Mi. Coates, ACTINOPTERYGIAN AND ACANTHODIAN FISHES FROM THE VISEAN OF EAST KIRKTON, WEST-LOTHIAN, SCOTLAND, Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Earth sciences, 84, 1994, pp. 317-327
Forty-one specimens of acanthodians and actinopterygians were examined
from Units 26 to 38 of the Geikie Tuff, Little Cliff Shale and East K
irkton Limestone of the Visean East Kirkton Limestone sequence. The re
sults yielded six actinopterygian species including a platysomid and t
wo probable juveniles of uncertain affinities, and three acanthodians
including two acanthodidids and a climatiid-like denticle. Most specim
ens consist of isolated bones and scales, but articulated remains of a
n acanthodian and actinopterygians were found in Units 37 and 38 of th
e East Kirkton Limestone. The faunal composition is characteristically
Oil-Shale in aspect and resembles that of Broxburn (Pumpherston). The
presence of deep-bodied and juvenile fishes in the same strata combin
ed with the mode of preservation indicate a palaeohabitat with limited
current action and a soft substrate.