Kimmeridge Clay

Kimmeridge Clay Stratigraphic range: Upper Jurassic
Grey cliffs of Upper Kimmeridge Clay above the beach at Egmont Bight
Type	Geological formation

The Kimmeridge Clay Formation is a sedimentary deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Jurassic age. It occurs in Europe.

Kimmeridge Clay is arguably the most economically important unit of rocks in the whole of Europe, being the major source rock for oil fields in the North Sea hydrocarbon province. It has distinctive physical properties, log responses, and palynological signature.

It is named after the village of Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast of England, where it is well exposed and forms part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site. It exists across England, in a band stretching from Dorset in the south-west, north-east to East Anglia.

The Humber Bridge's foundations are in the Kimmeridge Clay deposits under the Humber estuary.

The fossil fauna of the Kimmeridge Clay includes a reptile fauna of turtles, crocodiles, sauropods, plesiosaurs, pliosaurs and ichthyosaurs, as well as a number of invertebrate species.

Vertebrate fauna

^[1]

Archosaurs

Thalattosuchians

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.

Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Cricosaurus	C. gracilis				A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid
Dakosaurus	D. maximus				A geosaurine metriorhynchid
Metriorhynchus	M. geoffreyi				A metriorhynchine metriorhynchid
Plesiosuchus	P. manseli				A geosaurine metriorhynchid
Steneosaurus	S. megarhinus				A teleosaurid
Torvoneustes[2][3]	T. carpenteri[2]				A geosaurine metriorhynchid
	T. coryphaeus[4]				A geosaurine metriorhynchid

Ornithischians

Indeterminate nodosaurid remains have been found in Wiltshire, England.^[1] Indeterminate stegosaurid remains have been found in Dorset and Wiltshire, England.^[1]

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.

Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Cumnoria[1]	C. prestwichii[1]	Oxfordshire[1]		"Fragmentary skull and skeleton."[5]
Dacentrurus[1]	D. armatus[1]	Cambridgeshire[1] Dorset[1] Wiltshire[1]			Wiltshire remains include specimens previously referred to Omosaurus armatus and O. hastiger.[1]	Dacentrurus
Ornithopoda	Indeterminate[1]	Dorset?[1]			Kimmeridge clay remains considered to represent a possible close relative of Bugenasaura[6] are now regarded as the remains of an indeterminate euornithopod.[1](The specimen may have had its locality and horizon mislabelled.)
Omosaurus[1]	O.armatus[1]	Wiltshire[1]			Reclassified as Dacentrurus armatus because the generic name Omosaurus was preoccupied.[1]
	O. hastiger[1]	Wiltshire[1]

Saurischians

Indeterminate ornithomimmid remains have been found in Dorset, England.^[1] An undescribed theropod genus was found in Dorset.^[1]

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.

Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Bothriospondylus[1]	B. suffosus[1]	Wiltshire[1]		"[Seven] dorsal and sacral centra."[7]
Cetiosaurus[1]	C. humerocristatus[1]	Dorset[1]			Now Duriatitan.[8]
	Indeterminate[1]	Oxfordshire[1]			Remains previously referred to an indeterminate species of Cetiosaurus are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material.[1]
Duriatitan	D. humerocristatus	Dorset[1]		Humerus[9]	A titanosauriform[8]
Gigantosaurus[1]	G. megalonyx[1]	Cambridgeshire[1]			Remains previously referred to Gigantosaurus megalonyx are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material.[1]
Ischyrosaurus[1]	I. manseli[1]	Oxfordshire[1]		"Humerus."[10]	Remains previously referred to Ischyrosaurus manseli are now regarded as indeterminate sauropod material.[1]
Juratyrant[11][12]	J. langhami	Dorset		Partial skeleton	A tyrannosaur
Theropoda[1]	Indeterminate	Wiltshire[1] Dorset[1]			Remains previously referred to Megalosaurus are now regarded as indeterminate theropod material.[1]
Sauropoda[1]	Indeterminate[1]	Oxfordshire[1] Cambridgeshire[1] Norfolk[1]			Remains previously attributed to one or more indeterminate species of Ornithopsis (incl. O. leedsii) are now regarded as possible indeterminate sauropod material.[1]

Plesiosaurs

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.

Genus	Species	Location	Member	Abundance	Notes	Images
Bathyspondylus	B. swindoniensis				Plesiosaur of unknown affinities
Colymbosaurus	C. megadeirus				A cryptoclidid
	C. trochantericus				Nomen dubium
Kimmerosaurus	K. langhami				A cryptoclidid
Plesiosaurus	"P." manseli				Distinct from Colymbosaurus.[13]
Pliosaurus[14][15]	P. brachydeirus				A thalassophonean pliosaurid
	P. brachyspondylus				Nomen dubium
	P. carpenteri				A thalassophonean pliosaurid
	P. kevani				A thalassophonean pliosaurid
	P. macromerus				Nomen dubium; formerly classified in the separate genus Stretosaurus
	P. portentificus[16]				A thalassophonean pliosaurid
	P. ?rossicus				A thalassophonean pliosaurid; taxonomic identification of specimens tentative[14]
	P. westburyensis				A thalassophonean pliosaurid
	P. sp. 1			Partial skeleton, CAMSM J.35991	A thalassophonean pliosaurid; previously assigned to the nomen dubium P. brachyspondylus [14][15]
	P. sp. 2			Mandible, NHMUK PV OR 39362	A thalassophonean pliosaurid; previously assigned to the nomen dubium P. macromerus [14][15]
Spitrasaurus	Indeterminate

