Toolebuc Formation

The Toolebuc Formation is a geological formation that extends from Queensland across South Australia and the Northern Territory in Australia, whose strata date back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaurs,[1] pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, protostegid turtles, sharks, chimaeroids and bony fish remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.

Toolebuc Formation
Stratigraphic range: Albian
~109–103 Ma
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofRolling Downs Group
UnderliesAllaru Formation
OverliesWallumbilla Formation
ThicknessUp to 65 m (213 ft)
Lithology
PrimaryLimestone, mudstone
OtherShale
Location
Coordinates20.4°S 144.4°E / -20.4; 144.4
Approximate paleocoordinates52.7°S 132.5°E / -52.7; 132.5
RegionQueensland
Country Australia
ExtentEromanga Basin
Toolebuc Formation (Australia)

Description

Deposition occurred in a cool to temperate inland sea setting and the present lithology is dominantly made up of limey shales with abundant Inoceramus bivalve shells. Ichthyosaurs and protostegid turtles were the most common marine reptiles at this time in the Eromanga Sea, in contrast to older Aptian deposits such as the Bulldog Shale of South Australia, which show that plesiosaurs were previously more abundant and also more diverse. The Toolebuc Formation is one of the richest known sources of Mesozoic vertebrate fossils in Australia, with notable collecting areas situated around the towns of Richmond, Julia Creek, Hughenden and Boulia.

Fossil content

Possible indeterminate ankylosaurid remains are present in Queensland, Australia.[1] Indeterminate ornithopod remains have also been found in Queensland, Australia.[1]

Animals

Dinosaurs (including birds)
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Kunbarrasaurus K. ieversi Queensland [1]
Muttaburrasaurus Indeterminate Queensland [1]
Nanantius N. eos Queensland "Tibiotarsi and vertebra"[1][2]
Pterosaurs
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Aussiedraco A. molnari Queensland
Mythunga M. camara Queensland
Plesiosaurs
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Kronosaurus K. queenslandicus Queensland
Eromangasaurus E. australis Queensland
Polycotylidae indet. Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny) Queensland
Ichthyosaurs
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Platypterygius P. australis Queensland
Turtles
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Bouliachelys B. suteri Queensland
Cratochelone C. berneyi Queensland
Notochelone N. costata Queensland

See also

References

  1. Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.573-574
  2. "Table 11.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.213

Bibliography

  • Leahey, Lucy G.; Ralph E. Molnar; Kenneth Carpenter; Lawrence M. Witmer, and Steven W. Salisbury. 2015. Cranial osteology of the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of Richmond, Queensland, Australia. PeerJ 3. e1475. Accessed 2020-03-16. doi:10.7717/peerj.1475 PMID 26664806
  • Weishampel, David B.; Peter Dodson, and Halszka Osmólska (eds.). 2004. The Dinosauria, 2nd edition, 1–880. Berkeley: University of California Press. Accessed 2019-02-21. ISBN 0-520-24209-2
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