benson Enterer:R. Whatley, M. Carrano, R. Butler, R. Benson
Modifier:G. Varnham Research group:vertebrate
Created:2005-01-04 14:27:34 Last modified:2022-02-22 03:55:32
Access level:the public Released:2005-01-04 14:27:34
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
12169. S. E. Evans and K. A. Kermack. 1994. Assemblages of small tetrapods from the Early Jurassic of Britain. In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs: Early Mesozoic Tetrapods, N. C. Fraser and H.-D. Sues (eds.), Cambridge University Press 271-283 [R. Whatley/R. Whatley/R. Whatley]

Secondary references:

43826 W. A. Clemens. 2007. Early Jurassic allotherians from South Wales (United Kingdom). Fossil Record 10(1):50-59 [R. Butler/R. Butler/R. Butler]
39758 W. A. Clemens. 2011. New morganucodontans from an Early Jurassic fissure filling in Wales (united Kingdom). Palaeontology 54(5):1139-1156 [R. Benson/R. Benson]
30852 P. G. Gill, L. K. Saila, I. J. Corfe, T. J. Challands, M. Williams and W. A. Clemens. 2006. The fauna and palaeoenvironment of St. Bride's Island: evidence from the Lower Jurassic fissure fills of South Wales. In P. M. Barrett, S. E. Evans (eds.), Ninth International Symposium on Mesozoic Terrestrial Ecosystems and Biota, Abstracts and Proceedings 48-51 [R. Butler/R. Butler]
14825ETE L. K. Saila. 2005. A new species of the sphenodontian reptile Clevosaurus from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales. Palaeontology 48(4):817-832 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano]