PBDB Collection

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
Adelospondyli - Adelogyrinidae	Adelospondylus watsoni¹ Adelospondylus watsoni¹ Carroll 1967 lobe-finned fish NMS.G.1885.57.51
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 - 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)
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
Elonichthyiformes - Acrolepidae	Watsonichthys pectinatus⁹ Watsonichthys pectinatus⁹ Traquair 1877 ray-finned fish
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
Elonichthyiformes - Elonichthyidae	Elonichthys robisoni⁸ Elonichthys robisoni⁸ Hibbert 1835 ray-finned fish NMS 1859.33
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)
Palaeoniscimorpha -	"Eurynotus crenatus" = Notacmon crenatus⁸ "Eurynotus crenatus" = Notacmon crenatus⁸ Gistel 1848
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
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

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