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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,Weishampel ''et al.'', 2004, pp.573-574 pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, protostegid turtles, sharks, chimaeroids and bony fish remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Geological Formation
A geological formation, or simply formation, is a body of rock having a consistent set of physical characteristics ( lithology) that distinguishes it from adjacent bodies of rock, and which occupies a particular position in the layers of rock exposed in a geographical region (the stratigraphic column). It is the fundamental unit of lithostratigraphy, the study of strata or rock layers. A formation must be large enough that it can be mapped at the surface or traced in the subsurface. Formations are otherwise not defined by the thickness of their rock strata, which can vary widely. They are usually, but not universally, tabular in form. They may consist of a single lithology (rock type), or of alternating beds of two or more lithologies, or even a heterogeneous mixture of lithologies, so long as this distinguishes them from adjacent bodies of rock. The concept of a geologic formation goes back to the beginnings of modern scientific geology. The term was used by Abraham Gottlob Wer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ornithopod
Ornithopoda () is a clade of ornithischian dinosaurs, called ornithopods (), that started out as small, bipedal running grazers and grew in size and numbers until they became one of the most successful groups of herbivores in the Cretaceous world, dominating the North American land. Their major evolutionary advantage was the progressive development of a chewing apparatus that became the most sophisticated ever developed by a non-avian dinosaur, rivaling that of modern mammals such as the domestic cow. They reached their apex of diversity and ecological dominance in the hadrosaurids (colloquially known as 'duck-bills'), before they were wiped out by the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event along with all other non-avian dinosaurs. Members are known from all seven continents, though they are generally rare in the Southern Hemisphere. History of research In 1870, Thomas Henry Huxley listed Iguanodontidae (coined by Cope a year earlier) as one of his three families of dinosaurs ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kronosaurus
''Kronosaurus'' ( ; meaning "lizard of Kronos") is a potentially dubious genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur. With an estimated length of , it was among the largest pliosaurs, and is named after the leader of the Greek Titans, Kronos. It lived in the Early Cretaceous period (Aptian to Late Albian).Hampe O. 1992. Ein großwüchsiger Pliosauride (Reptilia: Plesiosauria) aus der Unterkreide (oberes Aptium) von Kolumbien. ''Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg'' 145: 1–32.Kear BP. 2003Cretaceous marine reptiles of Australia: a review of taxonomy and distribution ''Cretaceous Research'' 24: 277–303. Fossil material has been recovered from the Toolebuc Formation (middle to late Albian) and Wallumbilla Formations (Aptian) of Queensland and New South Wales in Australia. Discovery In 1899, Andrew Crombie of Hughenden discovered a "scrap of bone" containing six conical teeth, and gave this fragmentary fossil to the Queensland Museum. Twenty-five years later, then-director He ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Plesiosaur
The Plesiosauria (; Greek: πλησίος, ''plesios'', meaning "near to" and ''sauros'', meaning "lizard") or plesiosaurs are an order or clade of extinct Mesozoic marine reptiles, belonging to the Sauropterygia. Plesiosaurs first appeared in the latest Triassic Period, possibly in the Rhaetian stage, about 203 million years ago. They became especially common during the Jurassic Period, thriving until their disappearance due to the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event at the end of the Cretaceous Period, about 66 million years ago. They had a worldwide oceanic distribution, and some species at least partly inhabited freshwater environments. Plesiosaurs were among the first fossil reptiles discovered. In the beginning of the nineteenth century, scientists realised how distinctive their build was and they were named as a separate order in 1835. The first plesiosaurian genus, the eponymous ''Plesiosaurus'', was named in 1821. Since then, more than a hundred valid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thapunngaka
''Thapunngaka'' ( meaning "Spear Mouth" in Wanamara) is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur recovered from the Early Cretaceous marine Toolebuc Formation in Queensland, Australia. ''Thapunngaka'' represents the largest pterosaur known from the Australian continent. The genus currently contains a single species, ''Thapunngaka shawi''. Discovery and naming ''Thapunngaka'' was initially discovered in June 2011 within the Lower Cretaceous, Upper Albian Toolebuc Formation on Wanamara Country, North West Queensland, Australia by fossicker Mr. Len Shaw. It would later be excavated from the surrounding rock by the Kronosaurus Korner Museum. The genus would later be described in 2021 on the basis of the holotype ''KKF 494'', representing only a partial mandible lacking dentition. Additionally, after the initial description the Kronosaurus Korner museum would later put the holotype of display for the general public. The type species ''Thapunngaka shawi'' was described by Timothy Richards, Pa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mythunga
''Mythunga'' is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia. Fossil remains of ''Mythunga'' dated back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, and the animal itself was found to be a close relative of another Australian anhanguerid called ''Ferrodraco''. Discovery and naming ''Mythunga'' is known from a partial skull, holotype QM F18896 found in April 1991 by Philip Gilmore in marine rocks of the late Albian-age Toolebuc Formation at Dunluce Station west of Hughenden, Queensland. Only the middle snout and corresponding parts of the lower jaws are known, including the rear of a left premaxilla, the lower parts of both maxillae, the rear dentaries and a right splenial. They were three-dimensionally preserved, associated in a chalk nodule. It represents a subadult individual. The fossil was prepared by Angela Hatch of the Queensland Museum, both by mechanical means and by an acid bath. The type species ''Mythunga camara'' was named and descri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Aussiedraco
