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Kimeridgian - 1 reference result
Kimmeridgian
The Kimmeridgian is a stage of the Late Jurassic Epoch. It spans the time between 155.7 ± 4 Ma and 150.8 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian stage follows the Oxfordian stage and precedes the Tithonian stage.

The stage takes its name from the village of Kimmeridge on the Dorset coast, England where the exposure is at its greatest extent. The beach at Kimmeridge Bay is a good place for looking for fossils — there are specimens on the beach washed in by the tide.

The Kimmeridge Clay formation is the source for about 95% of the petroleum in the North Sea.

Usage of the term

Historically the term Kimmeridgian has been used in two different ways. The base of the interval is the same but the top was defined by British stratigraphers as the base of the Portlandian stage (sensu anglico) whereas in France the top was defined as the base of the Tithonian (sensu gallico). The differences have not yet been fully resolved, although Kimmeridge-Tithonian are now the agreed terms globally

Vertebrate Fauna

Ankylosaurs

Birds of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

*
 Morrison Formation, Wyoming, USA The smallest and the earliest well-known ankylosaur. Its skull measures only 29 cm in length, and its total body length is an estimated three to four meters.

*Mymoorapelta maysi
 Morrison Formation, Colorado, USA A poorly known early ankylosaurian.

Birds

Birds of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

*Archaeopteryx lithographica

Ornithopods

Ornithopoda of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

Kimmeridgian to ?Berriasian Wyoming, USA; England; France Camptosaurus could be more than 7.9 meters long (26 ft), and 2.0 meters tall (6.7 ft) at the hips. It had heavy bodies but, as well as walking on four legs (quadrupedal), they could rear up to walk on two legs (bipedal). This genus is probably closely related to the ancestor of the later iguanodontid and hadrosaurid dinosaurs. It probably ate cycads with its parrot-like beak.

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

Sauropods

†Sauropods of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images
  • Amphicoelias

*Amphicoelias fragillimus?

*Europasaurus holgeri

Stegosaurs

Stegosaurs of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

England, France, Spain, Portugal A large stegosaurid

Upper Shaximiao Formation, Sichuan, China Had relatively small dorsal plates and greatly enlarged shoulder spines, twice the length of the shoulder blades. Estimated to have been about 4 metres long.

Morrison Formation, Wyoming, USA Had alternating plates on its back and four spikes on its tail. Appears more closely related to Dacentrurus than Stegosaurus.

Tanzania A 4 meter long stegosaurian with spikes on its flanks. The length of the thigh bone compared with the rest of the leg indicates that Kentrosaurus was a slow and inactive dinosaur.

Loe-ein Formation, Tibet, China The fragmentary condition of the only known skeleton places doubt on the validity of this genus

Kimmeridgian to Early Tithonian Morrison Formation, Colorado, Utah, Wyoming, USA Averaging around 9 metres (30 ft) long and 4 metres (14 ft) tall, the quadrupedal Stegosaurus is one of the most easily identifiable dinosaurs, due to the distinctive double row of kite-shaped plates rising vertically along its arched back and the two pairs of long spikes extending horizontally near the end of its tail.

Thalattosuchians

Thalattosuchians of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

D. maximus
 Germany type species of the genus, is known from Western Europe (England, France, Switzerland and Germany) of the Late Jurassic (Late Kimmeridgian-Early Tithonian).

G. suevicus
 Germany A relatively small metriorhynchid genus. No known species of Geosaurus attained lengths in excess of 3 meters (10 feet).

England and France An opportunistic carnivore that fed on fish, belemnites and other marine animals and possible carrion. Metriorhynchus grew to an average adult length of 3 meters (9.6 feet).

Theropods

†Non-avian theropods of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

*Aviatyrannis jurassica

*Stokesosaurus clevelandi

Invertebrate Fauna

Nautiloids

Nautiloids of the Oxfordian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images
  • Somalinautilus

Belemnites

Belemnites of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa Presence Location Description Images

Environment

The variation of fauna during the Kimmeridgian stage indicates the existence of two distinct environments, the first being a being a shallow and agitated layer abundant in pebbles and fossils and the second following environment being a calm and deep layer marked by an absence of pebbles and by an abundance of pelagic organisms, such as Ammonites.

Localities

References

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Last updated on Tuesday October 07, 2008 at 10:05:07 PDT (GMT -0700)
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