Westbury Formation

Westbury Formation
Stratigraphic range: Rhaetian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Penarth Group
Underlies	Lilstock Formation
Overlies	Blue Anchor Formation
Thickness	5-10 m
Lithology
Primary	Mudstone, Shale
Other	Limestone, Sandstone
Location
Region	Europe
Country	United Kingdom
Type section
Named for	Westbury-on-Severn

The Westbury Formation is a geological formation in England, one of the Penarth Group. It dates back to the Rhaetian. ^[1] The formation is named after the village of Westbury-on-Severn in Gloucestershire. ^[2] The remains of a giant shastasaurid and dinosaurs are known from the formation. ^{[3] [4]}

Vertebrate fauna

Vertebrates reported from the Westbury Formation
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Avalonianus [5]	A. sanfordi [5]	Wedmore Hill [5]		"Several now lost teeth." [5]
Camelotia [1]	C. borealis [1]	Westbury-on-Severn [6]		"Vertebrae, pubis, ischium, femur, tibia, phalanges, adult." [7]		Camelotia
Ichthyotitan [4]	I. severnensis [4]	Blue Anchor and Lilstock [4]		Two partial surangulars [3]	Possibly one of the largest marine reptiles
Picrodon [5]	P. herveyi [5]	Wedmore Hill [5]		"Tooth." [5]
Shastasauridae [3]	Indeterminate [3]	Aust [3]		"Three partial specimens." [3]
Pachystropheus [8]				Several partial postcranial skeletons	A small thalattosaurian marine reptile, youngest known thalattosaur
Lissodus [8]	L. minimus				A hybodont shark
Saurichthys [8]					A pike or gar-like predatory fish
Sargodon [8]					A dapediiform fish
Gyrolepis [8]					A ray-finned fish
Birgeria [8]					A large predatory fish
Ceratodus [8]					A lungfish

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Late Triassic, Europe)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 521–525. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
2. The BGS Lexicon of Named Rock Units — Result Details: Westbury Formation
3. Lomax, Dean R.; De la Salle, Paul; Massare, Judy A.; Gallois, Ramues (2018-04-09). Wong, William Oki (ed.). "A giant Late Triassic ichthyosaur from the UK and a reinterpretation of the Aust Cliff 'dinosaurian' bones". PLOS ONE. 13 (4): e0194742. Bibcode:2018PLoSO..1394742L. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0194742 . ISSN   1932-6203. PMC   5890986 . PMID   29630618.
4. Lomax, D. R.; de la Salle, P.; Perillo, M.; Reynolds, J.; Reynolds, R.; Waldron, J. F. (2024). "The last giants: New evidence for giant Late Triassic (Rhaetian) ichthyosaurs from the UK". PLOS ONE. 19 (4). e0300289. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0300289 . PMC   11023487 .
5. H. G. Seeley. (1898). On large terrestrial saurians from the Rhaetic Beds of Wedmore Hill, described as Avalonia sanfordi and Picrodon herveyi. Geological Magazine, decade 4 5:1-6
6. Galton, P. M. (1985). Notes on the Melanorosauridae, a family of large prosauropod dinosaurs (Saurischia: Sauropodomorpha). Geobios, 18(5), 671–676.
7. "Table 12.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 234.
8. Quinn, Jacob G.; Matheau-Raven, Evangelos R.; Whiteside, David I.; Marshall, John E. A.; Hutchinson, Deborah J.; Benton, Michael J. (2024-06-04). "The relationships and paleoecology of Pachystropheus rhaeticus , an enigmatic latest Triassic marine reptile (Diapsida: Thalattosauria)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. doi: 10.1080/02724634.2024.2350408 . ISSN   0272-4634.