Coal Mine Point; Divison 4, Section XV, coal-group 15: Westphalian A, Canada
collected by J. W. Dawson, C. Lyell, among others

List of taxa
Where & when
Geology
Taphonomy & methods
Metadata & references
Taxonomic list
unclassified
Dendryazousa dikella n. gen., n. sp.
1 individual
Asaphestrera platyris n. gen., n. sp.
Incertae sedis
Atopotera moneres n. gen., n. sp.
Incertae sedis
Carpolites sp.
Dawson 1860
Sigillariaceae
Sigillaria sp. Brongniart 1822
Lyell and Dawson 1853
Lepidodendrales - Lepidodendraceae
Lepidodendron sp. Sternberg 1820
Lyell and Dawson 1853
unclassified
Stigmaria sp. Brongniart 1822
Lyell and Dawson 1853
Cordaitopsida - Cordaitaceae
Sternbergia sp. Artis 1825
Dawson 1860
replaced by Artisia
unclassified
? Noeggerathia sp. Sternberg 1822
Lyell and Dawson 1853
Polypodiopsida - Equisetales - Calamitaceae
Calamites sp. Suckow 1784
Lyell and Dawson 1853
Gastropoda - Dendropupidae
Pulmonata indet. Cuvier 1817
Lyell and Dawson 1853 50 specimens
"pulmoniferous mollusk", ?Clausilia sp., ?Pupa sp., ?Helix sp. or ?Helicidae indet.; originally entered as "Mollusca indet."; number of specimens is from Dawson (1860)
    = Pupa vetusta n. sp. Dawson 1860
Dawson 1860
recombined as Dendropupa vetusta
originally entered as "Pupa vestuta" with Steen (1934) as reference
Myriapoda - Amynilyspedida - Amynilyspedidae
? Amynilyspes sp. Scudder 1882
Scudder 1895
Myriapoda
Xylobius dawsoni Scudder 1868
Scudder 1895 7 specimens
recombined as Archicambala dawsoni
Myriapoda - Xyloiulidae
Xylobius sigillariae n. gen., n. sp. Dawson 1860
Dawson 1860
recombined as Xyloiulus sigillariae
"numerous specimens"
Xylobius similis Scudder 1868
Scudder 1895 5 specimens
Xylobius fractus Scudder 1868
Scudder 1895 3 specimens
Myriapoda
Archiulus xylobioides Scudder 1868
Scudder 1895 7 specimens
Archiulus lyelli n. sp. Scudder 1895
Scudder 1895 4 specimens
Archiulus euphoberioides n. sp. Scudder 1895
Scudder 1895 10 specimens
Eurypterida
Eurypterida indet. Burmeister 1843
Braddy et al. (2022) suggest this is arthropleurid
Arachnida - Scorpiones - Mazoniidae
Mazonia sp. Meek and Worthen 1868
Scudder 1895 1 specimen
Mazonia acadica n. sp. Scudder 1895
Scudder 1895 1 specimen
Pelycosauria
Protoclepsydrops haplous n. gen., n. sp. Carroll 1964
Carroll 1964 1 individual
RM 3166 (type); "figured by Steen (1934, fig. 22c, p. 490) as 'Hylonomus' latidens"; specimen is deducted from the original 5 occurences of "Hylonomus" latidens
Reptilia - Protorothyrididae
Hylonomus wymani n. sp. Dawson 1860
Dawson 1860 1 specimen
RM 3061 (type); according to Steen (1934), the specimen catalogued under this number represent series of vertebrae figured in pl. III fig. 4-7 in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen (1853). These vertebrae, however, are listed as BMNH R4156 and R4157 in Carroll (1967)
"Hylonomus" latidens Dawson 1882
4 specimens
Authority is Dawson 1882.
Hylonomus lyelli n. gen., n. sp. Dawson 1860
3 specimens
BMNH R4167 (vertebrae, pelvis, femur, phalanges, ribs and scales), R4168 (the holotype); RM 12207 (skull and jaw elements, vertebrae, limb elements); all specimens are part of the hypodigm as recognized by Carroll (1964)
Hylerpeton curtidentatum n. sp. Dawson 1876
1 individual
synonym of Hylonomus lyelli
RM 2.1126 (holotype); originally entered as "Fritschia curtidentata"
Gymnarthridae
Hylerpeton dawsoni n. gen., n. sp. Owen 1862
Owen 1862 1 specimen
BMNH R4180 (type; lower jaw), BMNH R4149 (figured in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen, 1853, pl. II fig. 2 as part of the type series of Dendrerpeton acadianum; assigned to H. dawsoni by Carroll, 1967)
Amblyodon problematicum n. sp. Dawson 1882
Carroll 1966 4 specimens
recombined as Leiocephalikon problematicum
RM 3061-10 (holotype), fragment of lower jaw with 10 teeth; RM 12195, maxilla; RM 2.1130, dentary; RM 2.1122a, dentary and coronoids
Leiocephalikon eutheton n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934
1 individual
synonym of Leiocephalikon problematicum
Amphibia
Lepospondyli indet. von Zittel 1887
Novascoticus multidens n. gen., n. sp. (Dawson 1882)
Carroll 1966 1 specimen
RM 2.1128 (holotype), partial skull and lower jaw, shoulder girdle and humerus, scattered vertebrae
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Dendrerpetidae
Batrachia indet. (Macartney 1802)
Wyman 1853 1 specimen
"labyrinthodont Reptile", said to be similar to present-day Salamanders; see comments on taxonomic list
    = Dendrerpeton acadianum n. gen., n. sp. Owen 1853
Owen 1853
BMNH R4158 (lectotype); the only specimen among Owen's syntypes considered diagnostic by Carroll (1967)
Hylonomus lyelli Dawson 1860
Owen 1862 1 specimen
    = Dendrerpeton oweni n. sp. Dawson 1863
Dawson 1863
synonym of Dendrerpeton acadianum
RM 2.1121 (type); "the identification of the lower jaw, phalanges, and the series of specimens associated subsequently with the type is uncertain" (Steen, 1934)
Hylonomus aciedentatus n. sp. Dawson 1860
Dawson 1860 1 specimen
synonym of Dendrerpeton acadianum
RM 2.1125 (type)
Dendrysekos helogenes n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934
1 specimen
Includes Dendrerpeton acadianum of Dawson 1882, in part.
Platystegos loricatum n. sp. Dawson 1895
3 specimens
Authority is Dawson 1894.
Eogyrinidae
Calligenethlon watsoni n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934
1 specimen
see common names

