PBDB

Coal Mine Point; Divison 4, Section XV, coal-group 15: Westphalian A, Canada
collected by J. W. Dawson, C. Lyell, among others

List of taxa

Where & when

Geology

Taphonomy & methods

Metadata & references

Taxonomic list

unclassified

	Dendryazousa dikella n. gen., n. sp.		1 individual

	Asaphestrera platyris n. gen., n. sp.
	Incertae sedis

	Atopotera moneres n. gen., n. sp.
	Incertae sedis

	Carpolites sp.	Dawson 1860
Polypodiopsida - Equisetales - Calamitaceae

	Calamites sp. Suckow 1784	Lyell and Dawson 1853
unclassified

	? Noeggerathia sp. Sternberg 1822	Lyell and Dawson 1853
Cordaitopsida - Cordaitaceae

	Sternbergia sp. Artis 1825	Dawson 1860
	replaced by Artisia
Sigillariaceae

	Sigillaria sp. Brongniart 1822	Lyell and Dawson 1853
Lepidodendrales - Lepidodendraceae

	Lepidodendron sp. Sternberg 1820	Lyell and Dawson 1853
unclassified

	Stigmaria sp. Brongniart 1822	Lyell and Dawson 1853
Amphibia - Temnospondyli - Dendrerpetidae

	Platystegos loricatum n. sp. Dawson 1895		3 specimens
	Authority is Dawson 1894.

	Dendrysekos helogenes n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934		1 specimen
	Includes Dendrerpeton acadianum of Dawson 1882, in part.

	Batrachia indet. (Macartney 1802)	Wyman 1853	1 specimen
	"labyrinthodont Reptile", said to be similar to present-day Salamanders; see comments on taxonomic list
	= Dendrerpeton acadianum n. gen., n. sp. Owen 1853	Owen 1853
	BMNH R4158 (lectotype); the only specimen among Owen's syntypes considered diagnostic by Carroll (1967)

	Hylonomus aciedentatus n. sp. Dawson 1860	Dawson 1860	1 specimen
	synonym of Dendrerpeton acadianum
	RM 2.1125 (type)

	Hylonomus lyelli Dawson 1860	Owen 1862	1 specimen
	= Dendrerpeton oweni n. sp. Dawson 1863	Dawson 1863
	synonym of Dendrerpeton acadianum
	RM 2.1121 (type); "the identification of the lower jaw, phalanges, and the series of specimens associated subsequently with the type is uncertain" (Steen, 1934)
Amphibia

	Lepospondyli indet. von Zittel 1887

	Novascoticus multidens n. gen., n. sp. (Dawson 1882)	Carroll 1966	1 specimen
	RM 2.1128 (holotype), partial skull and lower jaw, shoulder girdle and humerus, scattered vertebrae
Eogyrinidae

	Calligenethlon watsoni n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934		1 specimen
Pelycosauria

	Protoclepsydrops haplous n. gen., n. sp. Carroll 1964	Carroll 1964	1 individual
	RM 3166 (type); "figured by Steen (1934, fig. 22c, p. 490) as 'Hylonomus' latidens"; specimen is deducted from the original 5 occurences of "Hylonomus" latidens
Gymnarthridae

	Hylerpeton dawsoni n. gen., n. sp. Owen 1862	Owen 1862	1 specimen
	BMNH R4180 (type; lower jaw), BMNH R4149 (figured in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen, 1853, pl. II fig. 2 as part of the type series of Dendrerpeton acadianum; assigned to H. dawsoni by Carroll, 1967)

	Amblyodon problematicum n. sp. Dawson 1882	Carroll 1966	4 specimens
	recombined as Leiocephalikon problematicum
	RM 3061-10 (holotype), fragment of lower jaw with 10 teeth; RM 12195, maxilla; RM 2.1130, dentary; RM 2.1122a, dentary and coronoids

	Leiocephalikon eutheton n. gen., n. sp. Steen 1934		1 individual
	synonym of Leiocephalikon problematicum
Reptilia - Protorothyrididae

	"Hylonomus" latidens Dawson 1882		4 specimens
	Authority is Dawson 1882.

	Hylonomus lyelli n. gen., n. sp. Dawson 1860		3 specimens
	BMNH R4167 (vertebrae, pelvis, femur, phalanges, ribs and scales), R4168 (the holotype); RM 12207 (skull and jaw elements, vertebrae, limb elements); all specimens are part of the hypodigm as recognized by Carroll (1964)

	Hylerpeton curtidentatum n. sp. Dawson 1876		1 individual
	synonym of Hylonomus lyelli
	RM 2.1126 (holotype); originally entered as "Fritschia curtidentata"

	Hylonomus wymani n. sp. Dawson 1860	Dawson 1860	1 specimen
	RM 3061 (type); according to Steen (1934), the specimen catalogued under this number represent series of vertebrae figured in pl. III fig. 4-7 in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen (1853). These vertebrae, however, are listed as BMNH R4156 and R4157 in Carroll (1967)
Myriapoda

