Where: England, United Kingdom (52.6° N, 0.2° W: paleocoordinates 42.7° N, 9.7° E)
• coordinate based on nearby landmark
• local area-level geographic resolution
When: Sigaloceras enodatum - Kosmoceras phaeinum ammonoid zone, Peterborough Member (Oxford Clay Formation), Middle Callovian (164.7 - 161.2 Ma)
• "One clear drawback of this collection, however, is that no precise information about the geological horizon was provided for any of the Dublin Leeds specimens. Andrews (1910) states that ‘the horizon at which [Oxford Clay] reptilian bones occur is that characterised by the presence of the “Ornatus” group of Ammonites’ (p. vi), particularly Cosmoceras gulielmii. Arkell (1933 in Duff 1975) further specified the zone in which reptile remains are found, to Kosmoceras jason (Middle Callovian). The Dublin Leeds Collection therefore probably originated from this zone of the ‘Lower Oxford Clay’. Although precise stratigraphic positions can retrospectively be determined for some of Alfred Leeds’ specimens from his excavation records in the ‘Eyebury Register’, the only notes relating to the Dublin specimens do not contain salient information" (Araujo et al. 2008, p. 20).
•The Peterborough Member (Sigiloceras enodatum (S. calloviense Zone)–Kosmoceras phaeinum (Peltoceras athleta Zone) ammonite Subzone: late Early–early Late Callovian, Middle Jurassic, previously termed the ‘lower Oxford Clay’
• bed-level stratigraphic resolution
Environment/lithology: offshore; lithified, carbonaceous mudstone
Size class: macrofossils
Collected by A. N. Leeds, Esq., F.G.S. in 1893
Collection methods: quarrying, surface (in situ), mechanical,
• NMINH (National Museum of Ireland—Natural History)
•The collection was amassed by Alfred Leeds between c. 1867 and 1917 (Leeds 1956) when he assumed the management of his family’s farm in the Peterborough district, Cambridgeshire. Charles Leeds, his elder brother, occupied a minor role in the collection of specimens before he emigrated to New Zealand in 1887.
Primary reference: R. Araujo, A. S. Smith, and J. Liston. 2008. Alfred Leeds fossil vertebrate collection of the National Museum of Ireland - Natural History. Irish Journal of Earth Sciences 26:17-32 [R. Benson/R. Benson]more details
Purpose of describing collection: general faunal/floral analysis
PaleoDB collection 142299: authorized by Roger Benson, entered by Roger Benson on 07.04.2013
Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)
Taxonomic list
| Reptilia | |
"Steneosaurus edwardsi" = Neosteneosaurus edwardsi
"Steneosaurus edwardsi" = Neosteneosaurus edwardsi Eudes-Deslongchamps 1867 marine crocodile Specimen NMING F21732 (Fig. 2A) comprises the anterior part of the skull (Fig. 3A) and mandible (~60% of total), two isolated teeth, tarsal bones (a right calcaneum and a right fifth metatarsal), 16 vertebrae including the atlas-axis (Fig. 3B) and rib fragments. Specimens NMING F21762, NMING F21763 are deduced to be additional teeth from two different individuals, due to the different preservation
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"Metriorhynchus superciliosus" = Thalattosuchus superciliosus
"Metriorhynchus superciliosus" = Thalattosuchus superciliosus de Blainville 1853 marine crocodile Specimen NMING F16892 (Fig. 1A) comprises a skull (almost complete) and lower jaw, associated with 16 vertebrae. Specimen NMING F21731 (Fig. 1B) consists of the skull (almost complete) and the lower jaw, 28 vertebrae and both ilia. The skull has been slightly dorso-ventrally compressed. The dorsal skull bones bear smooth ornamentation and dorsal crests occur on the parietal and squamosal. NMING F21760 is an isolated left femur
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Cryptoclidus eurymerus Phillips 1871 plesiosaur The remains of four specimens of Cryptoclidus are included in the Dublin Leeds Collection. The most complete individual is NMING F21786 (Fig. 2B) which comprises a large proportion of the vertebral column with neural arches, both humeri (each 260mm long, with a distal width of 155mm), radii (85mm long), ulnae (70mm long), a number of carpals and metacarpals, a complete right scapula (190mm long) and the dorsal process of the left scapula, the anterior part of the left coracoid (preserved part 175mm long), a partial clavicle (not figured), a partial pubis (205mm long) and associated rib fragments (Fig. 4). Specimen NMING F21785 belongs to a larger individual and comprises the distal part of a humerus (305mm wide distally), a radius, two ulnae and a partial ischium (maximum width 230mm), two phalanges, eleven vertebrae, and associated rib fragments. The preservation of this specimen contrasts sharply with most of the other material in the Dublin Leeds Collection; it is likely that this specimen originates from a distinct locality and/or horizon. Specimen NMING F21782 is an isolated right humerus, partly restored in plaster and almost identical in size and form to the right humerus of NMING F21786. Specimen NMING F21781 is the poorly developed humerus of a juvenile plesiosaur, probably also referable to Cryptoclidus due to its general morphology
Muraenosaurus sp. Seeley 1874 plesiosaur Specimen NMING F21778 is an incomplete right scapula, 250mm long. The dorsal process is 140mm long on the lateral surface and the ventral process is 150mm wide
Muraenosaurus leedsii Seeley 1874 plesiosaur Specimen NMING F21779 is a single right femur (Fig. 5), 335mm long and 175mm wide distally [referred to Muraenosaurus beloclis in the caption to Fig. 5, but to Muraenosaurus leedsii in the text]
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Peloneustes philarchus Seeley 1869 plesiosaur Two isolated propodial bones, NMING F21783 (Fig. 6A) and NMING F21784 (Fig. 6B) and a tooth (NMING F21761) belong to the pliosaur Peloneustes philarchus
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Ophthalmosaurus icenicus Seeley 1874 ichthyosaur This specimen (NMING F21787) consists of an almost complete pectoral girdle (Fig. 7), both humeri, 80 paddle bones including one complete paddle (Fig. 8A)
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