Carboniferous Plants and Animals from the Pennine Basin
14th January 2008

About 320 to 300 million years ago Europe and much of North America lay in equatorial latitudes, a broad belt of tropical rainforests, swamps and deltas. The coal-bearing strata deposited in that rainforest belt contain a vivid record of the ancient plants and animals that once lived there.

Growing up in Leeds (in the north of England) during the late 1970s I would go on collecting trips to nearby opencast coal workings, such as one (now filled in and landscaped) at a place called Temple Newsham, site of an Elizabethan mansion and its grounds. Beautiful plant fossils were easy to find along with bivalve mussel shells and far more rarely an odd arthropod or the jaws of a giant fish. Fossils could be found both in hard ironstone concretions and as compressions in mudstones.

Later, from 1994 to 1999, I lived on the edge of an equatorial tropical forest in the central African country of Gabon. This provided direct experience of a comparable climate and suite of environments, with their vibrant fauna and flora, to those present during the late Carboniferous in Europe and North America. In 1999 on returning to Europe and unpacking specimens collected a decade or two before (and long stored away), I found myself with a renewed interest in these Carboniferous plants and animals. Colour, sound and humidity were now added to my mental picture. However, what lived in such forests then was very different from much that lives there now. Memorable experiences in Gabon included encounters with forest elephants and gorillas and of course nothing like this was at large in the Carboniferous. On the other hand, there were also giant millipedes, centipedes, cockroaches, dragonflies and exotic spiders in the equatorial African rainforest, all of these resembling the inhabitants of Carboniferous tropical forests.

This collection of images illustrates some of the fossils to be found in the Pennine Basin in the north of England with specimens from localities in Lancashire, of Late Langsettian (formerly known as Westphalian Series A) age, which began about 316 million years ago. The localities are: Bickershaw Colliery where fossils from the shale above the Haigh Yard Coal could be collected from surface spoil tips; Westhoughton opencast pit; Cranberry Lea Farm near Ashton-in-Makerfield; and Crock Hey opencast (accessible from 2001 to 2006), where fossils were mainly found in the shale above the Wigan Four Foot and Wigan Two Foot coals. Prior to the activities of the past decade, this area had yielded exceptional faunal material in the early part of the 20th Century, in particular from the Sparth Bottoms site.

