The McCoy Brook Formation is a geological formation dating to roughly between 200 and 190 million years ago and covering the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages. The McCoy Brook Formation is found in outcrops around the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.
Age The McCoy Brook Formation rests on the North Mountain Basalt, one of the volcanic flows associated with the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the Newark Supergroup. The base of the McCoy Brook Formation is probably within 100,000 to 200,000 years of the boundary.
Scots Bay Member This thin unit (9 m) of lacustrine sediments is preserved in six small synclinal outcrops around Scots Bay on the west side of the Blomidon Peninsula. Originally named as the Scots Bay Formation, it is now correlated with the lowermost part of the McCoy Brook Formation, where it is referred to as the Scots Bay Member. The Scots Bay Member accumulated in an aerobic lake on the floor of the subtropical Fundy Rift Valley, associated with Silica-rich Hydrothermal Springs derived from the CAMP vulcanism, where the biota is composed of algal Stromatolites, Oncolites, Charophyta, Ostracoda, Gastropoda, Conchostraca, fish bones, calcispheres and logs.
Fossil content Sharks
Sharks Name Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes cf.Hybodus IndeterminateWasson Bluff Scots Bay member Teeth & Coprolites A hybodont shark. Recovered from lacustrine facies
Ray-finned fish Ray-finned fish Name Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images ?Redfieldiid None designatedWasson Bluff Scots Bay member Scales and skull bones Found in lacustrine limestone and lacustrine basalt aggregate aff. Semionotus sp. None designatedWasson Bluff Scots Bay memberDisarticulated remains Found in lacustrine limestone, lacustrine basalt aggregate, and lacustrine mudstone
Synapsids Synapsids Name Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Cynodontia IndeterminateWasson BluffScots Bay MemberPartial right unla Proximal portion of a right ischium A cynodont Oligokyphus Oligokyphus sp.Wasson BluffScots Bay MemberFragment of a right Dentary. A tritheledontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member. Pachygenelus cf. P. monusWasson BluffUpper MemberExcellently preserved fragments of two premaxillae, ten maxillae, and six dentaries A tritheledontid cynodont Tritylodontidae IndeterminateWasson BluffScots Bay MemberRight humerus A tritylodontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member.
Sphenodonts Sphenodonts Name Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Clevosaurus C. bairdiWasson Bluff Lower McCoy Brook Formation Partial skulls and jaws, isolated cranial bones, partial postcranium, postcranial bones A sphenodontian of relatively small size, found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate cf. Palycymalia IndeterminateWasson Bluff Middle McCoy Brook Formation Isolated Remains A sphenodontian cf. Sigmala IndeterminateWasson Bluff Middle McCoy Brook Formation Isolated Remains A sphenodontian
Crocodyliforms Protosuchidae Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Protosuchus P. micmac Wasson Bluff Lower McCoy Brook Formation Partial lower jaw, several other skull bones Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate Sphenosuchid IndeterminateBlue sack west Wasson Bluff Lower McCoy Brook Formation A maxilla Isolated Osteoderms Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate
Dinosaurs
Ornithischia Ornithischians Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Ornithischia IndeterminateWasson BluffScots Bay Member Impressions of teeth (YPM VP 008668, VP 008691) Vertebral centra (YPM VP 008693) Possible rib fragments (YPM VP008694, VP 008695) Suggested to be similar to Scutellosaurus and to Leshotosaurus. Represent among the oldest reliable Ornithischian remains of North America.
Theropoda Ornithischians Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Theropoda IndeterminateWasson BluffScots Bay Member Teeth Theropod dinosaur teeth similar to Megapnosaurus.
Sauropodomorpha Sauropodomorph dinosaurs Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Fendusaurus F. eldoniWasson BluffMiddle McCoy Brook Formation YPM VPPU 022196, several vertebrae and limb-bone fragments FGM994GF69, postcranial skeleton FGM998GF9, partial skeleton FGM998GF13_I, large, articulated specimen FGM998GF13/FGM998GF13_III postcrania and dissociated skull NSM005GF009/FGM998GF46, partial, badly deformed and fragmentary skeleton with gastroliths Although long assigned to Ammosaurus, the material actually represents a new genus and species; represents the most abundant dinosaur in the formation, and has yield specimens with preserved stomach contents that suggest migration patterns. The possibility that represents more than one genus is open.
Ichnotaxa
Ichnotaxa Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Anchisauripus A. sillimani A. ispp.Blue sack west McKay Head Wasson BluffMiddle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Small Theropod Footprints Anomoepus A. scambus A. ispp. Blue sack west McKay Head Old Wife Point tracksite Middle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Ornithischian Footprints Batrachopus B. deweyii B. dispar B. ispp.McKay Head Old Wife Point tracksite Wasson Bluff tracksite Middle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Crocodrylomorph Footprints Eubrontes E. giganteus E. sillimani E. minusculus E ispp. Five Islands Provincial Park Old Wife Point tracksite Wasson Bluff tracksite Middle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Medium-sized Theropod Footprints Grallator G. cursorius G. tenuis G. ispp. McKay Head Old Wife Point tracksite Middle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Small Theropod Footprints Otozoum O. moodi O. ispp. Blue sack east McKay Head Minas Basin tracksite Middle McCoy Brook Formation Footprints Sauropodomorph Footprints
See also List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera
References