Marl Slate Formation

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Marl Slate Formation
Stratigraphic range: Lopingian
Type Formation
Underlies Raisby Formation, Cadeby Formation
Overlies Yellow Sands Formation or unconformity with Carboniferous Coal Measures
ThicknessTo 5.48 metres
Lithology
Primary Dolomite
Location
Region England
Country United Kingdom

The Marl Slate Formation is a geological formation in England. Despite its name, it is mostly dolomite rock. [1] The Marl Slate Formation was formed about 273 to 259 million years ago, during the Guadalupian and Lopingian epochs of the late Permian period of the Earth's geological history. [1] This formation is part of the Zechstein Group of rocks, and is equivalent to the Kupferschiefer of Germany. [1] The Marl Slate Formation contains fossils including the conodont Mesogondolella britannica and the dorypterid fishes Dorypterus and Lekanichthys, [2] as well as the gliding reptile Weigeltisaurus [3] and terrestrial reptile Protorosaurus [4] The Marl Slate Formation outcrops in County Durham and Yorkshire in north-east England. [1]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archosauromorpha</span> Infraclass of reptiles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wuchiapingian</span> Eighth stage of the Permian

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<i>Acentrophorus</i> Extinct genus of fishes

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Weigeltisauridae is a family of gliding neodiapsid reptiles that lived during the Late Permian, between 259.51 and 251.9 million years ago. Fossils of weigeltisaurids have been found in Madagascar, Germany, Great Britain, and Russia. They are characterized by long, hollow rod-shaped bones extending from the torso that probably supported wing-like membranes. Similar membranes are also found in several other extinct reptiles such as kuehneosaurids and Mecistotrachelos, as well as living gliding lizards, although each group evolved these structures independently.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Marl Slate Formation". BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units. British Geological Survey . Retrieved 12 October 2019.
  2. "Railway-cutting at Ferryhill (Permian of the United Kingdom)". Gateway to the Paleobiology Database. Fossilworks. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
  3. Pritchard, Adam C.; Sues, Hans-Dieter; Scott, Diane; Reisz, Robert R. (20 May 2021). "Osteology, relationships and functional morphology of Weigeltisaurus jaekeli (Diapsida, Weigeltisauridae) based on a complete skeleton from the Upper Permian Kupferschiefer of Germany". PeerJ. 9: e11413. doi: 10.7717/peerj.11413 . ISSN   2167-8359. PMC   8141288 . PMID   34055483.
  4. Evans, S. E.; King, M. S. (May 1993). "A new specimen of Protorosaurus (Reptilia: Diapsida) from the Marl Slate (late Permian) of Britain". Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society. 49 (3): 229–234. doi:10.1144/pygs.49.3.229. ISSN   0044-0604.