Kimmeridgian

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Kimmeridgian

The Kimmeridgian is a stage

Faunal stage

In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a Geologic record laid down in an single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition....
of the Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic

The Late Jurassic Epoch of the Jurassic Period is the unit of geologic time scale from 161.2 ? 4.0 to 145.5 ? 4.0 million years ago, which is preserved in Upper Jurassic stratum....
Epoch. It spans the time between 155.7 ± 4 Ma

Annum

Annum is one form of the Latin noun meaning year, not a form normally used for derivatives in modern languages: the accusative case Grammatical number of the second declension grammatical gender noun annus , anni ....
and 150.8 ± 4 Ma (million years ago). The Kimmeridgian stage follows the Oxfordian stage

Oxfordian stage

The Oxfordian stage is the first faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 161.2 ? 4 annum and 155.7 ? 4 Ma .The stage takes its name from the city of Oxford in England....
and precedes the Tithonian

Tithonian

The Tithonian is the final faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 150.8 ? 4 annum and 145.5 ? 4 Ma . It is followed by the Berriasian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch ....
stage.

The stage takes its name from the village of Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge is a small village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated on the English Channel coast. The village has a population of 110 ....
on the Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
coast, England

England

native_name =|conventional_long_name = England|common_name = England|image_flag = Flag of England.svg|image_coat = England COA.svg|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms...
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

Kimmeridge Clay

The Kimmeridge Clay Formation is a sedimentary rock deposit of fossiliferous marine clay which is of Jurassic age. It occurs in Europe.Kimmeridge Clay is arguably the most economically important unit of rocks in the whole of Europe, being the major source rock for oil fields in the North Sea oil....
formation is the source for about 95% of the petroleum

Petroleum

Petroleum or crude oil is a naturally occurring, flammable liquid found in rock formations in the Earth consisting of a complex mixture of hydrocarbons of various molecular weights, plus other organic compounds....
in the North Sea

North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
.

orically the term Kimmeridgian has been used in two different ways.

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Encyclopedia

The Kimmeridgian is a stage

Faunal stage

In chronostratigraphy, a stage is a Geologic record laid down in an single age on the geologic timescale, which usually represents millions of years of deposition....
of the Late Jurassic

Late Jurassic

Annum

Oxfordian stage

Tithonian

Kimmeridge

Kimmeridge is a small village in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England, situated on the English Channel coast. The village has a population of 110 ....
on the Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a Counties of England in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester, Dorset, situated in the south of the county at ....
coast, England

England

Kimmeridge Clay

Petroleum

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
Gargoyleosaurus Gargoyleosaurus *Gargoyleosaurus* is both the smallest and the earliest well-known ankylosaur. Its skull measures only in length, and its total body length is an estimated ....		Morrison Formation Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America.... , 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 Mymoorapelta *Mymoorapelta* is an ankylosaur from the Late Jurassic Morrison Formation of western Colorado. The taxon is known from portions of a disarticulated skull, parts of three different skeletons and other postcranial remains.... Mymoorapelta maysi		Morrison Formation Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America.... , Colorado, USA	A poorly known early ankylosaurian.

Birds

Birds of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Archaeopteryx Archaeopteryx *Archaeopteryx, sometimes referred to by its German name Urvogel* , is the earliest and most primitive bird known. The name is from the Ancient Greek archaios meaning 'ancient' and pteryx meaning 'feather' or 'wing'; .... Archaeopteryx lithographica

Ornithopods

Ornithopoda of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Camptosaurus Camptosaurus *Camptosaurus* is a genus of plant-eating, beaked dinosaurs of the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous Period . The name means 'bent lizard', because, when standing on all fours, its body must have been arched ....	Kimmeridgian to ?Berriasian Berriasian In the geologic timescale, Berriasian is a faunal stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch , and the first of the entire Cretaceous period. It spanned between 145.5 ? 4.0 annum and 140.2 ? 3.0 Ma ....	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.
Drinker Drinker *Drinker* was a genus of hypsilophodont dinosaur from the late Jurassic period of North America. Although based on good remains, it remains obscure due to a lack of post-naming publications....
Dryosaurus Dryosaurus *Dryosaurus* meaning 'oak lizard', due to the vague oak shape of its cheek teeth was a genus of an ornithopod dinosaur that lived in the Late Jurassic Period....
Othnielia Othnielia *Othnielia* is a genus of hypsilophodont dinosaur, named after its original describer, Professor Othniel Charles Marsh, an United States paleontologist of the 19th century....
Othnielosaurus Othnielosaurus *Othnielosaurus* is a genus of ornithischian dinosaur that lived about 155 to 148 million years ago, during the Late Jurassic-age Morrison Formation of the western United States....
Phyllodon Phyllodon *Phyllodon* was a genus of small ornithopod dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian-age Upper Jurassic Guimarota Formation of District of Leiria, Portugal....

