# Höör Sandstone

The Höör Sandstone is a geologic formation in Skåne County, southern Sweden. It is Early Jurassic (Hettangian-Pliensbachian) in age. This unit outcrops in central Skane on a few isolated exposures, being traditionally subdivided into the lower “millstone” (“kvarnstenen”) and the upper “buildingstone”. The lowermost layers where also claimed to host Rhaetian strata, however latter works suggested that the layers devolved as red beds, were part of the new Hörby Formation, thus delimitating the Höör sandstone to the lower Jurassic. It has been assumed to be limited to Hettangian-Sinemurian layers, yet recent palynological analysis suggest the uppermost section is of Pliensbachian age, underlying and maybe interacting with the younger volcanic deposits. The Höör sandstone represents a mostly fluvial unit with a rich collection of fossil plants, yet also includes brackish bivalves in some layers, pointing to marine ingressions locally.

## Members
### Stanstorp member

This member represents the older layers of the formation, being exposed in the abandoned stanstorpsgraven quarry and in the Vittseröd area. The member is mainly composed by sandstone and has abundant plants fossils, with both allochthonous plant fragments and plant roots indicating vegetation in situ (palaeosols). The layers suggest several types of fluvial and/or coastal depositions, from dunes and river banks to beach deposits, where the palaeocurrent directions are clear generally from the north-east to the south-west. This section hosts abundant conglomerate intercalations, with the lower ones formed by mud fragments and the uppers with distant source material, both abundant on wood fragments, some of them up to 20 cm in diameter.

### Vittseröd member

The youngest member is composed by finer-grained and much better sorted sandstones, with limited abundance of mudstones and plant fragments small and limited to a few horizons. The presence of silt and mature quartz arenites, well sorted and fairly well rounded derived from strongly altered feldspars, shows that this member hosted a high-energy environment, one where tidal currents have been invoked for the modification of fine-grained sandstones, linked with the changes of the Laurasian Seaway. The upper parts of this unit are influenced by the initial pulse of the Pliensbachian coeval vulcanism with heavy volcanic minerals in the uppermost layers.

## Fauna
### Ichnofossils

| Color key Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon | Notes Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text; crossed out taxa are discredited. |
* Lockeia siliquaria (Bivalves)
* Planolites annularis (Polychaetes)
* Planolites montanus (Polychaetes)
* Diplichnites isp. (Xiphosurans, Insects, Arachnids)
* Teichichnus isp. (Polychaetes, Echiurans, Holothurians.)
* Skolithos isp. (Polychaetes, Phoronidans)
* Monocraterion tentaculatum (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans)
* Rhizocorallium isp. (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans)
* Aulichnites isp. (Gastropods)
* Diplocraterion parallelum (Polychaeta, Sipuncula, Enteropneustans & Echiurans)

### Bivalves

| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images |
| Liostrea | Liostrea hisingeri | Vittseröd | Vittseröd member | Isolated Shells | An oyster, member of Ostreidae inside Ostreida. The most common Bivalve found locally, indicator of increased salinity levels on the Hettangian layers. | Example of Liostrea specimens |
| Cardinia | Cardinia follini | Stanstorp Vittseröd Dagstorp | Vittseröd member | Isolated Shells | A clam, member of Cardiniidae inside Carditida. This faunal aggrupation occurs together with abundant foliar remains and are equivalent to the Brandsberga erratics, which was closer to the mouth of the bay developed in the region, as it proves the find on its sandstone of more clear marine fauna. | |
| Avicula | Avicula inaequivalvis | Vittseröd | Vittseröd member | Isolated Shells | A Scallop, member of Pectinidae inside Pectinida. The local material assigned to this genus is now lost | |
| Pecten | Pecten sp. | Vittseröd | Vittseröd member | Isolated Shells | A Scallop, member of Pectinidae inside Pectinida. | Example of extant Pecten |

### Arthropoda

| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes |
| Mesolimulus | Mesolimulus? nathorsti | Stanstorp | Vittseröd Member | SMNH Ar33179, a possible prosomal section | A horseshoe crab, member of the Limulidae inside Xiphosura. This fragment has been considered to be a Limulus or Mesolimulus prosomal shield, but due to the limited and fragmentary nature some authors referred to it as ?Chelicerata incertae sedis. |
| Angelinella | Angelinella angelini | Kulla Gunnarstorp | Stanstorp Member | Elytrons | A beetle, incertae sedis Archostemata inside Coleoptera. |
| Paracurculionites | Paracurculionites parvulus | North of Sofiero | Stanstorp Member | Elytrons | A beetle, incertae sedis Archostemata inside Coleoptera. |