	Xylobius dawsoni Scudder 1868	Scudder 1895	7 specimens
	recombined as Archicambala dawsoni

	Archiulus lyelli n. sp. Scudder 1895	Scudder 1895	4 specimens

	Archiulus xylobioides Scudder 1868	Scudder 1895	7 specimens

	Archiulus euphoberioides n. sp. Scudder 1895	Scudder 1895	10 specimens
Myriapoda - Xyloiulidae

	Xylobius fractus Scudder 1868	Scudder 1895	3 specimens

	Xylobius similis Scudder 1868	Scudder 1895	5 specimens

	Xylobius sigillariae n. gen., n. sp. Dawson 1860	Dawson 1860
	recombined as Xyloiulus sigillariae
	"numerous specimens"
Myriapoda - Amynilyspedida - Amynilyspedidae

	? Amynilyspes sp. Scudder 1882	Scudder 1895
Eurypterida

	Eurypterida indet. Burmeister 1843
	Braddy et al. (2022) suggest this is arthropleurid
Arachnida - Scorpiones - Mazoniidae

	Mazonia sp. Meek and Worthen 1868	Scudder 1895	1 specimen

	Mazonia acadica n. sp. Scudder 1895	Scudder 1895	1 specimen
Gastropoda - Dendropupidae

	Pulmonata indet. Cuvier 1817	Lyell and Dawson 1853	50 specimens
	"pulmoniferous mollusk", ?Clausilia sp., ?Pupa sp., ?Helix sp. or ?Helicidae indet.; originally entered as "Mollusca indet."; number of specimens is from Dawson (1860)
	= Pupa vetusta n. sp. Dawson 1860	Dawson 1860
	recombined as Dendropupa vetusta
	originally entered as "Pupa vestuta" with Steen (1934) as reference
see common names

Geography

Country:	Canada	State/province:	Nova Scotia	County:	Cumberland
Coordinates:	45.7° North, 64.5° West (view map)
Paleocoordinates:	8.0° South, 7.2° West
Basis of coordinate:	estimated from map
Geographic resolution:	outcrop

Time

Period:	Carboniferous	Epoch:	Early/Lower Pennsylvanian
Stage:	Bashkirian	10 m.y. bin:	Carboniferous 4
*Period:	Late/Upper Carboniferous	*Epoch:	Middle Bashkirian - Gzelian
*Local age/stage:	Middle Westphalian - Late/Upper Westphalian
Key time interval:	Westphalian A
Age range of interval:	318.10000 - 314.60000 m.y. ago
* legacy (obsolete) database fields

Stratigraphy

Geological group:	Cumberland	Formation:	Joggins
Local section:	Division 4, Section XV	Local bed:	coal-group 15
Stratigraphic resolution:	group of beds
Stratigraphy comments: From Steen (1934): "top of the Joggins formation...Division 4, Section XV., Coal-group 15 of the Joggins section given in Dawson's 'Acadian Geology,' 1868, pp. 156-178." From Lyell (1853): The fossils are from Bed 5 of a 25 ft section, composed of 7 beds. Bed 5 is approximately 600 ft below the main coal, "King's Vein". Original entry for Local Section name was "South Joggins"; for Bed/horizon "bed 5". In Steen (1934) a "bed 5" is not mentioned in any way. Also, in papers published before and after Lyell's "On the Remains of a Reptile..." (1953) a different numbering is applied to the Joggins Section. Thus, it is more appropriate to follow the stratigraphic terminology used in Dawson (1878, Acadian Geology, 3rd edn.; 1882, Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., 173), Steen (1934, see description above) and Carroll (1964). Coal-group 15 consists of 3 beds with a total thickness of 10 ft 6 in. (Dawson, 1878) (TL) Original entry for chronostratigraphy was simply "Westphalian". Currently, the Cumberland Group is considered eqivalent to Westphalian A (Langsettian) (see e. g. Holmes et al., 1989, J. Vert. Paleont. 19; or Falcon-Lang et al. 2006, J. Geol. Soc. Lond. 163).(TL)

Lithology and environment

Primary lithology:	gray sandstone
Secondary lithology:	coal
Includes fossils?	Y
Lithology description: From Lyell (1853): 5. Grey sandstone, with three erect trees, one having Stigmarian roots; erect Calamites and stems of unknown plants. (One of the erect trees in this bed contained the bones, teeth, &c. and land-shell above-mentioned.) ...9 ft;
Environment:	mire/swamp	Tectonic setting:	intermontane basin

Taphonomy

Modes of preservation:	body,coalified
Size of fossils:	macrofossils
Preservation of anatomical detail:	good
Articulated whole bodies:	none
Associated major elements:	some
Disassociated major elements:	none
Disassociated minor elements:	many
Fragmentation:	occasional
Temporal resolution:	snapshot