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Liopleurodon Liopleurodon 'Liopleurodon' is a genus of large, Carnivore marine reptile belonging to the Pliosauroidea, a clade of short-necked plesiosaurs. Two species of Liopleurodon lived during the Callovian stage of the Middle Jurassic Period , while the third, L....
Pliosaurus Pliosaurus *Pliosaurus* is a genus of extinct marine reptiles, from the Mesozoic era. It is included in the family Pliosauridae. It was a large predatory reptile and its diet would have included fishes, squids and other marine reptiles....

Sauropods

†Sauropods Sauropoda Sauropoda , or the sauropods , are an Order or clade of saurischian dinosaurs. They notable for the enormous sizes attained by some species, and the group includes many of the largest animals to have ever lived on land.... of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Amphicoelias Amphicoelias fragillimus?
Apatosaurus Apatosaurus *Apatosaurus* , also formerly known as *Brontosaurus*, is a genus of sauropod dinosaur that lived about 150 Annum, during the Jurassic Period ....
Camarasaurus Camarasaurus *Camarasaurus* meaning 'chambered lizard', referring to the holes in its vertebrae was a genus of quadrupedal, herbivore dinosaurs. It was the most common of the giant sauropods to be found in North America but only average in size: about 18 meters in length as adults, and weighing up to 18 metric ton ....
Dicraeosaurus Dicraeosaurus *Dicraeosaurus* is a genus of small diplodocoid. It was named for the spines on the back of the neck. The first fossil was described by paleontologist Werner Janensch in 1914....
Diplodocus Diplodocus *Diplodocus* is a genus of diplodocid sauropod dinosaur whose fossils were first discovered in 1877 by Samuel Wendell Williston. The generic name, coined by Othniel Charles Marsh in 1878, is a Neo-Latin term derived from Ancient Greek "double" and "beam", in reference to its double-beamed chevron located in the underside of the tail....
Dystrophaeus Dystrophaeus *Dystrophaeus* is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian stage of the Late Jurassic that existed around 154.1 - 150.7 Ma....
Eobrontosaurus Eobrontosaurus *Eobrontosaurus* is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of North America. It was a sauropod either closely related to Apatosaurus or Camarasaurus....
Europasaurus Europasaurus *Europasaurus* is a basal macronarian sauropod, a form of quadrapedal herbivorous dinosaur. It lived during the Upper Jurassic of northern Germany, and has been identified as an example of insular dwarfism resulting from the isolation of a sauropod population on an island within the Lower Saxony basin.... Europasaurus holgeri

