Benton, M.J., Cook, E. and Hooker, J.J. 2005. Mesozoic and Tertiary Fossil Mammals and Birds of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series No. 32, JNCC, Peterborough. The original source material for these web pages has been made available by the JNCC under the Open Government Licence 3.0. Full details in the JNCC Open Data Policy

Early Jurassic mammal and tritylodont sites

Mammal and tritylodont fossils of 'Rhaeto-Liassic' age are relatively well known and have been recovered from a number of localities in southern Africa, Europe, China, western North America and India (Clemens et al., 1979). The British Early Jurassic fissure sites are among the most important in the world. These fissures were produced by solution in karst on upland regions that formed an archipelago in the Bristol Channel region during latest Triassic and Early Jurassic times (Robinson, 1957; Fraser, 1985; (Figure 2.3)). Mammals, tritylodonts and other small tetrapods occupied the islands and occasionally fell into the open fissures, where they were eventually covered by soils and other debris that washed in.

The three key British Early Jurassic fissure sites that have yielded remains of mammals and tritylodonts are selected as GCR sites:

  1. Windsor Hill Quarry, Shepton Mallet, Somerset [ST 615 452]. Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) fissure fill.
  2. Holwell Quarries, Frome, Somerset [ST 727 452]. Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) fissure fill.
  3. Bridgend Quarries, Glamorgan [SS 906 757]. Early Jurassic (Hettangian–Sinemurian) fissure fill.

References