Microvertebrates from the Cliff End Bone Bed (Wealden, Lower Cretaceous), East Sussex, UK
The Cliff End Bone Bed of the Wealden Group of south-east England is famous as the first source of Lower Cretaceous mammals anywhere in the world as reported in 1911. However, the wider microvertebrate fauna of the bone bed has not, until now, been investigated in any detail. The fossil assemblage from the Cliff End Bone Bed represents a rich tropical freshwater to oligohaline ecosystem, occupied by diverse bony fishes, including the first record of Belonostomus from the Weald sub-basin, as well as hybodont sharks and crocodyliforms. Pterosaur and dinosaur teeth, as well as possible salamander and lizard remains, have also been reported. In confirmation of earlier work, we report a new mammalian tooth and review the classic mammalian fossils.
Authors
- Claudia Hildebrandt (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6161-2110)
- Steven C. Sweetman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1105-4998)
- Pamela G. Gill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5957-3581)
- Johnny Clavo Yamahuchi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4033-908X)
- Christopher J. Duffin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9838-2753)
- T. Tomkinson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5613-7773)
- Peter A. Austen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6775-6545)
- Elizabeth Cook
- Michael J. Benton
Institutions
- Natural History Museum (GB)
- East Sussex County Council (GB)
- University of Bristol (GB)
- Sutton Hospital (GB)
- University of Portsmouth (GB)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Proceedings of the Geologists Association
- Published
- 2026-04-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pgeola.2026.101187
- Primary Topic
- Paleontology and Evolutionary Biology
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00