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Cambridge Greensand

Coordinates: 52°12′N 0°06′E / 52.2°N 0.1°E / 52.2; 0.1
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Not to be confused with Cambridge Formation.
Cambridge Greensand
Stratigraphic range: Earliest Cenomanian ~100 Ma
↓
TypeMember
Unit ofWest Melbury Marly Chalk Formation
UnderliesChalk Group
OverliesGault Formation
Thickness0.1–1 m (0.33–3.28 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryGlauconitic marl
OtherPhosphorite
Location
Coordinates52°12′N 0°06′E / 52.2°N 0.1°E / 52.2; 0.1
Approximate paleocoordinates41°00′N 1°48′E / 41.0°N 1.8°E / 41.0; 1.8
RegionEngland
Country UK
ExtentNorth Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire
Type section
Named forCambridge
LocationArlesey Brickpit
Cambridge Greensand is located in England
Cambridge Greensand
Cambridge Greensand (England)

The Cambridge Greensand is a geological unit in England whose strata are earliest Cenomanian in age.[1] It lies above the erosive contact between the Gault Formation and the Chalk Group in the vicinity of Cambridgeshire, and technically forms the lowest member bed of the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation.[2] It is a remanié deposit, containing reworked fossils of late Albian age, including those of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

Description

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The lithology is made out of glauconitic marl, described as a "chalk mud", containing abundant ostracod, coccolith and foram remains, with a concentration of phosphatic nodules and bones at the base.[1][2]

Vertebrate paleofauna

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Birds

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Birds
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Enaliornis E. barrette Braincases, vertebrae, pelvis [and] limb elements[3] This genus is the oldest known hesperornithine
E sedgwicki Hindlimb elements[3]
E. seeleyi Assorted cranial and postcranial elements

Dinosaurs

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Ornithischians

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Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Ornithischians
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Anoplosaurus A. curtonotus "Partial postcranium"[4]
A. major "Cervical vertebrae."[4] "Vertebrae."[5]
Acanthopholis A. eucercus "[Two] caudal centra."[4] Nomen dubium
A. platypus "Phalanx, caudal centra."[4] Nomen dubium
A. macrocercus "Osteoderms."[4] "Vertebrae, fragmentary skeleton elements."[5] Reassigned to Syngonosaurus
A. stereocercus "Osteoderms."[4] "Vertebrae."[5] Nomen dubium
Eucercosaurus E. tanyspondylus "Vertebrae."[4]
Trachodon T. cantabrigiensis "Dentary tooth."[6] Nomen dubium

Saurischians

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Saurischians
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Macrurosaurus M. semnus "Caudal vertebrae"[7] Titanosauriform sauropod or indeterminate macronarian

Pterosaurs

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Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Pterosaurs
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Aerodraco[8] A. sedgwickii[8] Anterior rostrum
Amblydectes A. crassidens[9] Jaw fragments
A. eurygnathus[10] Jaw fragments Possibly a junior synonym of A. crassidens[9]
Camposipterus C. colorhinus[10] Anterior rostra fragments
C. nasutus[10] Partial rostrum
Draigwenia D. platystomus[10] Anterior rostrum fragments Formerly Amblydectes platystomus[9]
Lonchodraco L. machaerorhynchus[10] May[11] or may not[12] be referrable to Ikrandraco
L. microdon[10] Junior synonym of L. machaerorhynchus[11]
Nicorhynchus N. capito[10][13] Jaw fragments Possibly synonymous with Coloborhynchus[14]
Ornithocheirus O. simus[10][15]
"Ornithocheirus" denticulatus[10]
"Ornithocheirus" polyodon[10]
Ornithostoma[16][17] O. sedgwicki Jaw fragments Azhdarchoid pterosaur[17]
Indeterminate azhdarchoid Jaw fragments Likely represents a distinct taxon from Ornithostoma[18]

Ichthyosaurs

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Ichthyosaurs
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Cetarthrosaurus C. walkeri[19]
Maiaspondylus M. cantabrigiensis
Pervushovisaurus P. campylodon
Sisteronia S. seeleyi

Lepidosauria

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Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon
Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.
Lepidosauria
Genus Species Locality Material Notes Images
Patricosaurus P. merocratus[20] Chimeric specimen

