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Carboniferous (Tournaisian) fish assemblages from the Isle of Bute, Scotland: systematics and palaeoecology

Carboniferous (Tournaisian) fish assemblages from the Isle of Bute, Scotland: systematics and palaeoecology
Carboniferous (Tournaisian) fish assemblages from the Isle of Bute, Scotland: systematics and palaeoecology
We describe fish assemblages from the Carboniferous (mid- to late Tournaisian) Ballagan Formation at two localities, Hawk's Nib and Mill Hole, on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. Fossil material occurs in thin, locally reworked dolomitic limestone beds, interpreted as the deposits of very shallow lakes or lagoons, developed on, or adjacent to, a seasonally dry coastal plain. The mostly disarticulated fossils comprise isolated teeth, mandibles, scales, tesserae, dermal bones, lepidotrichia and vertebrae. The fauna includes rhizodonts (cf. Archichthys portlocki, cf. Strepsodus sauroides), lungfish (Sagenodus sp.), other sarcopterygians (Megalichthys sp.), one shark (Ageleodus pectinatus), climatiiform acanthodians and indeterminate actinopterygians. The Mill Hole assemblage is especially noteworthy because it includes some putative juvenile forms (Archichthys and Sagenodus). A critical review of the habitat preferences of the documented taxa suggests that most were either euryhaline or, in the case of Archichthys, probably endemic to brackish or freshwater settings. The Bute fish beds fall within a crucial evolutionary period during which many fish and other animal groups were infiltrating nonmarine environments, either passively or actively. It may be that lakes and lagoons may have functioned as protected nurseries for juveniles during this wave of colonization.
Tournaisian, vertebrate, rhizodont, Britain, nonmarine, nursery
0031-0239
1215-1240
Carpenter, David K.
7e85c586-af81-4a0d-bcd1-27cd4a5187f2
Falcon-Lang, Howard J.
11bb5611-02b4-4e8e-a7b6-3f8fea812a34
Benton, Michael J.
a0bcafa3-53ea-40ed-ae67-313e957904e0
Henderson, Elsa
47d1553c-63b0-4125-aed5-beba9d372ed3
López-Arbarello, Adriana
737dcfd5-c091-4ff3-8f02-8f8bf77a6c04
Carpenter, David K.
7e85c586-af81-4a0d-bcd1-27cd4a5187f2
Falcon-Lang, Howard J.
11bb5611-02b4-4e8e-a7b6-3f8fea812a34
Benton, Michael J.
a0bcafa3-53ea-40ed-ae67-313e957904e0
Henderson, Elsa
47d1553c-63b0-4125-aed5-beba9d372ed3
López-Arbarello, Adriana
737dcfd5-c091-4ff3-8f02-8f8bf77a6c04

Carpenter, David K., Falcon-Lang, Howard J., Benton, Michael J., Henderson, Elsa and López-Arbarello, Adriana (2014) Carboniferous (Tournaisian) fish assemblages from the Isle of Bute, Scotland: systematics and palaeoecology. Palaeontology, 57 (6), 1215-1240. (doi:10.1111/pala.12112).

Record type: Article

Abstract

We describe fish assemblages from the Carboniferous (mid- to late Tournaisian) Ballagan Formation at two localities, Hawk's Nib and Mill Hole, on the Isle of Bute, Scotland. Fossil material occurs in thin, locally reworked dolomitic limestone beds, interpreted as the deposits of very shallow lakes or lagoons, developed on, or adjacent to, a seasonally dry coastal plain. The mostly disarticulated fossils comprise isolated teeth, mandibles, scales, tesserae, dermal bones, lepidotrichia and vertebrae. The fauna includes rhizodonts (cf. Archichthys portlocki, cf. Strepsodus sauroides), lungfish (Sagenodus sp.), other sarcopterygians (Megalichthys sp.), one shark (Ageleodus pectinatus), climatiiform acanthodians and indeterminate actinopterygians. The Mill Hole assemblage is especially noteworthy because it includes some putative juvenile forms (Archichthys and Sagenodus). A critical review of the habitat preferences of the documented taxa suggests that most were either euryhaline or, in the case of Archichthys, probably endemic to brackish or freshwater settings. The Bute fish beds fall within a crucial evolutionary period during which many fish and other animal groups were infiltrating nonmarine environments, either passively or actively. It may be that lakes and lagoons may have functioned as protected nurseries for juveniles during this wave of colonization.

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More information

Published date: November 2014
Keywords: Tournaisian, vertebrate, rhizodont, Britain, nonmarine, nursery
Organisations: Paleooceanography & Palaeoclimate

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 373258
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/373258
ISSN: 0031-0239
PURE UUID: bc5f19d7-37bd-46d1-b681-7fe81eee184b

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Date deposited: 12 Jan 2015 13:46
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 18:50

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Contributors

Author: David K. Carpenter
Author: Howard J. Falcon-Lang
Author: Michael J. Benton
Author: Elsa Henderson
Author: Adriana López-Arbarello

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