Collection methods and comments

Collection methods:	bulk,selective quarrying,field collection,survey of museum collection
Reason for describing collection:	taxonomic analysis
Museum repositories:	BMNH
Collectors:	J. W. Dawson, C. Lyell, among others
Collection method comments: RM = Redpath Museum of McGill Unversity, Montreal
Taxonomic list comments:Listed by Steen (1934) as Indeterminate species: Hylerpeton dawsoni Owen; Hylerpeton longidentatum Dawson; Hylerpeton intermedium Dawson; Hylonomus multidens Dawson; Hylonomus wymani Dawson; Smilerpeton aciedentatus Dawson; Amblyodon problematicum Dawson; Sparodus sp. Dawson; Baphetes minor Dawson. All catalogue numbers are from Steen (1934) and/or from Carroll (1967). The taxon "Batrachoididae indet.", entered under the reference Lyell & Dawson (1853), has been removed from the taxonomic list for it is a family of teleost fish. It probably referred to the "batrachian" affinities of the tetrapod bones noticed by Wyman (1853) but all these bones finally were assigned to Dendrerpeton acadianum n. gen. et sp. (see pls. II and III in Lyell & Dawson/Wyman/Owen, 1853). Thus the originally enterd taxon "Dendrerpeton acadianum", reference: Lyell & Dawson, was replaced by "Batrachia indet.", reference: Wyman (1853), and re-identification by Owen (1853) was added (TL). Re-identification of "Dendrerpeton oweni n. sp." as "Dendrerpeton acadianum" by by Steen was removed after opinons on synonymy of the the former with the latter species were entered into the database (TL). ? Poacites sp. of Lyell and Dawson not entered, because that taxon is a grass.

Metadata

Also known as:	South Joggins; Coal Measures; Head of Bay of Fundy
Database number:	28069
Authorizer:	J. Alroy, J. Mueller, A. Dunhill, M. Clapham	Enterer:	R. Whatley, T. Liebrecht, M. Clapham, B. Allen
Modifier:	R. Plotnick	Research group:	vertebrate
Created:	2003-01-22 17:32:02	Last modified:	2023-10-30 14:57:07
Access level:	the public	Released:	2003-01-22 17:32:02
Creative Commons license:	CC BY

Reference information

Primary reference:

7856.

5% 47720

M. C. Steen. 1934. The amphibian fauna from the South Joggins, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1934:465-504 [J. Alroy/R. Whatley/E. Dunne]

Secondary references:

28956		R. L. Carroll. 1964. The earliest reptiles. Journal of the Linnean Society (Zoology) 45(304):61-83 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
58386		R. L. Carroll. 1966. Microsaurs from the Westphalian B of Joggins, Nova Scotia. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London 177:63-97 [R. Butler/E. Dunne]
32317		R. L. Carroll. 1967. Labyrinthodonts from the Joggins Formation. Journal of Paleontology 41(1):111-142 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
28692		R. L. Carroll and P. Gaskill. 1978. The Order Microsauria. Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society 126:1-211 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
32301		J. W. Dawson. 1860. On a Terrestrial Mollusk, a Chilognathous Myriapod, and some New Species of Reptiles, from the Coal-Formation of Nova Scotia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 16:268-277 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
32315		J. W. Dawson. 1863. Notice of a New Species of Dendrerpeton, and of the Dermal Coverings of certain Carboniferous Reptiles. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 19:469-473 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]
86217		H.J. Falcon-Lang, M.J. Benton, S. J. Braddy and S. J. Davies. 2006. The Pennsylvanian tropical biome reconstructed from the Joggins Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada . Journal of the Geological Society 163(3):561-576 [R. Plotnick/R. Plotnick/R. Plotnick]
7688	5% 51180	C. Lyell and J. W. Dawson. 1853. On the Remains of a Reptile (Dendrerpeton acadianum, Wyman and Owen) and of a Land Shell discovered in the Interior of an Erect Fossil Tree in the Coal Measures of Nova Scotia. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:58-63 [J. Alroy/R. Whatley/T. Liebrecht]
32300		R. Owen. 1853. Notes on the above-described fossil remains. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:66-67 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
32316		R. Owen. 1862. Description of Specimens of Fossil Reptilia discovered in the Coal-measures of the South Joggins, Nova Scotia, by Dr. J. W. Dawson, FGS, etc. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 18:238-244 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht/T. Liebrecht]
49117		S. H. Scudder. 1895. Canadian fossil insects, myriapods and arachnids, 3. Notes upon myriapods and arachnids found in sigillarian stumps in the Nova Scotia coal field. Geological Survey of Canada Contributions to Canadian Palaeontology 2(1):57-66 [M. Clapham/M. Clapham/M. Clapham]
32314		J. Wyman. 1853. Notes on the Reptilian Remains. Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London 9:64-66 [J. Mueller/T. Liebrecht]