A Comparison of the Dinosaur Communities from the Middle Jurassic of the Cleveland (Yorkshire) and Hebrides (Skye) Basins, Based on Their Ichnites

Stephen Brusatte,Mike Romano,Neil Clark

doi:10.3390/geosciences8090327

Stephen Brusatte, Mike Romano + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences8090327

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Abstract

Despite the Hebrides and Cleveland basins being geographically close, research has not previously been carried out to determine faunal similarities and assess the possibility of links between the dinosaur populations. The palaeogeography of both areas during the Middle Jurassic shows that there were no elevated landmasses being eroded to produce conglomeratic material in the basins at that time. The low-lying landscape and connected shorelines may have provided connectivity between the two dinosaur populations. The dinosaur fauna of the Hebrides and Cleveland basins has been assessed based primarily on the abundant ichnites found in both areas as well as their skeletal remains. In the two basins, the dinosaur faunas are very similar, consisting of non-neosauropod eusauropods, a possible basal titanosauriform, large and small theropods and ornithopods and europodan thyreophorans. The main difference in the faunas is in the sizes. In the Cleveland Basin, the ichnites suggest that there were medium and large theropods alongside small to medium sized ornithopods, whereas, in the Hebrides Basin, the theropods were from small to large and the ornithopods were medium to large. It is suggested that migrations could have taken place between the two areas during the Middle Jurassic. A tentative food chain from the herbivorous dinosaurs to the top predators can be inferred from the footprints.

Highlights

The poor global fossil record of dinosaurs remaining in the Middle Jurassic coincides with a time of significant diversification in dinosaur evolution [1,2,3,4]
The longest fossil dinosaur trackway recorded in the Cleveland Basin reaches no more than 13 m [5], and even less (5 m) in the Hebrides Basin
Dinosaur body fossils are rare from the Middle Jurassic Ravenscar Group of the Cleveland

Summary

Introduction

The poor global fossil record of dinosaurs remaining in the Middle Jurassic coincides with a time of significant diversification in dinosaur evolution [1,2,3,4]. Exposures of Middle Jurassic rocks in the two regions are dominantly coastal, and of limited areal extent. The longest fossil dinosaur trackway recorded in the Cleveland Basin reaches no more than 13 m [5], and even less (5 m) in the Hebrides Basin. These lengths are insignificant compared with those from inland exposures in America (215 m) [6], Portugal (147 m) [7] and many others [8,9]. Coastal exposures have inherent problems in terrestrial environments, frequently yielding new finds.

Palaeogeography in the North of Britain during the Middle Jurassic

Palaeogeographic maps of of thethe

Dinosaur Body Fossils of the Cleveland and Hebrides Basins

Distribution of Print Types with Respect to Facies and Age

Animal Makers of Dinosaur Prints from the Cleveland and Hebrides Basins

11. Problems still to Be Resolved