Pant-y-Ffynnon Quarry is a

stone quarry In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks form the Earth's o ...

in the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, around 3 kilometers east of

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for ...

. It contains fissure fill deposits dating to the

Late Triassic The Late Triassic is the third and final epoch of the Triassic Period in the geologic time scale, spanning the time between Ma and Ma (million years ago). It is preceded by the Middle Triassic Epoch and followed by the Early Jurassic Epoch. ...

( Rhaetian), hosted within karsts of Carboniferous aged

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...

, primarily the Friars Point Limestone Formation. Remains of numerous small vertebrates, notably archosaurs, are known from the fissure fills in the quarry, similar to other Late Triassic-Early Jurassic fissure fill deposits known from Southwest England and southern Wales.

History

The quarry was likely in use since at least the 1910s, and the first fossil specimens discovered at the quarry were collected by

palaeontologist Paleontology (), also spelled palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of life that existed prior to, and sometimes including, the start of the Holocene epoch (roughly 11,700 years before present). It includes the study of fossi ...

Kenneth Kermack Kenneth A. Kermack (1919 – 2000) was a British palaeontologist at University College London most notable for his work on early mammals with his wife, Doris Mary Kermack. Among Kermack's other significant contributions was the observation ...

and Pamela Robinson of

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

between 1951 and 1952, and were first presented at a talk in 1953 and later written on briefly in 1956. The quarry was abandoned during the 1960s and few fossil discoveries have been made there since. Much of the remains discovered between 1951-52 were left undescribed until the 21st century, with most only initially being briefly described upon discovery.

Vertebrate paleofauna

References

{{reflist Geologic formations Quarries in Wales