Hastings Beds

Hastings Beds Stratigraphic range: Valanginian, 140–136 Ma PreЄ Є O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Group
Unit of	Wealden Supergroup
Sub-units	Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation Wadhurst Clay Formation Ashdown Formation
Underlies	Weald Clay Group
Location
Region	Europe
Country	UK

The Hastings Beds is a geological unit that includes interbedded clays, silts, siltstones, sands and sandstones in the High Weald of southeast England. These strata make up the component geological formations of the Ashdown Formation, the Wadhurst Clay Formation and the Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation. The term 'Hastings Beds' has been superseded and the component formations are included in the Wealden Group.^[1]

The sediments of the Weald, including the Hastings Beds, were deposited during the Early Cretaceous Period, which lasted for approximately 40 million years from 140 to 100 million years ago. The Hastings Beds are of Early Berriasian to Late Valanginian age.^[1] The Group takes its name from the fishing town of Hastings in East Sussex.

Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the included formations.^[2]

Vertebrate palaeofauna

Ornithischians

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Ornithischians reported from the Hastings Beds
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Barilium	B. dawsoni[3]	East Sussex[3]	Wadhurst Clay	"[Two] partial skeletons."[4]	An iguanodontian	Hylaeosaurus armatus Thecospondylus horneri
Hylaeosaurus[5]	H. armatus[5]	East Sussex[3] West Sussex[6]		"Partial skull, skeleton, isolated postcrania."[7]
Hypselospinus	H. fittoni[3]	East Sussex[3]	Wadhurst Clay		An iguanodontian
Iguanodon[8]	I. anglicus[6]	West Sussex[6]		"Teeth."[9]	Reclassified as Therosaurus anglicus
	I. dawsoni[3]				Reclassified as Barilium dawsoni
	I. fittoni[3]				Reclassified as Hypselospinus fittoni
	I. hollingtoniensis[3]				Junior synonym of I. fittoni.[3]
Regnosaurus[6]	R. northamptoni[6]	West Sussex[6]			Nomen dubium.[6]
Streptospondylus[6]	S. major[6]				Junior synonym of Iguanodon anglicus.[6]
Thecospondylus[10]	T. horneri[10]	Kent[10]		"Internal mold of sacrum."[11]	Dubious genus that has been variously classified as either a saurischian or ornithischian.[12] It is currently only tentatively regarded as dinosaurian.[10]
Therosaurus[6]	T. anglicus[6]	West Sussex[6]
Valdosaurus[6]	V. canaliculatus[6]	West Sussex[6]

Saurischians

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Saurischians reported from the Hastings Beds
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Becklespinax[3]	B. altispinax[3]	East Sussex[3]		"Dorsal vertebrae."[13]		Pelorosaurus Thecospondylus Valdoraptor
Cetiosaurus[5]	C. brevis[5]	West Sussex[6]			Synonymous with Pelorosaurus conybeari
Haestasaurus[14]	H. becklesii[3]	East Sussex[3]		Forelimb	A ?basal macronarian
Megalosaurus	M. oweni[6]	West Sussex[6]			Reclassified as Valdoraptor oweni.[6]
Pelorosaurus[5]	P. conybeari[6]	West Sussex[6]		"Humerus [and four] caudal vertebrae."[15]	A basal titanosauriform
Pleurocoelus[5]	P. valdensis[5]	East Sussex[3] West Sussex[6]			A dubious basal titanosauriform[5]
Suchosaurus	S. cultridens				A spinosaurid
Thecospondylus[10]	T. horneri[10]	Kent[10]			Dubious genus that has been variously classified as either a saurischian or ornithischian.[16] It is currently only tentatively regarded as dinosaurian.[10]
Valdoraptor[6]	V. oweni[6]	West Sussex		"Metatarsals."[17]	An ornithomimosaur
Wyleyia[6]	W. valdensis[6]	West Sussex[6]
Theropoda	Indeterminate	West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent[8]			Formerly referred to Altispinax dunkeri and Megalosaurus sp.
Unnamed maniraptoran	Specimen BEXHM: 2008.14.1[18]		Ashdown formation		Possibly an oviraptorosaur[18]

See also

• Ashdown Formation
• Wadhurst Clay Formation
• Tunbridge Wells Sand Formation
• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• Geology of East Sussex

Footnotes

1. Hopson, P.M., Wilkinson, I.P. and Woods, M.A. (2010) A stratigraphical framework for the Lower Cretaceous of England. Research Report RR/08/03. British Geological Survey, Keyworth.
2. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 556-563. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
3. "10.19 East Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 559.
4. "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 416.
5. "10.19 East Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" and "10.18 West Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 559.
6. "10.18 West Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 559.
7. "Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 366.
8. "10.19 East Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" and "10.18 West Sussex, England; 1. Hastings Beds" and "10.21 Kent, England; 1. Hastings Beds"in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 559.
9. "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 415.
10. "10.21 Kent, England; 1. Hastings Beds"in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 559.
11. "Table 2.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 26.
12. Huene, 1909. Skizze zu einer Systematik und Stammesgeschichte der Dinosaurier [Sketch of the systematics and origins of the dinosaurs]. Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie. 1909, 12-22.
13. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 73.
14. Paul Upchurch, Philip D. Mannion & Michael P. Taylor (2015) The Anatomy and Phylogenetic Relationships of “Pelorosaurus“ becklesii (Neosauropoda, Macronaria) from the Early Cretaceous of England. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0125819. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0125819 http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0125819
15. "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 266.
16. Huene, 1909. Skizze zu einer Systematik und Stammesgeschichte der Dinosaurier [Sketch of the systematics and origins of the dinosaurs]. Centralblatt für Mineralogie, Geologie und Paläontologie. 1909, 12-22.
17. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 77.
18. Naish, D. and Sweetman, S.C. (2011). "A tiny maniraptoran dinosaur in the Lower Cretaceous Hastings Group: evidence from a new vertebrate-bearing locality in south-east England." Cretaceous Research, 32: 464-471. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2011.03.001

References

• Benton, M.J. and Spencer, P.S. 1995. Fossil Reptiles of Great Britain. Chapman & Hall, London 1-386
• Lydekker, R. 1888. Note on a new Wealden iguanodont and other dinosaurs. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 44:46-61.
• McDonald, A.T., Barrett, P.M and Chapman, S.D. 2010. "A new basal iguanodont (Dinosauria: Ornithischia) from the Wealden (Lower Cretaceous) of England." Zootaxa, 2569: 1–43. PDF
• Norman, D.B. 2010. "A taxonomy of iguanodontians (Dinosauria: Ornithopoda) from the lower Wealden Group (Cretaceous: Valanginian) of southern England". Zootaxa 2489: 47–66. Available from: http://mapress.com/zootaxa/2010/f/z02489p066f.pdf.
• Owen, R. 1842. "Report on British fossil reptiles". Report of the British Association for the Advancement of Science 11: 60–204.
• Weishampel, D.B., Dodson, P and Osmólska, H. (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. 861 pp. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.