Geography
Country:Canada State/province:Nova Scotia County:Cumberland
Coordinates: 45.7° North, 64.5° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:8.0° South, 7.2° West
Basis of coordinate:estimated from map
Geographic resolution:outcrop
Time
Period:Carboniferous Epoch:Pennsylvanian
Stage:Bashkirian 10 m.y. bin:Carboniferous 4
*Period:Late/Upper Carboniferous *Epoch:Middle Bashkirian - Gzelian
*Local age/stage:Middle Westphalian - Late/Upper Westphalian
Key time interval:Westphalian A
Age range of interval:318.80000 - 317.00000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields
Stratigraphy
Geological group:Cumberland Formation:Joggins
Local section:Division 4, Section XV Local bed:coal-group 15
Stratigraphic resolution:group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: From Steen (1934): "top of the Joggins formation...Division 4, Section XV., Coal-group 15 of the Joggins section given in Dawson's 'Acadian Geology,' 1868, pp. 156-178." From Lyell (1853): The fossils are from Bed 5 of a 25 ft section, composed of 7 beds. Bed 5 is approximately 600 ft below the main coal, "King's Vein".
Original entry for Local Section name was "South Joggins"; for Bed/horizon "bed 5". In Steen (1934) a "bed 5" is not mentioned in any way. Also, in papers published before and after Lyell's "On the Remains of a Reptile..." (1953) a different numbering is applied to the Joggins Section. Thus, it is more appropriate to follow the stratigraphic terminology used in Dawson (1878, Acadian Geology, 3rd edn.; 1882, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., 173), Steen (1934, see description above) and Carroll (1964). Coal-group 15 consists of 3 beds with a total thickness of 10 ft 6 in. (Dawson, 1878) (TL)
Original entry for chronostratigraphy was simply "Westphalian". Currently, the Cumberland Group is considered eqivalent to Westphalian A (Langsettian) (see e. g. Holmes et al., 1989, J. Vert. Paleont. 19; or Falcon-Lang et al. 2006, J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 163).(TL)
Lithology and environment
Primary lithology:gray sandstone
Secondary lithology: coal
Includes fossils?Y
Lithology description: From Lyell (1853): 5. Grey sandstone, with three erect trees, one having Stigmarian roots; erect Calamites and stems of unknown plants. (One of the erect trees in this bed contained the bones, teeth, &c. and land-shell above-mentioned.) ...9 ft;
Environment:mire/swamp Tectonic setting:intermontane basin
Taphonomy
Modes of preservation:body,coalified
Size of fossils:macrofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:good
Articulated whole bodies:none
Associated major elements:some
Disassociated major elements:none
Disassociated minor elements:many
Fragmentation:occasional
Temporal resolution:snapshot
Collection methods and comments
Collection methods:bulk,selective quarrying,field collection,survey of museum collection
Reason for describing collection:taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:BMNH
Collectors:J. W. Dawson, C. Lyell, among others
Collection method comments: RM = Redpath Museum of McGill Unversity, Montreal
Taxonomic list comments:Listed by Steen (1934) as Indeterminate species: Hylerpeton dawsoni Owen; Hylerpeton longidentatum Dawson; Hylerpeton intermedium Dawson; Hylonomus multidens Dawson; Hylonomus wymani Dawson; Smilerpeton aciedentatus Dawson; Amblyodon problematicum Dawson; Sparodus sp. Dawson; Baphetes minor Dawson.

