Microvertebrates from Cliff End Bone Bed, Lower Cretaceous, UK + vertebrate assemblage from Fremouw Formation (Lower Triassic) of Antarctica (free pdfs)
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Ben Creisler
Apr 6, 2026, 5:33:28 PMApr 6
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Ben Creisler
New papers:
Johnny Clavo Yamahuchi, Elizabeth Cook, Christopher J. Duffin, Peter A. Austen, Steven C. Sweetman, Pamela G. Gill, Claudia Hildebrandt, Tim Tomkinson & Michael J. Benton (2026)
Microvertebrates from the Cliff End Bone Bed (Wealden, Lower Cretaceous), East Sussex, UK
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 101187
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2026.101187
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016787826000271
The Cliff End Bone Bed of the Wealden Group of south-east England is famous as the first source of Lower Cretaceous mammals anywhere in the world as reported in 1911. However, the wider microvertebrate fauna of the bone bed has not, until now, been investigated in any detail. The fossil assemblage from the Cliff End Bone Bed represents a rich tropical freshwater to oligohaline ecosystem, occupied by diverse bony fishes, including the first record of Belonostomus from the Weald sub-basin, as well as hybodont sharks and crocodyliforms. Pterosaur and dinosaur teeth, as well as possible salamander and lizard remains, have also been reported. In confirmation of earlier work, we report a new mammalian tooth and review the classic mammalian fossils.
C. Henrik Woolley, Julia A. McIntosh, Roger M. H. Smith & Christian A. Sidor (2026)
First vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the Fremouw Formation (Lower Triassic) of Antarctica
Antarctic Science (advance online publication)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102026100613
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/first-vertebrate-assemblage-from-the-middle-member-of-the-fremouw-formation-lower-triassic-of-antarctica/6D56287A8A9D30E5E1EA7CEA8A6F1E22
The Fremouw Formation of the Central Transantarctic Mountains preserves the southernmost record of Early to Middle Triassic terrestrial ecosystems that developed in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Although the well-studied vertebrate fossil assemblage in the lower member of the Fremouw Formation provides a detailed snapshot of subpolar ecosystems immediately following the end-Permian mass extinction, the nature of how long these earliest Triassic communities persisted at the southern extremes of Pangaea is virtually unknown. Importantly, the timing and extent of the major faunal turnover between the lower and upper members of the Fremouw Formation have been obscured by the paucity of fossil specimens historically recovered from the middle member. Here, we describe the first vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the Fremouw Formation, including occurrences of procolophonids (including Procolophon trigoniceps) and archosauromorphs (including Prolacerta broomi), as well as infilled vertebrate burrow casts referrable to the ichnogenus Reniformichnus. We also summarize and expand on lithostratigraphic shifts between the lower, middle and upper members of the Fremouw Formation. Although the sample size of vertebrate body fossils is small compared to the lower and upper members of the Fremouw Formation, we discuss the evidence for a taphonomic shift between the lower and middle members of the Fremouw Formation that favours preservation of smaller-bodied taxa and individuals in the latter. Together, these preliminary data add crucial context to the persistence of subpolar vertebrate communities in the earliest Mesozoic.
Free pdf:
Johnny Clavo Yamahuchi, Elizabeth Cook, Christopher J. Duffin, Peter A. Austen, Steven C. Sweetman, Pamela G. Gill, Claudia Hildebrandt, Tim Tomkinson & Michael J. Benton (2026)
Microvertebrates from the Cliff End Bone Bed (Wealden, Lower Cretaceous), East Sussex, UK
Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 101187
doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2026.101187
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0016787826000271
The Cliff End Bone Bed of the Wealden Group of south-east England is famous as the first source of Lower Cretaceous mammals anywhere in the world as reported in 1911. However, the wider microvertebrate fauna of the bone bed has not, until now, been investigated in any detail. The fossil assemblage from the Cliff End Bone Bed represents a rich tropical freshwater to oligohaline ecosystem, occupied by diverse bony fishes, including the first record of Belonostomus from the Weald sub-basin, as well as hybodont sharks and crocodyliforms. Pterosaur and dinosaur teeth, as well as possible salamander and lizard remains, have also been reported. In confirmation of earlier work, we report a new mammalian tooth and review the classic mammalian fossils.
====
Free pdf:
C. Henrik Woolley, Julia A. McIntosh, Roger M. H. Smith & Christian A. Sidor (2026)
First vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the Fremouw Formation (Lower Triassic) of Antarctica
Antarctic Science (advance online publication)
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954102026100613
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antarctic-science/article/first-vertebrate-assemblage-from-the-middle-member-of-the-fremouw-formation-lower-triassic-of-antarctica/6D56287A8A9D30E5E1EA7CEA8A6F1E22
The Fremouw Formation of the Central Transantarctic Mountains preserves the southernmost record of Early to Middle Triassic terrestrial ecosystems that developed in the aftermath of the end-Permian mass extinction. Although the well-studied vertebrate fossil assemblage in the lower member of the Fremouw Formation provides a detailed snapshot of subpolar ecosystems immediately following the end-Permian mass extinction, the nature of how long these earliest Triassic communities persisted at the southern extremes of Pangaea is virtually unknown. Importantly, the timing and extent of the major faunal turnover between the lower and upper members of the Fremouw Formation have been obscured by the paucity of fossil specimens historically recovered from the middle member. Here, we describe the first vertebrate assemblage from the middle member of the Fremouw Formation, including occurrences of procolophonids (including Procolophon trigoniceps) and archosauromorphs (including Prolacerta broomi), as well as infilled vertebrate burrow casts referrable to the ichnogenus Reniformichnus. We also summarize and expand on lithostratigraphic shifts between the lower, middle and upper members of the Fremouw Formation. Although the sample size of vertebrate body fossils is small compared to the lower and upper members of the Fremouw Formation, we discuss the evidence for a taphonomic shift between the lower and middle members of the Fremouw Formation that favours preservation of smaller-bodied taxa and individuals in the latter. Together, these preliminary data add crucial context to the persistence of subpolar vertebrate communities in the earliest Mesozoic.
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