Abbey Wood
Basic information
Sample name: Abbey Wood
Reference: J. J. Hooker. 2010. The mammal fauna of the early Eocene Blackheath Formation of Abbey Wood, London. Monograph of the Palaeontographical Society 164(634):1-162 [ER 3930]
Geography
Country: United Kingdom
State: Greater London
County: Bexley
Coordinate: 51.486961° N, 0.131661° E
Coordinate basis: unpublished field data
Formation: Blackheath
Time interval: Early Eocene
Ma: 55.119999
Age basis: Ar-Ar
Geography comments: The Abbey Wood locality is situated in the Lesnes Abbey Woods in the London Borough of Bexley
The locality has been correlated with multiple sites, including the Wa3a zone of the Bighorn Basin
It is correlated with layers bracketing the -17 ash layer of the North Sea borehole 81/46a (Lott et al. 1983; Knox 1990; Jolley 1996, fig. 35)
"Storey et al. (2007) have obtained a Ar/Ar date of 55.12 +/- 0.12 Ma from the -17 ash in Denmark"
The locality has been correlated with multiple sites, including the Wa3a zone of the Bighorn Basin
It is correlated with layers bracketing the -17 ash layer of the North Sea borehole 81/46a (Lott et al. 1983; Knox 1990; Jolley 1996, fig. 35)
"Storey et al. (2007) have obtained a Ar/Ar date of 55.12 +/- 0.12 Ma from the -17 ash in Denmark"
Environment
Lithology: siliciclastic (mixed)
Taphonomic context: paleosol
Habitat comments: "sandy pebbly shell bed"
"The shell bed facies (Lessness Shell Bed) is the main source of the mammals...although a few have been found in the laterally interfingering buff sand"
"The fauna is preserved in a nearshore marine high-energy sedimentary environment and has therefore been transported there from its habitat on land"
If the Blackheath Sea was <20 m deep at the time of deposition (a likely depth based on shoreline facies), there would have been land within 2 km of the depositional site which the mammalian fauna could have occupied, indicating the community structure may have not been altered upon deposition
"The shell bed facies (Lessness Shell Bed) is the main source of the mammals...although a few have been found in the laterally interfingering buff sand"
"The fauna is preserved in a nearshore marine high-energy sedimentary environment and has therefore been transported there from its habitat on land"
If the Blackheath Sea was <20 m deep at the time of deposition (a likely depth based on shoreline facies), there would have been land within 2 km of the depositional site which the mammalian fauna could have occupied, indicating the community structure may have not been altered upon deposition
Methods
Life forms: bats,carnivores,primates,rodents,ungulates,other large mammals,other small mammals
Sampling methods: quarry,screenwash
Sample size: 320 specimens
Sampling comments: "Since 1992, one-day TRG-run excavations have taken place annually"
Counts excluded:
Sparnacomys sp. /questionably assigned - 1
Chiroptera indet. - 1
Rodentia gen. et sp. undet. - 1
Amphilemuridae? indet. - 2
Wyonycteris? sp. - 1
Prototomus sp. - 1
Ailuravinae indet. - 1
Counts excluded:
Sparnacomys sp. /questionably assigned - 1
Chiroptera indet. - 1
Rodentia gen. et sp. undet. - 1
Amphilemuridae? indet. - 2
Wyonycteris? sp. - 1
Prototomus sp. - 1
Ailuravinae indet. - 1
Metadata
Sample number: 4332
Contributor: Jack Nesbitt
Enterer: Jack Nesbitt
Created: 2023-07-18 12:06:44
Modified: 2023-07-18 03:44:34
Abundance distribution
39 species
10 singletons
total count 320
geometric series index: 68.7
Fisher's α: 11.644
geometric series k: 0.8956
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.8989
Shannon's H: 2.8536
Good's u: 0.9689
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts.
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Register
| †Ectypodus childei | 2 | |
| †Ectypodus cf. tardus | 1 | |
| Amphiperatherium sp. 1 | 4 | |
| Amphiperatherium sp. 2 | 1 | |
| Peradectes sp. | 1 | |
| Palaeosinopa cf. osborni | 3 | |
| Leptictida indet. | 1 | |
| questionably assigned "Leptictidae undet." | ||
| Plesiesthonyx minimus | 3 | |
| Ailuravus mitchelli | 7 | |
| Meldimys sp. | 1 | |
| questionably assigned | ||
| Pseudoparamys sp. | 5 | |
| Sparnacomys georgei | 2 | |
| Pantrogna cf. russelli | 2 | |
| Neomatronella gassoni | 4 | |
| Macrocranion sp. | 8 | |
| Eppsinycteris anglica | 1 | |
| Wyonycteris richardi | 3 | |
| Remiculus sp. | 1 | |
| questionably assigned | ||
| Leptacodon sp. | 2 | |
| †Arcius lapparenti | 1 | |
| Platychoerops sp. | 1 | |
| †Melaneremia bryanti | 16 | |
| †Cantius eppsi | 19 | |
| Didelphodus sp. | 4 | |
| Apatemys prouti | 4 | |
| †Coryphodon eocaenus | 18 | |
| †Palaeonictis gigantea | 12 | |
| †Oxyaena gulo | 11 | |
| †Prototomus cf. girardoti | 4 | |
| †Viverravus lawsoni | 4 | |
| †Gracilocyon rundlei | 13 | |
| "Miacis rundlei" | ||
| †Uintacyon cf. rudis | 2 | |
| †Arctocyonides jefferyi | 4 | |
| †Pachyaena cf. ossifraga | 1 | |
| †Diacodexis morrisi | 16 | |
| †Hyopsodus wardi | 63 | |
| Lessnessina packmani | 7 | |
| †Phenacodus lemoinei | 2 | |
| †Pliolophus barnesi | 66 | |