Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry

Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry fissure fills
Stratigraphic range: Rhaetian, ~215–201  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
The Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry in 2006
Type	Fissure fill
Overlies	Friars Point Limestone Formation
Lithology
Primary	Breccia
Location
Coordinates	51°27′29″N3°22′26″W / 51.458°N 03.374°W / 51.458; -03.374
Region	South Wales
Country	Wales
Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry (Wales)

Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry is a stone quarry in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, around 3 kilometers east of Cowbridge. ^[1] It contains fissure fill deposits dating to the Late Triassic (Rhaetian), hosted within karsts of Carboniferous aged limestone, primarily the Friars Point Limestone Formation. Remains of numerous small vertebrates, notably archosaurs, are known from the fissure fills in the quarry, similar to other Late Triassic-Early Jurassic fissure fill deposits known from Southwest England and southern Wales.

History

The quarry was likely in use since at least the 1910s, ^[2] and the first fossil specimens discovered at the quarry were collected by palaeontologists Kenneth Kermack and Pamela Robinson of University College London between 1951 and 1952, and were first presented at a talk in 1953 and later written on briefly in 1956. ^[3]

The quarry was abandoned during the 1960s and few fossil discoveries have been made there since. ^[2] Much of the remains discovered between 1951-52 were left undescribed until the 21st century, with most only initially being briefly described upon discovery.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Taxon	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Aenigmaspina [2]	A. pantyffynnonensis [2]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Remains include osteoderms, vertebrae, ribs and a scapula clustered tightly together, as well as more pieces from the forelimb and additional vertebrae that likely belong to this individual. [2] Nicknamed 'Edgar'. [3]
Clevosaurus [5]	C. cambrica, [5] C. sp. [5]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Partial cranial and post-cranial remains from several specimens, with bite marks belonging to Terrestrisuchus present. [5]
Crinoidea [5]	Indeterminate [5]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Reworked from older Carboniferous sediments. [5]
Crocodylomorpha [6]	Indeterminate [6]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Isolated bones associated with the holotype of Pendraig . [7] Likely the same animal as Terrestrisuchus
Diphydontosaurus [5]	D. sp. [5]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Left dentary. [5]
Kuehneosaurus [8]	K. sp. [8]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Indeterminate remains, [9] with Keeble et al. (2018) unable to source this specimen. [5]
Lepidosauria	Indeterminate	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Indeterminate remains.
Pantydraco [10]	P. caducus [10]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Remains include a skull, a partial jawbone, and vertebrae of the cervix, an incomplete right pelvic bone, and partial forelimbs.
Pendraig [7]	P. milnerae [7]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Remains include a partial pelvis, vertebrae and a left femur that is from the same individual was found disarticulated from the main block. [7]
Rhynchocephalia [5]	Indeterminate [5]	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Represented by one or two indeterminate species. [5]
Terrestrisuchus [8]	T. gracilis, [8] T. sp.?	Geographically present in Pantyffynnon [4]	Several well-preserved articulated partial skeletons and various isolated bones. [8]

References

1. "Pant Y Ffynnon Quarry (413241)". Coflein. RCAHMW . Retrieved 11 October 2021.
2. Patrick, Erin L.; Whiteside, David I.; Benton, Michael J. (2019). "A new crurotarsan archosaur from the Late Triassic of South Wales" (PDF). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 39 (3): e1645147. doi:10.1080/02724634.2019.1645147. S2CID   202848499. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 August 2019.
3. Kermack, K. A. (1956). "An ancestral crocodile from South Wales" (PDF). Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London . 166: 1–2. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1956.tb00747.x.
4. The dinosauria. David B. Weishampel, Peter Dodson, Halszka Osmólska (2nd ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. 2004. ISBN   978-0-520-94143-4. OCLC   801843269.
5. Keeble, Emily; Whitestide, David I.; Benton, Michael J. (2018). "The terrestrial fauna of the Late Triassic Pant-y-ffynnon Quarry fissures, South Wales, UK and a new species of Clevosaurus (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia)" (PDF). Proceedings of the Geologists' Association . 129 (2): 99–119. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2017.11.001. hdl:1983/5afdc677-3ea0-4519-813d-6052ef8370ec.
6. Warrener, D. (1983) "An Archisaurian Fauna from a Welsh Locality". (Unpublished PhD thesis in Zoology, University of London, London: 384 p).
7. Spiekman, Stephan N. F.; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Butler, Richard J.; Fraser, Nicholas C.; Maidment, Susannah C. R. (2021). "Pendraig milnerae, a new small-sized coelophysoid theropod from the Late Triassic of Wales". Royal Society Open Science. 8 (10): 210915. doi:10.1098/rsos.210915. ISSN   2054-5703. PMC   8493203 . PMID   34754500.
8. Crush, P. J. (1984). "A late upper Triassic sphenosuchid crocodilian from Wales" (PDF). Palaeontology . 27 (1): 131–157.
9. Fraser, N. C. (1986). Terrestrial vertebrates at the Triassic-Jurassic boundary in south West Britain, Modern Geology 10, 147–157
10. Yates, Adam M. (2003). "A new species of the primitive dinosaur Thecodontosaurus (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha) and its implications for the systematics of early dinosaurs" . Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 1 (1): 1–42. doi:10.1017/S1477201903001007. ISSN   1477-2019. S2CID   55906527.