Pettycur
Geological Conservation Review site | GCR #856 | Palaeontology | Palaeozoic Palaeobotany
Scotland's geosites are chosen because of their local, national or international importance. Take only photos, leave only footprints: avoid causing any damage to this site. You can walk almost anywhere in Scotland without the need to ask permission or keep to paths, but you have a responsibility to care for your own safety, to respect people's privacy and peace of mind and to cause no damage.
This site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). It is an offence to intentionally or recklessly damage the protected natural features of a SSSI, and this includes unauthorised sample collection.
The right of access does not extend to quarries, building sites or any land where public access is prohibited, or to the collection of geological samples.
Summary
Pettycur is probably the best-known Visean plant petrifaction site in the world, whose fossils have been studied for over a century. The assemblage is quite distinctive, with most of the species being known from nowhere else. Lycopods and ferns predominate, but also present are equisetes, including the oldest known example of the Sphenophyllaceae, and pteridosperms. The seeds of the latter have the oldest known true micropyles, and provide unique evidence of the transition from the more primitive salpinx-type pollen capture apparatus. Although not as abundant as in earlier years, specimens are still to be found and there remains much research potential. A site of outstanding international importance.
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