Cynwyd Forest Quarry () is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

(SSSI) located aside a track within the Cynwyd Forest near

Corwen Corwen is a town and community in the county of Denbighshire in Wales. Historically, Corwen was part of the county of Merionethshire. Corwen stands on the banks of the River Dee beneath the Berwyn mountains. The town is situated west of Llang ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

. Sometimes referred to in literature as 'Bwlch y Gaseg' and in very close proximity to the area of the same name. It was described by Rushton ''et al.'' (2000) and exposes Late

Ordovician The Ordovician ( ) is a geologic period and System (geology), system, the second of six periods of the Paleozoic Era (geology), Era, and the second of twelve periods of the Phanerozoic Eon (geology), Eon. The Ordovician spans 41.6 million years f ...

micaceous siltstones and mudstones of the Dolhir Formation ( Ashgill Series, Rawtheyan Stage) which yields a rich shelly (

brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

) fauna.

Trilobites Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinct marine arthropods that form the class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most successful of all early animals, ...

are represented by several genera although the fauna is dominated by '' Gravicalymene arcuata'' Price, 1982.

Bivalves Bivalvia () or bivalves, in previous centuries referred to as the Lamellibranchiata and Pelecypoda, is a class of aquatic molluscs (marine and freshwater) that have laterally compressed soft bodies enclosed by a calcified exoskeleton consis ...

bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...

ns and various

Echinoderm An echinoderm () is any animal of the phylum Echinodermata (), which includes starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers, as well as the sessile sea lilies or "stone lilies". While bilaterally symmetrical as ...

ata (

Crinoid Crinoids are marine invertebrates that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that remain attached to the sea floor by a stalk in their adult form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather stars or comatulids, are ...

s and

Cystoids Cystoidea was defined as a class (biology), class of extinct paleozoic blastozoan echinoderms established to encompass stalked taxa that were neither crinoids nor blastoids. It was shown to be polyphyletic in the late 1960s but continues to be u ...

) are also present. Examples of most of the fossils listed below are illustrated and briefly described (or remarked upon) in "Fossils of the Upper Ordovician" by Harper and Owen (Eds.).HARPER, D. A. T. and OWEN, A. W. (Eds.) 1996. Fossils of the Upper Ordovician. ''Palaeontological Association Field Guide to Fossils'' Volume: 7, 312 pages, 52 plates with b/w photos; 34 b/w photos and b/w line drawings.

Fossils include

Bryozoa Bryozoa (also known as the Polyzoa, Ectoprocta or commonly as moss animals) are a phylum of simple, aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrate animals, nearly all living in sedentary Colony (biology), colonies. Typically about long, they have a spe ...

: * ''Pinnatoporella carinata'' (Etheridge) * ''Phylloporina'' sp. * ''Graptodictya'' sp.

Brachiopod Brachiopods (), phylum (biology), phylum Brachiopoda, are a phylum of animals that have hard "valves" (shells) on the upper and lower surfaces, unlike the left and right arrangement in bivalve molluscs. Brachiopod valves are hinged at the rear e ...

a: * ''Leptaena'' sp.

Cephalopod A cephalopod is any member of the molluscan Taxonomic rank, class Cephalopoda (Greek language, Greek plural , ; "head-feet") such as a squid, octopus, cuttlefish, or nautilus. These exclusively marine animals are characterized by bilateral symm ...

a: * ''Zitteloceras costatum'' Teichert.

Trilobita Trilobites (; meaning "three-lobed entities") are extinction, extinct marine arthropods that form the class (biology), class Trilobita. One of the earliest groups of arthropods to appear in the fossil record, trilobites were among the most succ ...

: * ''Gravicalymene arcuata'' Price * ''Illaenus (Parillaenus) davisii'' (Salter) * ''Remopleurides cf. nicholsoni'' Reed * ''Pseudospaerexochus cf. conformis'' (Angelin) * ''Pseudospaerexochus octolobatus'' (McCoy) * ''Calyptaulax'' sp. * ''Tretaspis'' sp.

ea: * ''Cupulocorona rugosa'' Donovan and Paul

Cystoidea Cystoidea was defined as a class (biology), class of extinct paleozoic blastozoan echinoderms established to encompass stalked taxa that were neither crinoids nor blastoids. It was shown to be polyphyletic in the late 1960s but continues to be u ...

* ''Regulaecystis inconstans'' Paul * ''Dendrocystoides'' sp.

Gallery

File:Cynwyd Forest Quarry 20-07-2021.jpg, Cynwyd Forest Quarry - photo taken July 20, 2021. File:Cynwyd Forest Quarry 20-July-2021.jpg, Cynwyd Forest Quarry, 20-July-2021.

Fossils include

Gallery

References

See also