Boghole, Muckle Burn

Also within

Moray CountyNairn County

Condition (NatureScot)

Geology & landscape

Geological Period: Devonian · Rock Type: Sandstone

Description

BOGHOLE, MUCKLE BURN The Muckle Burn is located between Nairn and Forres. The site comprises a series of exposures on either side of the burn, by Boghole Wood. These exposures are important for fossil fish. This series of exposures straddles the Middle-Upper Devonian boundary (Upper Givetian – Lower Frasnian) as a conformable sequence within the ‘Upper Old Red Sandstone’. The fossil fish collected from the exposures demonstrate a succession of faunas which are important biostratigraphically. Particularly important is the appearance of Bothriolepis. This marks the base of the Edenkillie Beds in the Moray Firth area and is the earliest bothriolepid in Scotland. The species Bothriolepis taylori, the oldest fish of its type, was first discovered in the southern section. It is the immediate of ancestor of B. gigantea, which occurs widely in the rocks of the Moray Firth area. In the northern section Bothriolepis takes the place of Asterolepis. Amongst the other fish occurring in this site one of the most significant is Eusthenopteron traquairi, which has been found nowhere else in the world. It is a fish with many amphibian characteristics, thought by many to be an ancestor of the tetrapods. Boghole, Muckle Burn is an outstanding site for studies of vertebrate biotas, their bearing on Devonian stratigraphy and the evolution of the tetrapods.