Invertebrates

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Ammonites

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Hart, Malcolm B.; Fox, Lyndsey R. (2020). "Micropalaeontology and stratigraphical setting of the Cambridge Greensand". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 498 (1): 147–163. Bibcode:2020GSLSP.498..147H. doi:10.1144/SP498-2018-144. ISSN 0305-8719. S2CID 210304478.
  2. ^ a b Cambridge Greensand at BGS
  3. ^ a b "Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 215.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 367.
  5. ^ a b c "Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417.
  6. ^ "Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 443.
  7. ^ "Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 270.
  8. ^ a b Holgado, B.; Pêgas, R.V. (2020). "A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new clade Tropeognathinae". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 65. doi:10.4202/app.00751.2020.
  9. ^ a b c Holgado, Borja (2021). "On the validity of the genus Amblydectes Hooley 1914 (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) and the presence of Tropeognathinae in the Cambridge Greensand". Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências. 93 (suppl 2). doi:10.1590/0001-3765202120201658. ISSN 1678-2690.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Rodrigues, Taissa & Kellner, Alexander Wilhelm Armin (2013). "Taxonomic review of the Ornithocheirus complex (Pterosauria) from the Cretaceous of England". ZooKeys (308): 1–112. Bibcode:2013ZooK..308....1R. doi:10.3897/zookeys.308.5559. PMC 3689139. PMID 23794925.
  11. ^ a b Averianov, A.O. (2020). "Taxonomy of the Lonchodectidae (Pterosauria, Pterodactyloidea)". Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS. 324 (1): 41–55. doi:10.31610/trudyzin/2020.324.1.41.
  12. ^ Pêgas, Rodrigo V. (2024-06-10). "A taxonomic note on the tapejarid pterosaurs from the Pterosaur Graveyard site (Caiuá Group, ?Early Cretaceous of Southern Brazil): evidence for the presence of two species". Historical Biology: 1–22. doi:10.1080/08912963.2024.2355664. ISSN 0891-2963.
  13. ^ Holgado, B.; Pêgas, R.V. (2020). "A taxonomic and phylogenetic review of the anhanguerid pterosaur group Coloborhynchinae and the new clade Tropeognathinae". Acta Palaeontologica Polonica. 65. doi:10.4202/app.00751.2020.
  14. ^ Smith, Roy E.; Ibrahim, Nizar; Longrich, Nicholas; Unwin, David M.; Jacobs, Megan L.; Williams, Cariad J.; Zouhri, Samir; Martill, David M. (September 2023). "The pterosaurs of the Cretaceous Kem Kem Group of Morocco". PalZ. 97 (3): 519–568. Bibcode:2023PalZ...97..519S. doi:10.1007/s12542-022-00642-6. ISSN 0031-0220.
  15. ^ Unwin D.M., 2001, "An overview of the pterosaur assemblage from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of Eastern England", Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 4: 189–221
  16. ^ Averianov A.O. (2012). "Ornithostoma sedgwicki – valid taxon of azhdarchoid pterosaurs". Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS. 316 (1): 40–49. doi:10.31610/trudyzin/2012.316.1.40.
  17. ^ a b Smith, Roy E.; Martill, David M.; Unwin, David M.; Steel, Lorna (February 2021). "Edentulous pterosaurs from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of eastern England with a review of Ornithostoma Seeley, 1871". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 132 (1): 110–126. Bibcode:2021PrGA..132..110S. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2020.10.004.
  18. ^ Smith, Roy E.; Martill, David M.; Zouhri, Samir (2023). "Distinctive azhdarchoid pterosaur jaws from the mid-Cretaceous Cambridge Greensand of eastern England and the Kem Kem Group of Morocco". Proceedings of the Geologists' Association. 134 (3): 269–275. doi:10.1016/j.pgeola.2023.03.002.
  19. ^ Valentin Fischer; Nathalie Bardet; Myette Guiomar & Pascal Godefroit (2014). "High Diversity in Cretaceous Ichthyosaurs from Europe Prior to Their Extinction". PLOS ONE. 9 (1): e84709. Bibcode:2014PLoSO...984709F. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084709. PMC 3897400. PMID 24465427.
  20. ^ P. M. Barrett and S. E. Evans. 2002. A reassessment of the Early Cretaceous reptile 'Patricosaurus merocratus' Seeley from the Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, UK. Cretaceous Research 23:231-240
  21. ^ C. W. Wright and W. J. Kennedy. 1979. Origin and evolution of the Cretaceous micromorph ammonite family Flickiidae. Palaeontology 22:685-704
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