Introduction to the palaeontology of the Dinantian of Foulden, Berwickshire, Scotland

Wood, Stanley P.; Rolfe, W. D. Ian

doi:10.1017/s0263593300010221

Cited by 27 publications

(28 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…3 A and B). The site is about 2 miles from the contemporary locality of Foulden, which does not preserve tetrapods but includes many fish taxa common between the two sites (34).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap

Smithson

Wood²,

Marshall

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

115

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Devonian tetrapods (limbed vertebrates), known from an increasingly large number of localities, have been shown to be mainly aquatic with many primitive features. In contrast, the postDevonian record is marked by an Early Mississippian temporal gap ranging from the earliest Carboniferous (Tournaisian and early Viséan) to the mid-Viséan. By the mid-Viséan, tetrapods had become effectively terrestrial as attested by the presence of stem amniotes, developed an essentially modern aspect, and given rise to the crown group. Up to now, only two localities have yielded tetrapod specimens from the Tournaisian stage: one in Scotland with a single articulated skeleton and one in Nova Scotia with isolated bones, many of uncertain identity. We announce a series of discoveries of Tournaisian-age localities in Scotland that have yielded a wealth of new tetrapod and arthropod fossils. These include both terrestrial and aquatic forms and new taxa. We conclude that the gap in the fossil record has been an artifact of collection failure.Ballagan Formation | end-Devonian mass extinction | terrestriality | rhizodonts | lungfish

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“…3 A and B). The site is about 2 miles from the contemporary locality of Foulden, which does not preserve tetrapods but includes many fish taxa common between the two sites (34).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap

Smithson

Wood²,

Marshall

et al. 2012

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

115

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“…These were discovered early in the twentieth century by an amateur collector, and eventually passed to the Natural History Museum (White 1927). It is interesting that a similar association appears to occur at the much older Foulden site, although not enough stratigraphic information is recorded for NHM P13127 and 13128 to establish their position within the complex stratigraphy of Foulden (described by Wood & Rolfe 1985). White (1927) correctly noted the similarity of these teeth to those of S. sulcidens (i.e.…”

Section: Strepsodus Species and Referred Materialsmentioning

confidence: 95%

Mandibles of rhizodontids: anatomy, function and evolution within the tetrapod stem-group

Jeffery¹

2002

Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh: Earth Sciences

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The Rhizodontida (Pisces: Sarcopterygii) is a clade of predatory fishes from the Upper Devonian (Aztecia; ?Givetian of Antarctica) through to the Upper Carboniferous (Strepsodus; Moscovian of northern Europe and North America). They form the most basal plesion within the tetrapod stem-lineage. The mandibles were dominated by large symphysial tusks on the dentary. Not much else is known of the mandibles in primitive rhizodontids. However, later forms show several derived characters: the mandible is very deep dorsoventrally and narrow linguolabially; the coronoid fangs bear only a single fang and no other dentition; the Meckelian element was unossified, leaving the adductor fossa unfloored by bone; the prearticular produced a large dorsal process lingual to the adductor fossa, presumably for muscle attachment. These and other characters are discussed in the context of the evolution of the tetrapod stem-group.The mandible appears to have been split into two functional units, one comprising the firmly sutured prearticular, coronoids and dentary, the other comprising the firmly sutured infradentaries. The connection between the two units was weak, suggesting a longitudinal intramandibular hinge. The possibility that this acted as a ‘torsion grip’ during feeding is discussed.

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“…Foulden Fish Bed, Foulden Burn, Berwickshire, Scotland, UK. Calciferous Sandstone Series, Cementstone Group, CM biozone, TN3 zone, Courceyan regional substage, Dinantian regional stage, late Tournaisian stage, Mississippian subsystem, Carboniferous system (White, ; Gardiner, ; Wood & Rolfe, ; Dineley & Metcalfe, ; Smithson et al ., ); Coomsden Burn, Redewater, Northumberland, England, Cementstone Group, Dinantian regional stage, late Tournaisian stage, Mississippian subsystem, Carboniferous system (White, ; Moy‐Thomas, ; Gardiner, ).…”

Section: Systematic Palaeontologymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Styracopterus fulcratus (Traquair, ) was previously the only ray‐finned fish species (Actinopterygii) found at two well‐documented Mississippian Scottish Lagerstätten (359–323 Mya; Gradstein et al ., ): the Tournaisian Foulden fauna, a euryhaline environment bearing ‘Romer's Gap’ tetrapods (347 Mya; Wood & Rolfe, ; Smithson et al ., ); and the Visean Glencartholm fauna (338 Mya; Schram, ; Smithson et al ., ), a nearshore marine system. This fusiform actinopterygian is the type species for the family Styracopteridae (Moy‐Thomas, ; Gardiner, ), which also contains the genus Benedenius (Van Beneden, 1878) from the early Visean of Belgium (Traquair, 1877–1914, ; Moy‐Thomas, ; Mottequin, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Styracopterid (Actinopterygii) ontogeny and the multiple origins of post-Hangenberg deep-bodied fishes

Sallan¹,

Coates²

2013

Zool J Linn Soc

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The Carboniferous fish family Styracopteridae (Actinopterygii) originated as part of the initial radiation of ray‐finned fishes following the end‐Devonian Hangenberg extinction. Specimens of Styracopterus fulcratus (Traquair, 1890) have been collected from post‐extinction Tournaisian and Visean Scottish sediments for over 100 years, including sites containing some of the earliest ‘Romer's Gap’ tetrapods. Re‐examination of this supposedly long‐lived, static species has revealed two genera, Styracopterus and Fouldenia White, 1927, divergent from each other and previous descriptions. Here, we show that styracopterids are among the earliest actinopterygians with durophagous dentition and toothplates, the latter likely to have derived from the ectopterygoids and coronoids. On the basis of this and other traits, such as the presence of an enameloid ‘beak’, the fusiform styracopterids are linked to some, but not all, the deep‐bodied actinopterygians previously placed in the suborder Platysomoidei. A new plesion, Eurynotiformes, is erected to contain the styracopterids, the deeply fusiform Eurynotus and the widespread Amphicentrum, among other laterally compressed fishes. This implies that platysomoids are polyphyletic: deep‐bodied and/or durophagous fishes evolved multiple times following the Hangenberg event. Reconstructed styracopterid growth series show that trunk depth increased during maturation, mirroring the shape variation observed among the Eurynotiformes. Other ontogenetic changes involve fin‐ray differentiation, jaw form, dermal bone ornamentation, and scale morphology; all of these are widely used as actinopterygian diagnostic characters. Further investigation of Eurynotiformes should reveal the extent of evolutionary and ontogenetic change within the earliest actinopterygian radiation, and are likely to rewrite their phylogeny. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London

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Introduction to the palaeontology of the Dinantian of Foulden, Berwickshire, Scotland

Cited by 27 publications

References 7 publications

Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap

Earliest Carboniferous tetrapod and arthropod faunas from Scotland populate Romer's Gap

Mandibles of rhizodontids: anatomy, function and evolution within the tetrapod stem-group

Styracopterid (Actinopterygii) ontogeny and the multiple origins of post-Hangenberg deep-bodied fishes

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