Cutties Hillock Millstone Quarry (Permian of the United Kingdom)

Also known as Cuttie's Hillock, Cuttieshillock, New Spynie; Elgin

Where: Scotland, United Kingdom (57.7° N, 3.4° W: paleocoordinates 20.0° N, 11.6° E)

• coordinate stated in text

• small collection-level geographic resolution

When: Cutties Hillock Sandstone Formation, Changhsingian (254.2 - 252.2 Ma)

• This [i.e., the Cutties Hillock Quarry] exposes sections in predominently aeolian units of the Cutties Hillock Sandstone Formation, and is part of the type locality for this formation (sensu Benton and Walker, 1985, p. 215–26). Benton and Walker (1985) dated the formation as latest Permian (Tatarian) based on equivalent independently dated faunas in Russia and southern Africa." (Spencer & Lee, 2000). Since Benton & Walker (1985, Palaeontology 28(2)) stated that the Cutties Hillock Sst (referred to as "Elgin Sandstone" by Newton, 1893) is "lying at the extreme summit of the Permian" the collection is assigned to the Changhsingian stage of the current global timescale.

•All specimens probably come from the lower main unit of the formation, consisting of pebbly sandstones.

• group of beds-level stratigraphic resolution

Environment/lithology: fluvial; medium-grained, coarse, pebbly, red sandstone

• The presence of pebbles in the lower unit suggests that it was deposited by water action, presumably a river. If the age assignment is correct, these beds may represent an onshore equivalent of the deposits of the Zechstein Sea.

Size class: macrofossils

Preservation: mold/impression

Reposited in the BGS

Collection methods: mechanical,

• ELGNM = Elgin Museum

•GSE = Geological Survey Museum, Edinburgh

Primary reference: E. T. Newton. 1893. On some New Reptiles from the Elgin Sandstones. Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series B, Biological Sciences 184:431-503 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]more details

Purpose of describing collection: taxonomic analysis

PaleoDB collection 92323: authorized by Johannes Mueller, entered by Torsten Liebrecht on 06.11.2009

Creative Commons license: CC BY (attribution)

Taxonomic list

Osteichthyes
 Anomodontia - Cryptodontidae
Geikia elginensis n. gen. n. sp.
Geikia elginensis n. gen. n. sp. Newton 1893 therapsid
"belonging to the Elgin Museum" (Newton's "specimen no. 8")
 Dicynodontia -
"Gordonia traquairi n. gen. n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi, "Gordonia ? traquairi" = Gordonia traquairi, "Gordonia huxleyana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi, "Gordonia ? huxleyana" = Gordonia traquairi, "Gordonia juddiana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi, "Gordonia duffiana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi
"Gordonia traquairi n. gen. n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
"belonging to the Geological Survey" (Newton's "specimen no. 1")
"Gordonia ? traquairi" = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
"belonging to the Elgin Museum" (Newton's "specimen no. 4")
"Gordonia huxleyana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
"belonging to the Geological Survey" (Newton's "specimen no. 2")
"Gordonia ? huxleyana" = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
"belonging to the Elgin Museum" (Newton's "specimen no. 5")
"Gordonia juddiana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
"belonging to the Elgin Museum" (Newton's "specimen no. 7")
"Gordonia duffiana n. sp." = Gordonia traquairi Newton 1893 dicynodont
ELGNM 1978.559 (Newton's "specimen no. 3"); catalogue number is from Benton & Walker (1985, Paleontology 28(2))
Reptilia
 Procolophonomorpha - Elginiidae
Elginia mirabilis n. gen. n. sp. Newton 1893 parareptile
GSE 4783 to 4788 (type, Newton's "specimen no. 9"); ELGNM 1978.550; catalogue numbers and informations on second specimen are from Spencer & Lee (2000)
Elginia mirabilis Newton 1893 parareptile
"belonging to the Elgin Museum" (Newton's "specimen no. 6")