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Location map of the north of England showing Crock Hey and Westhoughton sites.
Location map of the north of England showing Crock Hey and Westhoughton sites.
 Road map showing collection localities.
Road map showing collection localities.
 A river delta prograding into a lake, Gabon, West Central Africa. The sediment-laden water in, and in front of, the deltaic channels contrasts with the clearer water of the lake. Note the branching pattern of distributary channels and the vegetated levees on each side. Plumes of mud can be seen in front of the distributary channel mouths. This mud will settle to deposit in the lake and will eventually compact with burial to become shale.This is an excellent analogue for the environments in which fossil-bearing siderite concretions formed during the Late Carboniferous.
A river delta prograding into a lake, Gabon, West Central Africa. The sediment-laden water in, and in front of, the deltaic channels contrasts with the clearer water of the lake. Note the branching pattern of distributary channels and the vegetated levees on each side. Plumes of mud can be seen in front of the distributary channel mouths. This mud will settle to deposit in the lake and will eventually compact with burial to become shale.This is an excellent analogue for the environments in which fossil-bearing siderite concretions formed during the Late Carboniferous.
 My graphic log of the succession exposed at Crock Hey opencast during 2005(published in Prokop et al. 2006). The section from Coal 2 (which may be the “Wigan Four Foot”) coal upwards is strikingly similar to that of the Francis Creek Shale Member in the Mazon Creek area (Baird & Sroka 1990).
My graphic log of the succession exposed at Crock Hey opencast during 2005(published in Prokop et al. 2006). The section from Coal 2 (which may be the “Wigan Four Foot”) coal upwards is strikingly similar to that of the Francis Creek Shale Member in the Mazon Creek area (Baird & Sroka 1990).
A complete lycopsid cone, 15 cm long. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
A complete lycopsid cone, 15 cm long. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
 Lepidodendron branch tip, 30 mm. Bickershaw. Published in Gea (2007). Published in Gea (2007).
Lepidodendron branch tip, 30 mm. Bickershaw. Published in Gea (2007). Published in Gea (2007).
 Calamites cisti preserved in 3D from a mouth bar sandstone body at Crock Hey. 39 cm tall, cast in sandstone of the central pith of the stem. Local clusters of Calamites stems were found in life-position at Crock Hey. Collected by Andy Tenny. Published in Gea (2007).
Calamites cisti preserved in 3D from a mouth bar sandstone body at Crock Hey. 39 cm tall, cast in sandstone of the central pith of the stem. Local clusters of Calamites stems were found in life-position at Crock Hey. Collected by Andy Tenny. Published in Gea (2007).
 Asterophyllites longifolius, delicate foliage of a horsetail. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Asterophyllites longifolius, delicate foliage of a horsetail. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Asterophyllites longifolius 30 mm. Crock Hey.
Asterophyllites longifolius 30 mm. Crock Hey.
 The beautifully-preserved cone of a sphenopsid (horsetail) in part and counterpart. Calamostachys sp. 60 mm long. Spore cases can be clearly seen between the bracts. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
The beautifully-preserved cone of a sphenopsid (horsetail) in part and counterpart. Calamostachys sp. 60 mm long. Spore cases can be clearly seen between the bracts. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
 Calamite cone cf Calamostachys sp., 4 cm. Crock Hey.
Calamite cone cf Calamostachys sp., 4 cm. Crock Hey.
 Neuropteris heterophylla with encrusting spirorbis worm tubes. 6 cm. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Neuropteris heterophylla with encrusting spirorbis worm tubes. 6 cm. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
The large basal leaf element of a seed-fern. Cyclopteris sp. 40 mm. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
The large basal leaf element of a seed-fern. Cyclopteris sp. 40 mm. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
 Large 30 cm section of Stigmaria with attached rootlets from below Wigan 4 foot Coal, Westphalian A. Crock Hey opencast, near Haydock, Lancashire.
Large 30 cm section of Stigmaria with attached rootlets from below Wigan 4 foot Coal, Westphalian A. Crock Hey opencast, near Haydock, Lancashire.
 Seed of a seed-fern, Trigonocarpus sp. 17 mm. Bickershaw colliery. Published in Gea (2007).
Seed of a seed-fern, Trigonocarpus sp. 17 mm. Bickershaw colliery. Published in Gea (2007).
 Potoniea carpentieri, rare pollen organ of a seed fern, a cluster of sporangia. Foliage of the plants that produced these pollen organs (Paripteris and Linopteris) is relatively commonly found in the British Coal Measures, but the reproductive organs are rarely seen. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Potoniea carpentieri, rare pollen organ of a seed fern, a cluster of sporangia. Foliage of the plants that produced these pollen organs (Paripteris and Linopteris) is relatively commonly found in the British Coal Measures, but the reproductive organs are rarely seen. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Corynepteris angustissima, a 50 mm zygopterid fern. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
Corynepteris angustissima, a 50 mm zygopterid fern. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
 A pecopterid fern, Lobatopteris. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
A pecopterid fern, Lobatopteris. Collected by Andy Tenny. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
 Bivalves. A) Anthraconaia fugax. 30 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. B) Naiadites sp., a bivalve mollusc, 20 mm long. Westhoughton. This shell is encrusted by tiny spiral Spirorbis worm tubes. C) Anthraconauta sp. 23 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. Published in Gea (2007).
Bivalves. A) Anthraconaia fugax. 30 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. B) Naiadites sp., a bivalve mollusc, 20 mm long. Westhoughton. This shell is encrusted by tiny spiral Spirorbis worm tubes. C) Anthraconauta sp. 23 mm long. Bickershaw Colliery. Published in Gea (2007).
 A complete terrestrial arachnid, 12 mm body length. This is Mesotarbus peteri, a phalangiotarbid. The anal operculum is clearly visible. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
A complete terrestrial arachnid, 12 mm body length. This is Mesotarbus peteri, a phalangiotarbid. The anal operculum is clearly visible. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
Maiocercus celticus, an exceptionally complete 4 cm trigonotarbid arachnid. This specimen has all limbs plus pedipalps and fangs preserved. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
Maiocercus celticus, an exceptionally complete 4 cm trigonotarbid arachnid. This specimen has all limbs plus pedipalps and fangs preserved. Crock Hey. Published in Gea (2007).
 A rare complete terrestrial scorpion, 18 mm long. Limbs and pedipalps are finely preserved. Scorpions are predators on other arthropods. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
A rare complete terrestrial scorpion, 18 mm long. Limbs and pedipalps are finely preserved. Scorpions are predators on other arthropods. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
 A complete 25 mm insect nymph, probably palaeodictyopteran, from the Westhoughton open cast pit. Many tens of hours go into carefully exposing the details of such fossils with an airscribe. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
A complete 25 mm insect nymph, probably palaeodictyopteran, from the Westhoughton open cast pit. Many tens of hours go into carefully exposing the details of such fossils with an airscribe. Westhoughton. Published in Gea (2007).
 Wing of a very large homoiopterid insect, Anglopterum magnificum, 105 mm long. This was the first specimen of the genus to be found and is now the paratype (published in Prokop et al. 2006). A second example was collected by Andy Tenny.
Wing of a very large homoiopterid insect, Anglopterum magnificum, 105 mm long. This was the first specimen of the genus to be found and is now the paratype (published in Prokop et al. 2006). A second example was collected by Andy Tenny.
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