Stegosaurs

Stegosaurs of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Dacentrurus Dacentrurus *Dacentrurus* , originally known as *Omosaurus*, was a large Stegosauria of the late Jurassic Period . This dinosaur measured around 6 - 10 m in length....		England, France, Spain, Portugal	A large stegosaurid
Gigantspinosaurus Gigantspinosaurus *Gigantspinosaurus* is a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic. It was a stegosaur found in the Upper Shaximiao Formation of Zigong, Sichuan, People's Republic of China, and is known from a partial skeleton missing the skull , hind feet, and tail....		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.
Hesperosaurus Hesperosaurus *Hesperosaurus* was a herbivorous dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian to Tithonian epochs of the Jurassic period , whose fossils are found in the state of Wyoming in the United States....		Morrison Formation Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America.... , Wyoming, USA	Had alternating plates on its back and four spikes on its tail. Appears more closely related to Dacentrurus Dacentrurus *Dacentrurus* , originally known as *Omosaurus, was a large Stegosauria of the late Jurassic Period . This dinosaur measured around 6 - 10 m in length.... than Stegosaurus Stegosaurus Stegosaurus* is a genus of Stegosauria Thyreophora dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well.... .
Kentrosaurus Kentrosaurus *Kentrosaurus* is a genus of stegosauria dinosaur from the Late Jurassic of Tanzania, related to the better-known Stegosaurus of North America....		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.
Monkonosaurus Monkonosaurus *Monkonosaurus* is the name given to a genus of dinosaur from the Late Jurassic . It was a stegosaur which lived in what is now Tibet. The type species specimen, Monkonosaurus lawulacus was formalized by Zhao in 1983, but is based only on one partial skeleton....		Loe-ein Formation, Tibet, China	The fragmentary condition of the only known skeleton places doubt on the validity of this genus
Stegosaurus Stegosaurus *Stegosaurus* is a genus of Stegosauria Thyreophora dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period in what is now western North America. In 2006, a specimen of Stegosaurus was announced from Portugal, showing that they were present in Europe as well....	Kimmeridgian to Early Tithonian Tithonian The Tithonian is the final faunal stage of the Late Jurassic epoch . It spans the time between 150.8 ? 4 annum and 145.5 ? 4 Ma . It is followed by the Berriasian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch ....	Morrison Formation Morrison Formation The Morrison Formation is a distinctive sequence of Late Jurassic sedimentary rock that is found in the western United States, which has been the most fertile source of dinosaur fossils in North America.... , 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
Dakosaurus Dakosaurus *Dakosaurus* is an extinct genus within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous. It was large, with teeth that were serrated edge and compressed lateromedially .... D. maximus		Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....	type species of the genus, is known from Western Europe (England, France, Switzerland and Germany) of the Late Jurassic (Late Kimmeridgian-Early Tithonian).
Geosaurus Geosaurus *Geosaurus* was a small, gracile genus of marine crocodyliform within the family Metriorhynchidae that lived during the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous.... G. suevicus		Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....	A relatively small metriorhynchid genus. No known species of Geosaurus attained lengths in excess of 3 meters (10 feet).
Machimosaurus Machimosaurus *Machimosaurus* is an extinct genus of Teleosauridae crocodyliform from the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous . The type species, Machimosaurus hugii, was found in France....
Metriorhynchus Metriorhynchus *Metriorhynchus* is an extinct genus of marine crocodyliformes that lived in the oceans during the Middle Jurassic to Late Jurassic. Metriorhynchus was named by the Germans palaeontologist Christian Erich Hermann von Meyer in 1830.... M. acutus M. geoffroyii M. hastifer M. palpebrosus		England England native_name =\|conventional_long_name = England\|common_name = England\|image_flag = Flag of England.svg\|image_coat = England COA.svg\|symbol_type = Royal Coat of Arms... and France France France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....	An opportunistic carnivore Carnivore A carnivore , meaning 'meat eater' , is any animal with a diet consisting mainly of meat, whether it comes from animals living or dead .In a more general sense, an animal may be considered a carnivore if it prefers feeding on animal matter over plant matter.... that fed on fish Fish A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins.... , belemnites and other marine animals and possible carrion. Metriorhynchus grew to an average adult length of 3 meters (9.6 feet).
Steneosaurus Steneosaurus *Steneosaurus* is an extinct genus of Teleosauridae crocodyliform from the Early Jurassic to Early Cretaceous . Fossil specimens have been found in England, France, Germany, Switzerland and Morocco....

Theropods

†Non-avian Paraphyly In phylogenetics, a group of organisms is said to be paraphyletic if the group contains its most recent common ancestor Common descent but does not contain all the descendants of that ancestor.... theropods Theropoda Theropods are a group of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. Although they were primarily carnivorous, a number of theropod families evolved herbivore during the Cretaceous Period .... of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Aviatyrannis Aviatyrannis *Aviatyrannis* is a genus of Tyrannosauridae dinosaur from the Kimmeridgian faunal stage of the Late Jurassic found in Portugal. It was described by Oliver Rauhut in 2003.... Aviatyrannis jurassica
Ceratosaurus Ceratosaurus *Ceratosaurus* meaning 'horned lizard', in reference to the horn on its nose , was a large predatory dinosaur from the Late Jurassic Period , found in the Morrison Formation of North America, in Tanzania and Portugal....
Stokesosaurus Stokesosaurus *Stokesosaurus* is a genus of small early tyrannosaur from the Late Jurassic period of Utah and England. It was named after Utah geologist William Lee Stokes.... Stokesosaurus clevelandi

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Allosaurus
Allosaurus

Allosaurus is a genus of large theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago, in the late Jurassic Period . The name Allosaurus means "different lizard" and is derived from the Ancient Greek a????/allos and sa????/sauros ....

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Invertebrate Fauna

Nautiloids

Nautiloids of the Oxfordian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Somalinautilus

Belemnites

Belemnites of the Kimmeridgian
Taxa	Presence	Location	Description	Images
Produvalia

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

Guimarota
Guimarota

Guimarota is a disused Coal mining that contains a diverse array of fossil animals and plants from the Upper Jurassic, Kimmeridgian period. It is located in central Portugal, near the town of Leiria....