immersed image (about actual size).
(select the highlighted words to see images of specimens).
Lesmahagow's Silurian inlier contains a sequence of sediments of Upper Llandovery and Wenlock ages. The rocks contain one of the most interesting faunal assemblages represented by complete fishes and arthropods. The environment is interpreted as being restricted nearshore to lagoonal.
This area was where I did my undergraduate mapping in 1983 and collected many crustaceans (Ceratiocaris papilio), eurypterids (sea scorpions - Slimonia, Pterygotus), aganthan fishes (thelodonts, Birkenia, Ateleaspis). All this material is now with the Hunterian Museum, or the Department of Geology and Geophysics, Edinburgh University. One of the strange animals from this area is Ainiktozoonwhich has been described as a urochordate, but I have serious doubts about this assignation (infact I think it is a Thyracocephala, crustacean).
I returned to the site on Wednesday the 25th October, 1995 and discovered a further specimen of the rare Jamoytius kerwoodi (54k image) which is a primitive soft bodied agnathan, only found at the Birk Knowes locality, which is also formally called the Jamoytius Horizon (only about 6 other specimens are known). Recent illicit collecting from this site has left a lot of material to weather as scree and it was on the scree that this specimen was found.
In July 1998, I was collecting at a site not far from the Birk Knowes called the Birkenhead Burn. One partial thelodont and a Lasanius sp. were found as well as the first eurypterid from this locality.... (photo below). I have done a rough sketch of this animal which could be a small specimen of Lanarkopterus sp. (click on the word animal (length= about 7cm)).
I have now produced some images of the scorpion including an immersed image, and detail of the cephalon
immersed image (about actual size).
There is now a new site that has some useful images of Lesmahagow material held at the Museum of Den Haag.