FastCounter by bCentral
Where did Thecodontosaurus live?
Where was the Bristol Dinosaur Found?
The first specimens of Thecodontosaurus, the Bristol dinosaur, came from the Clifton area of Bristol. The site was identified in the first publications (e.g. Riley and Stutchbury, 1840), simply as `Durdham Down', and that could refer to a large part of north Clifton, the streets on either side of the Whiteladies Road and the Downs themselves. Old maps show that there were many quarries, on both sides of Blackboy Hill, at the north end of the Whiteladies Road, and on the Downs themselves.
Various geologists tried to identify the site in Victorian times. Why the mystery, since hundreds of bones had been extracted in 1834?
Richard Etheridge (1870, figs 4, 5) gave two drawings showing the reptile deposit at about 320 ft. above mean sea level and he noted (Etheridge, 1870:188) that 'the spot where these remains were found is no longer recognizable or determinable, having been many years ago quarried away, and the site built upon'.
Charles Moore (1881:72), however, mentioned specifically a place known as 'The Quarry and The Quarry Steps' and states 'Looking from it [the platform of Quarry Steps], along the Down escarpment to the west, the eye takes in Bellevue Terrace [Belgrave Terrace], on the edge of the Down; and it was between these houses and the quarry, a distance probably of 200 yards, along the same face of limestone, and on the same horizon, that the deposit containing the Thecodontosaurian remains was found. Unfortunately the precise spot is unknown... and built over'. Huene (1908:191) seemingly misunderstood Moore, naming the site of discovery as Avenue Quarry at the end of Avenue Road, but Moore mentioned this quarry as a location 680 yards away from Quarry Steps and terminating a transect of workings which produced fissures of different ages.
The locality has now been identified. Etheridge and Moore give the best information, although neither gives quite enough. Etheridge replaced Samuel Stutchbury as Curator at the Bristol Institution, and may have been told first-hand. Charles Moore was a noted local geologist and also may have spoken directly to Stutchbury. Apart from his confusion of Bellevue for Belgrave, Moore is accurate. On the west side of Blackboy Hill, stretching behind the large mid- and late-Victorian houses on Belgrave Terrace is a long shallow quarry that is filled with small streets of workmen's houses and workshops built in the 1830s and 1840s. These limestone quarries were evidently worked in the 1820s for building stone. Almost as soon as the bones were found, the quarries were exhausted, and closed.
The bones came from a sediment-filled fissure or cave in the limestone at the far east end of the quarry located at National Grid Reference, ST 572747). The discovery site may still be seen, largely overgrown, forming a cliff behind a block of flats, and with an old set of stone steps (Quarry Steps) descending beside it. This quarry contains at least one fissure with a lithology similar to that of the bone-bearing matrix, but all bones appear to have been quarried away.
Did Thecodontosaurus Live in Australia too?
A long-standing mystery has been solved recently, and it all began because of the misidentification of some of the Bristol Thecodontosaurus bones.
Some bones in the Natural History Museum in London have long been labelled as the type and original specimens of the unique Australian dinosaur Agrosaurus macgillivrayi Seeley, 1891. The bones in question are a left tibia (= the main shin bone), an ungual phalanx (= a claw), a distal caudal vertebra (= from near the end of the tail), a partial right tibia, and a partial right radius (= one of the forearm bones), all numbered as BMNH 49984. They were recorded as having been collected by officers and naturalists on board the Royal Navy ship `The Fly' during a trip on-shore while it surveyed the north-east coast of Queensland.
Palaeontologists had revisited the supposed locality in northern Australia time and time again, but they could find no Triassic rocks there, and no dinosaur bones. Then, some palaeontologists spotted that the bones looked just like those of Thecodontosaurus, and this was confirmed by the nature of the attached rock. The bones had clearly been mis-labelled for over 100 years, and Australia's only Triassic dinosaur, Agrosaurus, bites the dust. Read the whole story in Vickers-Rich et al. (1999).
The first specimens of Thecodontosaurus, the Bristol dinosaur, came from the Clifton area of Bristol. The site was identified in the first publications (e.g. Riley and Stutchbury, 1840), simply as `Durdham Down', and that could refer to a large part of north Clifton, the streets on either side of the Whiteladies Road and the Downs themselves. Old maps show that there were many quarries, on both sides of Blackboy Hill, at the north end of the Whiteladies Road, and on the Downs themselves.
Various geologists tried to identify the site in Victorian times. Why the mystery, since hundreds of bones had been extracted in 1834?
Richard Etheridge (1870, figs 4, 5) gave two drawings showing the reptile deposit at about 320 ft. above mean sea level and he noted (Etheridge, 1870:188) that 'the spot where these remains were found is no longer recognizable or determinable, having been many years ago quarried away, and the site built upon'.
Charles Moore (1881:72), however, mentioned specifically a place known as 'The Quarry and The Quarry Steps' and states 'Looking from it [the platform of Quarry Steps], along the Down escarpment to the west, the eye takes in Bellevue Terrace [Belgrave Terrace], on the edge of the Down; and it was between these houses and the quarry, a distance probably of 200 yards, along the same face of limestone, and on the same horizon, that the deposit containing the Thecodontosaurian remains was found. Unfortunately the precise spot is unknown... and built over'. Huene (1908:191) seemingly misunderstood Moore, naming the site of discovery as Avenue Quarry at the end of Avenue Road, but Moore mentioned this quarry as a location 680 yards away from Quarry Steps and terminating a transect of workings which produced fissures of different ages.
 |
|
Click on the map to enlarge |
The bones came from a sediment-filled fissure or cave in the limestone at the far east end of the quarry located at National Grid Reference, ST 572747). The discovery site may still be seen, largely overgrown, forming a cliff behind a block of flats, and with an old set of stone steps (Quarry Steps) descending beside it. This quarry contains at least one fissure with a lithology similar to that of the bone-bearing matrix, but all bones appear to have been quarried away.
Did Thecodontosaurus Live in Australia too?
A long-standing mystery has been solved recently, and it all began because of the misidentification of some of the Bristol Thecodontosaurus bones.
Some bones in the Natural History Museum in London have long been labelled as the type and original specimens of the unique Australian dinosaur Agrosaurus macgillivrayi Seeley, 1891. The bones in question are a left tibia (= the main shin bone), an ungual phalanx (= a claw), a distal caudal vertebra (= from near the end of the tail), a partial right tibia, and a partial right radius (= one of the forearm bones), all numbered as BMNH 49984. They were recorded as having been collected by officers and naturalists on board the Royal Navy ship `The Fly' during a trip on-shore while it surveyed the north-east coast of Queensland.
Palaeontologists had revisited the supposed locality in northern Australia time and time again, but they could find no Triassic rocks there, and no dinosaur bones. Then, some palaeontologists spotted that the bones looked just like those of Thecodontosaurus, and this was confirmed by the nature of the attached rock. The bones had clearly been mis-labelled for over 100 years, and Australia's only Triassic dinosaur, Agrosaurus, bites the dust. Read the whole story in Vickers-Rich et al. (1999).