## Flora

| Genus | Species | Stratigraphic position | Member | Material | Notes | Images |
| Equisetites | Equisetites laevis Equisetites gracilis | Ormanäsgraven Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Stanstorp Member | Stems | Affinities with Equisetaceae inside Equisetales. | Example of Equisetites specimen |
| Todites | Todites goeppertianus | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Osmundaceae inside Osmundales. | |
| Cladophlebis | Cladophlebis svedbergii Cladophlebis scoresbyensis Cladophlebis cf. nebbensis Cladophlebis cf. spectabilis Cladophlebis arguta Cladophlebis sublobata Cladophlebis sewardii Cladophlebis divaricata | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott Dagstorp | Stanstorp Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Osmundaceae inside Osmundales. | Cladophlebis nebbensis specimen |
| Dictyophyllum | Dictyophyllum exile | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. Dictyophyllum is a common Dipteridacean genus of the mid-Mesozoic | Dictyophyllum nilssonii specimen |
| Rhizomopteris | Rhizomopteris cruciata | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. | |
| Hausmannia | Hausmannia forchhammeri Hausmannia dentata Hausmannia lasciniata | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. | Example of Hausmannia specimen |
| Thaumatopteris | Thaumatopteris schenkii Thaumatopteris brauniana | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. | |
| Clathropteris | Clathropteris meniscioides | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Dipteridaceae inside Polypodiales. | Example of Clathropteris meniscioides specimen |
| Peltaspermum | Lepidopteris ottonis | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven | Stanstorp Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Peltaspermaceae inside Pteridospermatophyta. Indicator or reworked Rahetian layers. | |
| Peltaspermum | Peltaspermum rotula | Stanstorpsgraven Ormanäsgraven | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Umkomasiaceae inside Pteridospermatophyta. | |
| Ptilozamites | Ptilozamites blasii Ptilozamites carlsonii Ptilozamites heeri Ptilozamites nilssonii | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Umkomasiaceae inside Pteridospermatophyta. | Ptilozamites specimen |
| Sagenopteris | Sagenopteris nilssoniana Sagenopteris rhoifolia Sagenopteris undulata | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated pinnae | Affinities with Caytoniaceae inside Pteridospermatophyta. | Sagenopteris specimen |
| Ctenis | Ctenis nilssonii Ctenis minuta Ctenis latepinnata Ctenis laxa | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Cycadales inside Cycadopsida. | Ctenis specimen |
| Pseudoctenis | Pseudoctenis florinii | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Cycadeoidaceae inside Bennettitales. | |
| Cycadolepis | Cycadolepis giganteus Cycadolepis blomquisti | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Cycadeoidaceae inside Bennettitales. | |
| Nilssonia | Nilssonia münsteri Nilssonia acuminata | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Cycadeoidaceae inside Bennettitales. | Nilssonia specimen |
| Wielandiella | Wielandiella punctata Wielandiella angustifolia | Stanstorpsgraven | Stanstorp Member | Female Bennetite "flower" | Affinities with Williamsoniaceae inside Bennettitales. Wielandiella may be regarded as a fossil taxon characterized by bennettitalean shrubs with branched stems and a divaricate architecture | |
| Pterophyllum | Pterophyllum majus Pterophyllum kochii Pterophyllum aequale Pterophyllum ptilum Pterophyllum compressum | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Williamsoniaceae inside Bennettitales. In the uppermost layers is the dominant macroflora outside Pelmastermales | Example of Pterophyllum specimen |
| Anomozamites | Anomozamites minor Anomozamites intermedium | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Vittseröd Member | Leaflets | Affinities with Williamsoniaceae inside Bennettitales. | |
| Stenorachis | Stenorachis dubius | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Reproductive Organs | Affinities with Czekanowskiales inside Ginkgoales. | |
| Ginkgoites | Ginkgoites troedsonii Ginkgoites obovatus Ginkgoites marginatus | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Leave Compressions | Affinities with Ginkgoaceae inside Ginkgoales. | Ginkgoites specimen |
| Schizolepis | Schizolepis hörensis | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Ovulate Strobili | Affinities with Schizolepisaceae inside Pinaceae. Associated with Pinaceae thanks to the presence of separated seen scales and bract scales. | |
| Stachyotaxus | Stachyotaxus septentrionalis Stachyotaxus elegans | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated Leaves | Affinities with Palissyaceae inside Palissyales. | Stachyotaxus specimens |
| Podozamites | Podozamites lanceolatus Podozamites angustifolius Podozamites cuspiformis | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Isolated Leaves | Affinities with Krassiloviaceae inside Voltziales. The local Podozamites show a rather great range of growth, reflecting tropical to subtropical conditions. | Podozamites reconstruction |
| Elatocladus | Elatocladus cephalotaxoides Elatocladus conferta | Vittseröd Stanstorpsgraven Per Pålssons grav Ormanäsgraven Kullans stenbrott | Stanstorp Member Vittseröd Member | Fragmentary axis compressions with preserved leaves | Affinities with Sequoioideae inside Cupressales. | Elatocladus specimen |