Burghlee Ironstone, Loanhead, Midlothian (Carboniferous of the United Kingdom)

Also known as Rumbles Ironstone

Where: Scotland, United Kingdom (55.9° N, 3.1° W: paleocoordinates 0.7° N, 5.2° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Limestone Coal Formation (Clackmannan Group), Pendleian (330.9 - 327.0 Ma)

Environment/lithology: terrestrial; ironstone and limestone

Size class: macrofossils

Collection methods: Some specimens reside in RSM (Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh).

Primary reference: T. R. Smithson. 1985. The morphology and relationships of the Carboniferous amphibian Eoherpeton watsoni Panchen. Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society 85:317-410 [R. Butler/E. Dunne]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 174421: authorized by Richard Butler, entered by Emma Dunne on 12.11.2015, edited by Sophie Fasey

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

• RSM 1967/13/1 Acherontiscus caledoniae is though to have come from this location based on sediment analysis (Carroll, 1969)
Show authors, comments, and common names
Osteichthyes
 Baphetoidea - Baphetidae
Loxomma sp.2
Loxomma sp.2 Huxley 1862 tetrapod
NMS 1967.201 (lower jaw)
 Baphetoidea - Spathicephalidae
Spathicephalus mirus n. gen. n. sp.10
Spathicephalus mirus n. gen. n. sp.10 Watson 1929 tetrapod
RSM (2 skulls), NMS G 1950.56.3 (Skull in palatal exposure, incomplete anteriorly)
 Tetrapoda - Caerorhachidae
Caerorhachis bairdi n. gen. n. sp.6
Caerorhachis bairdi n. gen. n. sp.6 Holmes and Carroll 1977 tetrapod
MCZ 2271 (holotype; nearly complete skeleton)
Amphibia
 Lepospondyli - Acherontiscidae
Acherontiscus caledoniae n. gen. n. sp.3
Acherontiscus caledoniae n. gen. n. sp.3 Carroll 1969 tetrapod
RSM 1967/13/1 (holotype; skull and associated postcranial skeleton). "The specimen bears no data as to horizon, locality or collector. The matrix is a fine-grained coal shale which resembles that of amphibians from the Loanhead No. 2 Ironstone of the Limestone Coal Group at burghlee, Midlothian, which is lower upper Carboniferous in British terms." Carroll (1969) with further ostracod evidence for the horizon.
Osteichthyes
 Tetrapoda - Eoherpetontidae
Eoherpeton watsoni
Eoherpeton watsoni Panchen 1975 tetrapod
RSM GY 1963.15.116 (Left scapulocoracoid, left clavicle and series of vertebrae and ribs); ?RSM GY 1885.57.50 (left maxilla)
 Adelospondyli - Adelogyrinidae
Adelospondylus watsoni1
Adelospondylus watsoni1 Carroll 1967 lobe-finned fish
NMS.G.1885.57.51
 Actinopterygii - Haplolepidae
Protohaplolepis scotica7
Protohaplolepis scotica7 Traquair 1903 ray-finned fish
RSM 1885.38.20 (holotype) (May actually be from No. 2 Ironstone, same locality)
 Elonichthyiformes - Acrolepidae
Watsonichthys pectinatus9
Watsonichthys pectinatus9 Traquair 1877 ray-finned fish
 Elonichthyiformes - Elonichthyidae
Elonichthys robisoni8
Elonichthys robisoni8 Hibbert 1835 ray-finned fish
NMS 1859.33
 Elonichthyiformes - Gonatodidae
Pseudogonatodus parvidens n. gen. n. sp.4
Pseudogonatodus parvidens n. gen. n. sp.4 Traquair 1882 ray-finned fish
NMS 1926.57.19 (lectotype), other in NHM and NMS
 Palaeonisciformes -
Drydenius insignis n. sp.4
Drydenius insignis n. sp.4 Traquair 1890
NMS 1950.38.85 (lectotype), NMS 1885.47.26 others in the NHM and NMS
 Palaeonisciformes - Palaeoniscidae
Cryphiolepis striatus8, Nematoptychius greenocki8
Cryphiolepis striatus8 Traquair 1881
Nematoptychius greenocki8 Traquair 1866
 Palaeonisciformes - Rhadinichthyidae
Rhadinichthys ornatissimus5
Rhadinichthys ornatissimus5 Agassiz 1835
NHMUK P.11634
 Palaeoniscimorpha -
"Eurynotus crenatus" = Notacmon crenatus8
"Eurynotus crenatus" = Notacmon crenatus8 Gistel 1848
1Andrews and Carroll 1991; 2Beaumont 1977; 3Carroll 1969; 4Gardiner 1967; 5Henderson et al. 2023; 6Holmes and Carroll 1977; 7Lowney 1983; 8Sallan and Coates 2010; 9Sallan and Coates 2013; 10Watson 1929