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, 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.

Animals

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
KunbarrasaurusK. ieversiQueenslandA preserved skeletonA parankylosaur.
K. spQueenslandA partial skull
MuttaburrasaurusM. sp.QueenslandFossil remains.An iguanodontian ornithopod.
NanantiusN. eosQueensland"Tibiotarsi and vertebra"An enantiornithean avialan.

Pterosaur

Pterosaurs of the Toolebuc Formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
Anhangueria indet.IndeterminateQueensland
AussiedracoA. molnariQueenslandAn anterior portion of the skull including partial premaxillary and partial skeleton consists of phalanx and vertebras.A targaryendraconian pterodactyloid.
HaliskiaH. peterseniQueenslandA partial skeleton with a skull.An anhanguerian pteranodontoid.
MythungaM. camaraQueenslandA preserved mandible.An anhanguerid.
ThapunngakaT. shawiQueenslandA partial mandible without dentition.An anhanguerid.

Plesiosaurs

Plesiosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
KronosaurusK. queenslandicusQueenslandA pliosaur.
EromangasaurusE. australisQueenslandAn elasmosaur.
Polycotylidae indet.Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny)QueenslandAn indeterminate polycotylid.

Icthyosaurs

Ichthyosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
PlatypterygiusP. australisQueenslandA platypterygiine ichthyosaur.

Turtles

Turtles of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
BouliachelysB. suteri"Around Boulia in Western Queensland"A Protostegidae sea turtle.
CratocheloneC. berneyiQueenslandA Protostegidae sea turtle.
NotocheloneN. costataQueenslandA Protostegidae sea turtle.

Fish

Fish of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
AustralopachycormusA. 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"Long-rostrum pachycormiform
CanaryichthysC. rozefeldsiA fossil specimen which is "undistorted and preserved in 3-dimensions but lacks all but the cranial vault."A halecomorph, possibly an ionoscopiform.
CardabiodontidaeUndescribed genus and speciesAssociated teeth and vertebrae suggesting an individual 8 to 9 meters longClosely related to Cardabiodon
CooyooC. australisAn ichthyodectiform also present in the Allaru Formation
DugaldiaD. emmilta
EurokaE. dunravenensisAn elopiform
FlindersichthysF. denmeadi
MarathonichthysM. coyleorumAn albuliforme
PachyrhizodusP. grawiTwo species known from both this and the Allaru Formation
P. marathonensis
PristiophorusIndeterminateKnown 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.
?PseudocoraxPartially disarticulated vertebraeProbable anacoracid remains
PtykoptychionP. tayyo
RichmondichthysR. sweetiAn aspidorhynchid also found in the Allaru Formation
StewartichthysS. leichhardtiAn albuliforme

Arthropod

Arthropods of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
BrunnaegaB. tomhurleyiAn isopod, over 130 fossil individuals found infesting a Pachyrhizodus marathonensis carcass.

Molluscs

Molluscs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
BeudanticerasB. flindersi
EnchoteuthisE. tonii
InoceramusI. sutherlandi"Siphon Paddock, Dunluce Street, near Hughendon, North Queensland, Australia"
TrachyteuthisT. willisi

See also

Bibliography