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 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. Indeterminate ornithopod remains have also been found in Queensland, Australia.

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians Ornithischians of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Kunbarrasaurus K. ieversi Queensland, Australia Albian A preserved skeleton A parankylosaur K. sp. Queensland, Australia Albian A partial skull

Sauropods Sauropods of the Toolebuc Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Somphospondyli Indet. Indeterminate Queensland, Australia Albian A somphospondylian sauropod; informally known as "Hughenden sauropod".

Avialans Avialans of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImageEnantiornithean indet.IndeterminateQueensland, AustraliaAlbianKK F1452, a complete, isolated right tarsometatarsusCould belong to one of the already described genera Nanantius"Table 11.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.213 N. eos Queensland, Australia Albian Tibiotarsi and vertebra An enantiornithean avialanTenuicrurisT. piscanexumQueensland, AustraliaAlbianKK F1451, a near-complete left tibiotarsusAn enantiornithean avialan

Pterosaurs Pterosaurs of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Anhangueria indet. Indeterminate Queensland, Australia Albian Aussiedraco A. molnari Queensland, Australia Albian An anterior portion of the skull, including partial premaxilla, phalanges and vertebrae A targaryendraconianHaliskiaPentland, 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/s41598-024-60889-8H. peterseni Queensland, Australia Albian A partial skeleton with a skull A tropeognathine Mythunga M. camara Queensland, Australia Albian A preserved mandible A tropeognathine Thapunngaka T. shawi Queensland, Australia Albian A partial mandible without dentition A tropeognathine

Plesiosaurs Plesiosaurs of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Kronosaurus K. queenslandicus Queensland, Australia Albian A brachauchenine pliosaurid Eromangasaurus E. australis Queensland, Australia Albian An elasmosaurid Polycotylidae indet. Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny) Queensland, Australia Albian An indeterminate polycotylid

Icthyosaurs Ichthyosaurs of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Platypterygius P. australis Queensland, Australia Albian A platypterygiine ophthalmosaurid

Turtles Turtle of the Toolebuc Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Bouliachelys B. suteri "Around Boulia in Western Queensland, Australia" Albian A protostegid sea turtle Cratochelone C. berneyi Queensland, Australia Albian A protostegid sea turtle Notochelone N. costata Queensland, Australia Albian A protostegid sea turtle

Fish Fish of the Toolebuc Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Australopachycormus A. hurleyi Albian "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" Long-rostrum pachycormiform Canaryichthys C. rozefeldsi Albian A fossil specimen which is "undistorted and preserved in 3-dimensions but lacks all but the cranial vault." A halecomorph, possibly an ionoscopiform Cardabiodontidae Indet.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. Undescribed genus and species Albian Associated teeth and vertebrae suggesting an individual 8 to 9 meters long Closely related to Cardabiodon Cooyoo C. australis AlbianAn ichthyodectid ichthyodectiform also present in the Allaru FormationDugaldiaD. emmilta Albian Euroka E. dunravenensis Albian An elopiformFlindersichthysF. denmeadi Albian Marathonichthys M. coyleorum Albian An albuliform Pachyrhizodus P. grawi Albian Two species known from both this and the Allaru Formation P. marathonensis Pristiophorus Indeterminate Albiab Known from rostral teeth that are tentatively referred to P. tumidens. Adnet and Cappetta (2001) considered that these remains are teeth and jaw fragments of teleostean instead. ?Pseudocorax Albian Partially disarticulated vertebrae Probable anacoracid remains Ptyktoptychion P. tayyo Albian Richmondichthys R. sweeti Albian An aspidorhynchid also found in the Allaru Formation. Stewartichthys S. leichhardti Albian An albuliform

Arthropods Arthropods of the Toolebuc Formation Genus Species Location Stratigraphic position Material Notes Images Brunnaega B. tomhurleyi Albian An isopod, over 130 fossil individuals found infesting a Pachyrhizodus marathonensis carcass.

Molluscs

Bivalves Bivalves of the Toolebuc FormationGenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Inoceramus I. sutherlandi "Siphon Paddock, Dunluce Street, near Hughendon, North Queensland, Australia" Albian

Cephalopods GenusSpeciesLocationStratigraphic positionMaterialNotesImage Beudanticeras B. flindersi Albian Enchoteuthis E. tonii Albian Trachyteuthis T. willisi Albian

See also 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 Crato Formation Romualdo Formation

References

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