All catalogue numbers are from Steen (1934) and/or from Carroll (1967).

The taxon "Batrachoididae indet.", entered under the reference Lyell & Dawson (1853), has been removed from the taxonomic list for it is a family of teleost fish. It probably referred to the "batrachian" affinities of the tetrapod bones noticed by Wyman (1853) but all these bones finally were assigned to Dendrerpeton acadianum n. gen. et sp. (see pls. II and III in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen, 1853). Thus the originally enterd taxon "Dendrerpeton acadianum", reference: Lyell & Dawson, was replaced by "Batrachia indet.", reference: Wyman (1853), and re-identification by Owen (1853) was added (TL).
Re-identification of "Dendrerpeton oweni n. sp." as "Dendrerpeton acadianum" by by Steen was removed after opinons on synonymy of the the former with the latter species were entered into the database (TL).

? Poacites sp. of Lyell and Dawson not entered, because that taxon is a grass.
Metadata
Also known as:South Joggins; Coal Measures; Head of Bay of Fundy
Database number:28069
Authorizer:J. Alroy, M. Clapham, J. Mueller, A. Dunhill Enterer:R. Whatley, M. Clapham, T. Liebrecht, B. Allen
Modifier:R. Plotnick Research group:vertebrate
Created:2003-01-22 17:32:02 Last modified:2023-10-30 14:57:07
Access level:the public Released:2003-01-22 17:32:02
Creative Commons license:CC BY
Reference information

Primary reference:
7856.5% 47720M. C. Steen. 1934. The amphibian fauna from the South Joggins, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1934:465-504 [J. Alroy/R. Whatley/E. Dunne]

Secondary references:

28956 R. L. Carroll. 1964. The earliest reptiles. Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology) 45(304):61-83 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
58386 R. L. Carroll. 1966. Microsaurs from the Westphalian B of Joggins, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 177:63-97 [R. Butler/E. Dunne]
32317 R. L. Carroll. 1967. Labyrinthodonts from the Joggins Formation. Journal of Paleontology 41(1):111-142 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
28692 R. L. Carroll and P. Gaskill. 1978. The Order Microsauria. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 126:1-211 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
32301 J. W. Dawson. 1860. On a Terrestrial Mollusk, a Chilognathous Myriapod, and some New Species of Reptiles, from the Coal-Formation of Nova Scotia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 16:268-277 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
32315 J. W. Dawson. 1863. Notice of a New Species of Dendrerpeton, and of the Dermal Coverings of certain Carboniferous Reptiles. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 19:469-473 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
86217 H.J. Falcon-Lang, M.J. Benton, S. J. Braddy and S. J. Davies. 2006. The Pennsylvanian tropical biome reconstructed from the Joggins Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada . Journal of the Geological Society 163(3):561-576 [R. Plotnick/R. Plotnick/R. Plotnick]
76885% 51180C. Lyell and J. W. Dawson. 1853. On the Remains of a Reptile (Dendrerpeton acadianum, Wyman and Owen) and of a Land Shell discovered in the Interior of an Erect Fossil Tree in the Coal Measures of Nova Scotia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:58-63 [J. Alroy/R. Whatley/T. Liebrecht]
32300 R. Owen. 1853. Notes on the above-described fossil remains. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:66-67 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
32316 R. Owen. 1862. Description of Specimens of Fossil Reptilia discovered in the Coal-measures of the South Joggins, Nova Scotia, by Dr. J. W. Dawson, FGS, etc. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 18:238-244 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
49117 S. H. Scudder. 1895. Canadian fossil insects, myriapods and arachnids, 3. Notes upon myriapods and arachnids found in sigillarian stumps in the Nova Scotia coal field. Geological Survey of Canada Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology 2(1):57-66 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham/M. Clapham]
32314 J. Wyman. 1853. Notes on the Reptilian Remains. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:64-66 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]