Pontalun Quarry (St. Bride's Island): Hettangian - Sinemurian, United Kingdom
collected by Kermack, Kermack & Mussett 1954-1968
List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
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Equisetopsida
- Cheirolepidiaceae
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Hirmeriella muensteri
(Schenk 1867)
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Kermack et al. 1973 | |||||||||
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Reptilia
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Archosauria indet.
(Cope 1869)
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Kermack et al. 1973 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
| Tooth, NHMUK R.8178 | ||||||||||
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Reptilia
- Rhamphorhynchidae
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cf. Rhamphorhynchidae indet.
Seeley 1870
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Fraser 1989 | 1 specimen | ||||||||
| UMZC T 1315; May be related to Dorygnathus from Liassic of Holzmaden. | ||||||||||
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Reptilia
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? Crocodylomorpha indet.
(Hay 1930)
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Fraser 1989 | |||||||||
| Teeth | ||||||||||
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Reptilia
- Rhynchocephalia
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Lepidosauria indet.
(Haeckel 1866)
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Kermack et al. 1973 | 1000 specimens | ||||||||
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= Gephyrosaurus bridensis n. gen., n. sp.
Evans 1980
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Evans 1980 | |||||||||
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Morganucodonta
- Morganucodontidae
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Morganucodon sp.
Kuehne 1949
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5 specimens | |||||||||
| Five teeth (one upper molar and four lower molars) | ||||||||||
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= Morganucodon watsoni
Kuehne 1949
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Evans and Kermack 1994 | |||||||||
| Pers. comm. Evans 1/18/2005 | ||||||||||
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Kuehneotheriidae
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Kuehneotherium praecursoris n. gen., n. sp.
Kermack et al. 1968
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14 specimens | |||||||||
| NHMUK (formerly BMNH) M.19165 (holotype), M.19155, C.853, C.855, C.857-866 | ||||||||||
| 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: | outcrop |
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: | group of beds | ||||
| Stratigraphy comments: Fossils come from several fissure systems within the Pontalun Quarry. 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 (1978) thesis, which is apparently as yet unpublished. | |||||
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). "The best specimens of Morganucodon from Pontalun quarry come from a soft red marl, lightly cemented and full of rounded clay and haematite pellets (Kermack et al. 1973, Table 2, fissure system 2). | |
| 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. Pontalun Quarry contains many tons of matrix. | |
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,mechanical,field collection | ||
| Reason for describing collection: | taxonomic analysis | ||
| Museum repositories: | BMNH | ||
| Collectors: | Kermack, Kermack & Mussett | Collection dates: | 1954-1968 |
| Collection method comments: University College London (UCL), University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge (UMZC)
Kermack et al. (1973) gives occurrence lists for up to 4 specific fissure systems at Pontalun, but prior and subsequent literature does not typically differentiate fissure systems. Morganucodon teeth are much more common than Kuehneotherium in all St. Bride's quarries (and their fissures), except in Pontalun Fissure I, a "single pocket" containing 5 Morganucodon teeth and 14 Kuehneotherium dental elements from which the type of Kuehneotherium praecursoris was described by Kermack, Kermack, and Mussett 1968 (Evans and Kermack 1994: 275). Collection 46118 represents the whole Pontalun Quarry and all of the fissures mentioned by Kermack et al. (1973). | |||
| Taxonomic list comments:The type (M. 19165) of Kuehneotherium praecursoris Kermack, Kermack, and Musset 1968 was previously figured and described by Kermack et al. (1965), but not named.
Two taxa of archosaurs (other than the pterosaur) are present at Pontalun (Fraser 1989). | |||
Metadata
| Also known as: | Lithalun Quarry, SS 898 765, SS 898765, St. Brides | ||
| Database number: | 46118 | ||
| Authorizer: | R. Whatley, R. Butler | Enterer: | R. Whatley, R. Butler |
| Modifier: | R. Butler | Research group: | vertebrate |
| Created: | 2005-01-03 14:15:23 | Last modified: | 2012-12-12 02:33:05 |
| Access level: | the public | Released: | 2005-01-03 14:15:23 |
| Creative Commons license: | CC BY | ||
Reference information
Primary reference:
| 12306. | D. M. Kermack, K. A. Kermack, and F. Mussett. 1968. The Welsh pantothere Kuehneotherium praecursoris. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 47(312):407-423 [R. Whatley/R. Whatley/M. Carrano] |
Secondary references:
| 12307 | S. E. Evans. 1980. The skull of a new eosuchian reptile from the Lower Jurassic of South Wales. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 70:203-264 [R. Whatley/R. Whatley/M. Carrano] | |
| 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] | |
| 12209 | N. C. Fraser. 1989. A new pterosaur record from a lower Jurassic fissure deposit in South Wales. Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie Monatshefte 1989:161-163 [R. Whatley/R. Whatley/R. Whatley] | |
| 40488 | N. C. Fraser, G. M. Walkden, and V. Stewart. 1985. The first pre-Rhaetic therian mammal. Nature 314:161-163 [M. Carrano/M. Carrano/M. Carrano] | |
| 4202 | 5% 30500 | K. A. Kermack, F. Mussett, and H.W. Rigney. 1973. The lower jaw of Morganucodon. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society of London 53(2):87-175 [W. Clyde/J. Finarelli/R. Butler] |