''Aussiedraco'' is a genus of targaryendraconian pterodactyloid pterosaur from the early Cretaceous of Australia. Description ''Aussiedraco'' is known from holotype QM F10613, a partial mandibular symphysis housed at the Queensland Museum, recovered from rocks of the Toolebuc Formation, about 70 km east of Boulia, western Queensland, dating to Albian stage. It was named by Alexander W.A. Kellner, Taissa Rodrigues and Fabiana R. Costa in 2011 and the type species is ''Aussiedraco molnari''. The generic name is derived from "Aussie", a shortened form of Australian, and "draco", from Latin meaning dragon. The specific epithet honours Ralph E. Molnar, who first described the specimen in 1980. The symphysis fragment is 88 millimetres long and very straight and narrow, with a lanceolate not-expanded tip and triangular cross-section. It lacks a keel or crest and is convex on top, with a median narrow deep groove not reaching the tip, but flat at the bottom. As far as can ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anhangueria
Anhangueria (or anhanguerians) is a group of pterosaurs belonging to the clade Pteranodontoidea. Fossil remains of this group date back from the Early to Late Cretaceous periods (Valanginian to Turonian stages), around 140 to 92.5 million years ago. Anhangueria was named by paleontologists Taissa Rodrigues and Alexander Kellner in a review of ''Ornithocheirus'' species in 2013, they defined the clade as a branch-based taxon consisting of all pteranodontoids more closely related to ''Anhanguera blittersdorffi'' than to ''Istiodactylus latidens'' and ''Cimoliopterus cuvieri''. Classification Anhangueria originally only contained the genera '' Brasileodactylus'', ''Camposipterus'', ''Cearadactylus'', ''Ludodactylus'' as well as the family Anhangueridae, however, recent analyses had recovered the family Hamipteridae within this clade as well. In 2014, paleontologist Brian Andres and colleagues assigned more groups and genera within this clade, this included ''Guidraco'', the subfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pterosaur
Pterosaurs (; from Greek ''pteron'' and ''sauros'', meaning "wing lizard") is an extinct clade of flying reptiles in the order, Pterosauria. They existed during most of the Mesozoic: from the Late Triassic to the end of the Cretaceous (228 to 66 million years ago). Pterosaurs are the earliest vertebrates known to have evolved powered flight. Their wings were formed by a membrane of skin, muscle, and other tissues stretching from the ankles to a dramatically lengthened fourth finger. There were two major types of pterosaurs. Basal pterosaurs (also called 'non-pterodactyloid pterosaurs' or 'rhamphorhynchoids') were smaller animals with fully toothed jaws and, typically, long tails. Their wide wing membranes probably included and connected the hind legs. On the ground, they would have had an awkward sprawling posture, but the anatomy of their joints and strong claws would have made them effective climbers, and some may have even lived in trees. Basal pterosaurs were insectiv ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nanantius
''Nanantius'' is a genus of extinct enantiornithean avialan ("bird" in the broad sense of the word) known from the Early Cretaceous (Albian, c. 100–112 mya) of Australia. Specimens and species The only valid species of ''Nanantius'' is ''Nantantius eos,' '' which was first described in 1986. A supposed second species, ''Nanantius valifanovi,'' has turned out to be a synonym of ''Gobipteryx minuta''. ''N. eos'' was initially only known from an incomplete but elongated tibiotarsus and a cervical (neck) vertebra hailing from the Toolebuc Formation stratum. This holotype tibiotarsus ( QM F12992) was found at Warra Station near Boulia, in Queensland. In 1997, additional fossils from Canary Station in the same area of Australia were also placed into the genus ''Nanantius.'' One of these was a cervical (neck) vertebra, QM F12991, which was assigned to ''Nanantius eos''. The other bone was a partial left tibiotarsus (QM F31813) which was assigned to ''Nanantius'' but not placed wi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muttaburrasaurus Skull Aus
''Muttaburrasaurus'' was a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur, which lived in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 110 and 103 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Winter 2011 Appendix./ref> during the early Cretaceous period. It has been recovered in some analyses as a member of the iguanodontian clade Rhabdodontomorpha. After ''Kunbarrasaurus'', it is Australia's most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains. It was named after Muttaburra, the site in Queensland, Australia, where it was found. Description ''Muttaburrasaurus'' was about and weighed around . The femur of the holotype has a length of . Whether ''Muttaburrasaurus'' is capable of quadrupedal movement has been debated; it was originally thought to be an "iguanodontid"; thought recent studies indicate a rhabdodont position. Ornithopods this basal were incapable of quadrupedal m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Muttaburrasaurus
''Muttaburrasaurus'' was a genus of herbivorous iguanodontian ornithopod dinosaur, which lived in what is now northeastern Australia sometime between 110 and 103 million years agoHoltz, Thomas R. Jr. (2012) ''Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages,'Winter 2011 Appendix./ref> during the early Cretaceous period. It has been recovered in some analyses as a member of the iguanodontian clade Rhabdodontomorpha. After ''Kunbarrasaurus'', it is Australia's most completely known dinosaur from skeletal remains. It was named after Muttaburra, the site in Queensland, Australia, where it was found. Description ''Muttaburrasaurus'' was about and weighed around . The femur of the holotype has a length of . Whether ''Muttaburrasaurus'' is capable of quadrupedal movement has been debated; it was originally thought to be an "iguanodontid"; thought recent studies indicate a rhabdodont position. Ornithopods this basal were incapable of quadrupedal mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