Invertebrates

An aptychus with the name "Trigonellites latus", from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation

The invertebrate fauna of the Kimmeridge Clay includes:^[17][18]

• Mollusca:
  • Cardium striatulum
  • Ostrea deltoidea
  • Gryphaea (Exogyra) virgula
  • The ammonite aptychus known as "Trigonellites latus"
  • Belemnotheutis

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Jurassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 545–549. ISBN 0-520-24209-2.
2. Wilkinson, L.E.; Young, M.T.; Benton, M.J. (2008). "A new metriorhynchid crocodilian (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) from the Kimmeridgian (Upper Jurassic) of Wiltshire, UK". Palaeontology 51 (6): 1307–1333. doi:10.1111/j.1475-4983.2008.00818.x.
3. Andrade, M.B.D.; Young, M.T.; Desojo, J.B.; Brusatte, S.L. (2010). "The evolution of extreme hypercarnivory in Metriorhynchidae (Mesoeucrocodylia: Thalattosuchia) based on evidence from microscopic denticle morphology". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 30 (5): 1451–1465. doi:10.1080/02724634.2010.501442.
4. Mark T. Young, Marco Brandalise De Andrade, Steve Etches and Brian L. Beatty (2013). "A new metriorhynchid crocodylomorph from the Lower Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Late Jurassic) of England, with implications for the evolution of dermatocranium ornamentation in Geosaurini". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 169 (4): 820–848. doi:10.1111/zoj.12082.
5. "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 415.
6. Galton, Peter M. (1999). "Cranial anatomy of the hypsilophodont dinosaur Bugenasaura infernalis (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of North America". Revue Paléobiologie, Genève 18 (2): 517–534.
7. "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 270.
8. Paul M. Barrett, Roger B.J. Benson and Paul Upchurch (2010). "Dinosaurs of Dorset: Part II, the sauropod dinosaurs (Saurischia, Sauropoda) with additional comments on the theropods". Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 131: 113–126.
9. "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 267.
10. "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 271.
11. Benson, R.B.J. (2008). "New information on Stokesosaurus, a tyrannosauroid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from North America and the United Kingdom." Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 28(3):732-750. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2008)28[732:NIOSAT]2.0.CO;2.
12. Brusatte, S.L. and Benson, R.B.J. (2013). "The systematics of Late Jurassic tyrannosauroids (Dinosauria: Theropoda) from Europe and North America." Acta Palaeontologica Polonica, 58(1): 47-54. doi:10.4202/app.2011.0141
13. Benson RBJ, Bowdler T. 2014. Anatomy of Colymbosaurus (Reptilia, Plesiosauria) from the Kimmeridge Clay Formation of the U.K., and high diversity among Late Jurassic plesiosauroids. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 34(5), 1053-1071.
14. Roger B. J. Benson, Mark Evans, Adam S. Smith, Judyth Sassoon, Scott Moore-Faye, Hilary F. Ketchum and Richard Forrest (2013). "A Giant Pliosaurid Skull from the Late Jurassic of England". PLoS ONE 8 (5): e65989. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0065989.
15. Espen M. Knutsen (2012). "A taxonomic revision of the genus Pliosaurus (Owen, 1841a) Owen, 1841b". Norwegian Journal of Geology 92 (2–3): 259–276. ISSN 0029-196X. Low resolution pdf High resolution pdf
16. Noè, L. F.; Smith, D. T. J.; Walton, D. I. (2004). "A new species of Kimmeridgian pliosaur (Reptilia; Sauropterygia) and its bearing on the nomenclature of Liopleurodon macromerus". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 115: 13. doi:10.1016/S0016-7878(04)80031-2.
17. http://www.fullbooks.com/The-Student-s-Elements-of-Geology7.html The Student's Elements of Geology by Sir Charles Lyell Part 7 out of 14 accessed 13 February 2009.
18. Wignall, Paul B. (1990). "Benthic palaeoecology of the late Jurassic Kimmeridge Clay of England" (PDF). Special Papers in Palaeontology (The Palaeontological Association, London) 43. ISBN 978-0-901702-42-5. Retrieved February 8, 2011.

• Galton, P.M. 1999. Cranial anatomy of the hypsilophodontid dinosaur Bugenasaura infernalis (Ornithischia: Ornithopoda) from the Upper Cretaceous of North America. Revue Pale´obiologie, 18, 517–534.
• Martill, D.M., Naish, D. & Earland, S. 2006. Dinosaurs in marine strata: evidence from the British Jurassic, including a review of the allochthonous vertebrate assemblage from the marine Kimmeridge Clay Formation (Upper Jurassic) of Great Britain. In: Colectivo Arqueologico y Paleontologico Salense, (ed.) Actas de las III Jornadas Intrernacionales sobre Paleontologı´a de Dinosaurios y su Entorno, 16–17 Sep. 2004. Salas de los Infantes, Burgos, 47–84.