1.5 miles north of Kildonan (Reptile Bed) (Jurassic of the United Kingdom)

Also known as Isle of Eigg

Where: Scotland, United Kingdom (56.9° N, 6.1° W: paleocoordinates 46.1° N, 4.7° E)

• coordinate based on nearby landmark

• outcrop-level geographic resolution

When: Lealt Shale Formation (Great Estuarine Group), Bathonian (168.3 - 166.1 Ma)

• "When Miller made his collections little was known about the Jurassic stratigraphy of Eigg. The first reasonably modern account of this was by Judd (1878), who introduced the name Great Estuarine Series for the Middle Jurassic rocks but did not mention the Reptile Bed. Miller's localities were re-discovered by the Geological Survey, and a few vertebrate fossils were collected which add little to Miller's collection. The Reptile Bed was referred to the Lower Shales of Barrow's local succession in the Great Estuarine Series. Lists of invertebrate fossils from the Reptile Bed and associated beds were given for the first time; they were referred to as from the 'reptile bed', the 'fish bed', etc. but no measured section was given to identify the sequence of these named beds (Barrow 1908). Hudson (1962a) published a general account of the stratigraphy of the Great Estuarine Series which showed that its age is Upper Bajocian and Bathonian. Barrow's Lower Shales were shown to be the equivalents of the Estheria Shales of Skye. The outcrop north of Kildonan, which contains the Reptile Bed, was chosen as the type locality of the Mytilus Shales, a lower subdivision (or member) of the Estheria Shales."

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: lagoonal; lithified, shelly/skeletal, gray limestone

• "Hudson (1963) published a summary of the succession and invertebrate faunas of the Mytilus Shales, and inferred from this that they were deposited in brackish

•lagoons."

• "The Reptile Bed is a very hard, dark grey, shelly limestone which weathers to a deep red on the surface. The most abundant shells are small gastropods. Black, phosphatic fish teeth, scales and fin-spines, and black reptilian bones, are conspicuous, especially on weathered surfaces. Certain layers contain Unio shells which often retain a nacreous appearance."

Size class: macrofossils

Collected by H. Miller; J. D. Hudson, B. H. Newman in 1844; 1959–1961; reposited in the BMNH

Collection methods: surface (float),

Primary reference: J. D. Hudson. 1966. Hugh Miller's reptile bed and the Mytilus shales, Middle Jurassic, Isle of Eigg, Scotland. Scottish Journal of Geology 2(3):265-281 [M. Carrano/H. Street]more details

Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis

PaleoDB collection 105872: authorized by Matthew Carrano, entered by Hallie Street on 26.02.2011, edited by Matthew Carrano

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Chondrichthyes
 Euselachii -
Hybodontiformes indet.2 Patterson 1966 elasmobranch
 Hybodontiformes - Hybodontidae
Hybodus sp. Agassiz 1834 elasmobranch
teeth and spines
 Hybodontiformes - Acrodontidae
Acrodus sp. Agassiz 1834 elasmobranch
Osteichthyes
 Saurichthyiformes - Saurichthyidae
Saurichthys apicalis Agassiz 1834 ray-finned fish
Coelacanthimorpha
 Actinistia -
"Actinistia indet." = Coelacanthimorpha2
"Actinistia indet." = Coelacanthimorpha2 lobe-finned fish
coelacanth scales
Reptilia
  -
Reptilia indet.1 Laurenti 1768 reptile
4 vertebrae, 1 tooth, 1 skull bone
 Testudines -
"Chelonia indet." = Testudines2
"Chelonia indet." = Testudines2 Batsch 1788 turtle
fragmentary remains
 Ichthyosauria -
Ichthyosauria indet.2 ichthyosaur
fragmentary remains; 2 vertebrae, 1 tooth
 Crocodylia -
Crocodylia indet. crocodilian
 Pterosauria -
 Plesiosauria -
Plesiosauria indet. plesiosaur
similar to Plesiosaurus dolichodeirus; an exoccipital, teeth, cervical, dorsal, and caudal vertebrae, a caudal rib, an immature left ischium, phalanges and a portion of the plastron
 Plesiosauria - Cryptoclididae
"Colymbosaurus megadeirus" = Colymbosaurus trochanterius1
"Colymbosaurus megadeirus" = Colymbosaurus trochanterius1 Owen 1840 plesiosaur
42 vertebrae, 6 limb bones, 3 ribs
Actinopteri
 Lepisosteiformes -
"? Lepidotus sp." = Lepidotes, "Lepidotus sp." = Lepidotes2
"? Lepidotus sp." = Lepidotes Agassiz 1832 gar
"Lepidotus sp." = Lepidotes2 Agassiz 1832 gar
teeth