The Cambridge Greensand is a geological unit in England whose strata are earliest Cenomanian in age. It lies above the erosive contact between the Gault Formation and the Chalk Group in the vicinity of Cambridgeshire, and technically forms the lowest member bed of the West Melbury Marly Chalk Formation.Cambridge Greensand at BGS It is a remanié deposit, containing reworked fossils of late Albian age, including those of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.
Description The lithology is made out of glauconitic marl, described as a "chalk mud", containing abundant ostracod, coccolith and foram remains, with a concentration of phosphatic nodules and bones at the base.
Vertebrate paleofauna
Birds +BirdsGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImagesEnaliornis E. barrette Braincases, vertebrae, pelvis [and] limb elements"Table 11.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 215.This genus is the oldest known hesperornithineE sedgwicki Hindlimb elementsE. seeleyi Assorted cranial and postcranial elements Dinosaurs
Ornithischians OrnithischiansGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImagesAnoplosaurus A. curtonotus "Partial postcranium""Table 17.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 367.A. major "Cervical vertebrae." "Vertebrae.""Table 19.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 417.Acanthopholis A. eucercus "[Two] caudal centra." Nomen dubium A. platypus "Phalanx, caudal centra." Nomen dubium A. macrocercus"Osteoderms." "Vertebrae, fragmentary skeleton elements."Reassigned to Syngonosaurus A. stereocercus "Osteoderms." "Vertebrae." Nomen dubium Eucercosaurus E. tanyspondylus "Vertebrae." Trachodon T. cantabrigiensis "Dentary tooth.""Table 20.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 443. Nomen dubium
Saurischians SaurischiansGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImagesMacrurosaurus M. semnus "Caudal vertebrae""Table 13.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 270.Titanosauriform sauropod or indeterminate macronarian Pterosaurs PterosaursGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImages Aerodraco A. sedgwickii Anterior rostrum AmblydectesA. crassidensJaw fragments A. eurygnathus Jaw fragments Possibly a junior synonym of A. crassidens CamposipterusC. colorhinusAnterior rostra fragmentsC. nasutusPartial rostrumDraigwenia D. platystomusAnterior rostrum fragmentsFormerly Amblydectes platystomusLonchodraco L. machaerorhynchusMay or may not be referrable to Ikrandraco L. microdon Junior synonym of L. machaerorhynchus Nicorhynchus N. capito Jaw fragments Possibly synonymous with Coloborhynchus OrnithocheirusO. simusUnwin D.M., 2001, "An overview of the pterosaur assemblage from the Cambridge Greensand (Cretaceous) of Eastern England", Mitteilungen aus dem Museum für Naturkunde in Berlin, Geowissenschaftliche Reihe 4: 189–221 "Ornithocheirus" denticulatus "Ornithocheirus" polyodon OrnithostomaO. sedgwickiJaw fragmentsAzhdarchoid pterosaur Indeterminate azhdarchoid Jaw fragments Likely represents a distinct taxon from Ornithostoma
Ichthyosaurs IchthyosaursGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImagesCetarthrosaurus C. walkeriMaiaspondylus M. cantabrigiensisPervushovisaurus P. campylodonSisteronia S. seeleyi Lepidosauria LepidosauriaGenusSpeciesLocalityMaterialNotesImages Patricosaurus P. merocratusP. M. Barrett and S. E. Evans. 2002. A reassessment of the Early Cretaceous reptile 'Patricosaurus merocratus' Seeley from the Cambridge Greensand, Cambridgeshire, UK. Cretaceous Research 23:231-240 Chimeric specimen Invertebrates Ammonites Salaziceras salazacenseC. W. Wright and W. J. Kennedy. 1979. Origin and evolution of the Cretaceous micromorph ammonite family Flickiidae. Palaeontology 22:685-704
See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
References