McCoy Brook Formation

The McCoy Brook Formation is a geological formation dating to roughly between 200 and 190 million years ago and covering the Hettangian to Sinemurian stages. The McCoy Brook Formation is found in outcrops around the Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia.

McCoy Brook Formation Stratigraphic range: Hettangian-Sinemurian
Breccia in the McCoy Brook Formation (Jurassic), Wasson's Bluff, Nova Scotia.
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Newark Supergroup  Meriden Group
Sub-units	Scots Bay Member
Underlies	Erosional top
Overlies	North Mountain Basalt
Thickness	more than 230 m (750 ft)
Location
Coordinates	45.4°N 64.2°W / 45.4; -64.2
Approximate paleocoordinates	27.4°N 13.3°W / 27.4; -13.3
Region	Nova Scotia
Country	Canada
Extent	Bay of Fundy
Type section
Named for	McCoy Brook, Nova Scotia
McCoy Brook Formation (Canada) Show map of Canada McCoy Brook Formation (Nova Scotia) Show map of Nova Scotia

Agen

The McCoy Brook Formation rests on the North Mountain Basalt, one of the volcanic flows associated with the Triassic–Jurassic boundary in the Newark Supergroup. The base of the McCoy Brook Formation is probably within 100,000 to 200,000 years of the boundary.[1]

Scots Bay Member

This thin unit (9 m) of lacustrine sediments is preserved in six small synclinal outcrops around Scots Bay on the west side of the Blomidon Peninsula. Originally named as the Scots Bay Formation, it is now correlated with the lowermost part of the McCoy Brook Formation, where it is referred to as the Scots Bay Member.[2][3]

Fossil content

Sharks

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Sharks
Name	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Notes
cf. Hybodus[1]	None designated[1]			A hybodont shark, found in lacustrine limestone and lacustrine basalt aggregate[1]	Two Hybodus

Ray-finned fish

Ray-finned fish
Name	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
?Redfieldiid[1]	None designated[1]			Scales and skull bones[1]	Found in lacustrine limestone and lacustrine basalt aggregate[1]
aff. Semionotus sp.[1]	None designated[1]				Found in lacustrine limestone, lacustrine basalt aggregate, and lacustrine mudstone[1]	Semionotus

Synapsids

Synapsids
Name	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
Pachygenelus[1]	cf. P. monus[1]				A tritheledontid cynodont, found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]	Pachygenelus
Oligokyphus[4]	sp.[1]			Fragment of a right Dentary.	A tritheledontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member.	Oligokyphus
Tritylodontidae	unnamed[1]			Right humerus	A tritylodontid cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member.
Cynodontia	unnamed[1]			Partial right unla	A cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member.
Cynodontia	unnamed[1]			Proximal portion of a right ischium.	A cynodont, found in the layers of the Scots Bay member.

Sphenodonts

Sphenodonts
Name	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
Clevosaurus[5]	C. bairdi[5]	Wasson Bluff[5]	Lower McCoy Brook Formation[5]	Partial skulls and jaws, isolated cranial bones, partial postcranium, postcranial bones[5]	A sphenodontian of relatively small size,[5] found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]

Crocodyliforms

Protosuchidae
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Protosuchus[6]	P. micmac[6]	Wasson Bluff[6]	Lower McCoy Brook Formation[6]	Partial lower jaw, several other skull bones[6]	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]	Protosuchus
Sphenosuchid[1]	indeterminate[1]			A maxilla[1]	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]

Dinosaurs

Ornithischia

Ornithischians
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes
Ornithischia indet. ("Fabrosauridae" indet.)[1]	Indeterminate[1]			Teeth[1]	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]

Sauropodomorpha

Sauropodomorph dinosaurs
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Fendusaurus[7]	F. eldoni[7]			Several partial skeletons[1]	Although long assigned to Ammosaurus, the material actually represents a new genus and species;[7] found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone, and basalt agglomerate[1]

Ichnotaxa

Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon		Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited.

Ichnotaxa
Genus	Species	Location	Stratigraphic position	Material	Notes	Images
Anomoepus[1]	A. scambus[1]			Footprints	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone[1]
Batrachopus sp.[1]	None designated[1]			Footprints	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone[1]
Grallator sp.[1]	None designated[1]			Footprints	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone[1]	Grallator
Otozoum[1]	O. moodi[1]			Footprints	Found in fluvio-lacustrine sandstone and mudstone[1]	Otozoum

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
  • List of stratigraphic units with few dinosaur genera

References

1. Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E.; Sues, H.-D. (1994). "Early Jurassic small tetrapods from the McCoy Brook Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada". In Fraser, N. C.; Sues H. D. (eds.). In the Shadow of the Dinosaurs. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. pp. 242–250. ISBN 0-521-45899-4.
2. Tanner, L.H. (1996). "Formal definition of the Lower Jurassic McCoy Brook Formation, Fundy Rift Basin, eastern Canada". Atlantic Geology. 32: 127–135. Retrieved 15 December 2012.
3. Hassan, H.S. "Sedimentology and Paleontology of the Lower Jurassic Scots Bay Formation, Bay of Fundy, Nova Scotia, Canada" (PDF). MSc thesis. Retrieved 24 November 2012.
4. Tim Fedak, Hans-Dieter Sues, Paul E. Olsen: "First record of the tritylodontid cynodont Oligokyphus and cynodont postcranial bones from the McCoy Brook Formation of Nova Scotia, Canada".Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 52(4):150313143816000 · March 2015
5. Sues, H.-D.; Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E. (1994). "A new sphenodontian (Lepidosauria: Rhynchocephalia) from the McCoy Brook Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Nova Scotia, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 14 (3): 327–340. doi:10.1080/02724634.1994.10011563.
6. Sues, H.-D.; Shubin, N. H.; Olsen, P. E.; Amaral, W. W. (1996). "On the cranial structure of a new protosuchid (Archosauria: Crocodyliformes) from the McCoy Brook Formation (Lower Jurassic) of Nova Scotia, Canada". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 16 (1): 34–41. doi:10.1080/02724634.1996.10011281.
7. Fedak, T. J. (2007). Description and evolutionary significance of the sauropodomorph dinosaurs from the early Jurassic (Hettangian) McCoy Brook Formation. Ph.D. dissertation. Halifax, Nova Scotia: Dalhousie University.