Toolebuc Formation
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| Toolebuc Formation | |
|---|---|
| Stratigraphic range: | |
| Type | Geological formation |
| Unit of | Rolling Downs Group |
| Underlies | Allaru Formation |
| Overlies | Wallumbilla Formation |
| Thickness | Up to 65 m (213 ft) |
| Lithology | |
| Primary | Limestone, mudstone |
| Other | Shale |
| Location | |
| Coordinates | Lua error in Module:Coordinates at line 489: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value). |
| Approximate paleocoordinates | Lua error: callParserFunction: function "#coordinates" was not found. |
| Region | Queensland |
| Country | Australia |
| Extent | Eromanga Basin |
  Toolebuc Formation (Australia) | |
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.
Description
[edit | edit source]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
[edit | edit source]Possible indeterminate ankylosaurid remains are present in Queensland, Australia.[1] Indeterminate ornithopod remains have also been found in Queensland, Australia.[1]
Animals
[edit | edit source]Dinosaurs
[edit | edit source]| Dinosaurs of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Kunbarrasaurus | K. ieversi | Queensland | A preserved skeleton | A parankylosaur.[1][2] |  |
| K. sp | Queensland | A partial skull | |||
| Muttaburrasaurus | M. sp. | Queensland | Fossil remains. | An iguanodontian ornithopod. | |
| Nanantius | N. eos | Queensland | "Tibiotarsi and vertebra"[1][3] | An enantiornithean avialan. | |
Pterosaur
[edit | edit source]| Pterosaurs of the Toolebuc Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Anhangueria indet. | Indeterminate | Queensland | [4] | ||
| Aussiedraco | A. molnari | Queensland | An anterior portion of the skull including partial premaxillary and partial skeleton consists of phalanx and vertebras. | A targaryendraconian pterodactyloid. | |
| Haliskia | H. peterseni | Queensland | A partial skeleton with a skull. | An anhanguerian pteranodontoid.[5] |
 |
| Mythunga | M. camara | Queensland | A preserved mandible. | An anhanguerid. | |
| Thapunngaka | T. shawi | Queensland | A partial mandible without dentition. | An anhanguerid.[6] | |
Plesiosaurs
[edit | edit source]| Plesiosaurs of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Kronosaurus | K. queenslandicus | Queensland | A pliosaur. |  | |
| Eromangasaurus | E. australis | Queensland | An elasmosaur. |  | |
| Polycotylidae indet. | Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny)[7] | Queensland | An indeterminate polycotylid. | ||
Icthyosaurs
[edit | edit source]| Ichthyosaurs of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Platypterygius | P. australis | Queensland | A platypterygiine ichthyosaur. |  | |
Turtles
[edit | edit source]| Turtles of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Bouliachelys | B. suteri | "Around Boulia in Western Queensland"[8] | A Protostegidae sea turtle.[8] |  | |
| Cratochelone | C. berneyi | Queensland | A Protostegidae sea turtle. |  | |
| Notochelone | N. costata | Queensland | A Protostegidae sea turtle. |  | |
Fish
[edit | edit source]| Fish of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
| Australopachycormus | A. hurleyi | "QM F52641 (holotype); partial snout (lacking tip of rostrum) and mandible including dentition and associated cranial/postcranial fragments; SAM P40514 (referred specimen), partial skull with rostrum and incomplete pectoral fin"[9] | Long-rostrum pachycormiform | ||
| Canaryichthys | C. rozefeldsi | A fossil specimen which is "undistorted and preserved in 3-dimensions but lacks all but the cranial vault."[10] | A halecomorph, possibly an ionoscopiform.[10] | ||
| Cardabiodontidae | Undescribed genus and species[11] | Associated teeth and vertebrae suggesting an individual 8 to 9 meters long[12][11][13] | Closely related to Cardabiodon[11] | ||
| Cooyoo | C. australis | An ichthyodectiform also present in the Allaru Formation[14] |  | ||
| Dugaldia | D. emmilta | [14] | |||
| Euroka | E. dunravenensis | An elopiform[15] | |||
| Flindersichthys | F. denmeadi | [16] | |||
| Marathonichthys | M. coyleorum | An albuliforme[17] | |||
| Pachyrhizodus | P. grawi | Two species known from both this and the Allaru Formation[18][19] | |||
| P. marathonensis | |||||
| Pristiophorus | Indeterminate | Known from rostral teeth that are tentatively referred to P. tumidens.[20] Adnet and Cappetta (2001) considered that these remains are teeth and jaw fragments of teleostean instead.[21] | |||
| ?Pseudocorax | Partially disarticulated vertebrae | Probable anacoracid remains[22] | |||
| Ptykoptychion | P. tayyo | [23] | |||
| Richmondichthys | R. sweeti | An aspidorhynchid also found in the Allaru Formation[24] | 
| ||
| Stewartichthys | S. leichhardti | An albuliforme[17] | |||
Arthropod
[edit | edit source]| Arthropods of the Toolebuc formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Notes | Images |
| Brunnaega | B. tomhurleyi | An isopod, over 130 fossil individuals found infesting a Pachyrhizodus marathonensis carcass.[19] | ||
Molluscs
[edit | edit source]| Molluscs of the Toolebuc formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Notes | Images |
| Beudanticeras | B. flindersi | [25] | ||
| Enchoteuthis | E. tonii | [26] | ||
| Inoceramus | I. sutherlandi | "Siphon Paddock, Dunluce Street, near Hughendon, North Queensland, Australia"[27] | [27] | |
| Trachyteuthis | T. willisi | [25] | ||
See also
[edit | edit source]- List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
- Paja Formation, Kronosaurus and Platypterygius Lagerstätte in Colombia
- Sierra Madre Formation, contemporaneous fossiliferous formation of Mexico
- Santana Group, contemporaneous Lagerstätte in northeastern Brazil
References
[edit | edit source]- ^ a b c d e Weishampel et al., 2004, pp.573-574
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- ^ "Table 11.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.213
- ^ Lua error in Module:Citation/CS1/Configuration at line 2172: attempt to index field '?' (a nil value).
- ^ Pentland, A.H., Poropat, S.F., Duncan, R.J. et al. Haliskia peterseni, a new anhanguerian pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia. Sci Rep 14, 11789 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-60889-8
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- ^ Mikael Siverson (2012). Lamniform Sharks: 110 Million Years of Ocean Supremacy. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. Archived from the original on 2021-12-15.
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Bibliography
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