Wonthaggi Formation | |
---|---|
Stratigraphic range: | |
Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Strzelecki Group |
Underlies | Unconformity with Wombat Volcanics & Kersop Arkose |
Overlies | Paleozoic basement |
Thickness | Up to 2,500 m (8,200 ft) |
Lithology | |
Primary | Volcaniclastic sandstone, siltstone |
Other | Conglomerate, coal |
Location | |
Coordinates | 38°42′S145°42′E / 38.7°S 145.7°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 77°00′S117°30′E / 77.0°S 117.5°E |
Region | Victoria |
Country | Australia |
Extent | Gippsland Basin |
Exposure of Wonthaggi Formation green in bottom-right |
The Wonthaggi Formation is an informal geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is part of the Strzelecki Group within the Gippsland Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. [1] [2] It is partially equivalent to the Eumeralla Formation.
The Wonthaggi Formation was deposited within Gippsland Basin, which formed part of a extensional rift valley system between Australia and Antarctica. The lithology primarily consists of fluvially deposited siliciclastics derived from volcanic rocks of the Whitsunday Silicic Large Igneous Province to the East, with suggestions that the sediments either originated from braided river and sheet flood deposits, or meandering river systems on vegetated floodplains. [3] The age of the formation is thought to be Valanginian to Barremian, with the Flat Rocks site being late Barremian (~125 Ma) in age, older than the sediments from the Eumeralla Formation, which are thought to be Aptian-Albian in age. [3]
Indeterminate ornithopod remains are present in Victoria, Australia. [3] Indeterminate megaraptorid remains are present in Victoria, Australia. [4]
Amphibians of the Wonthaggi Formation | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Presence | Notes | Images |
Koolasuchus | K. cleelandi | Tree Trunk Point, Dwyers Hill, San Remo | Chigutisaurid temnospondyl, last known temnospondyl |
Dinosaurs of the Wonthaggi Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Locality | Material | Notes | Images |
cf. Atlascopcosaurus [3] | cf. A. loadsi [3] | Flat Rocks | known as "Victorian ornithopod maxillary morphotype 4", consists of a partial right maxilla | Intermediate in morphology between Galleonosaurus and Atlascopcosaurus | |
G. dorisae [3] | Flat Rocks | Known from a maxilla | |||
Q. intrepidus [1] | Flat Rocks | "[Three] dentaries and teeth." [5] | |||
Q. ?intrepidus [3] | Flat Rocks | Known as "Victorian ornithopodan dentary morphotype 2", represented by two dentary fragments, | Possibly distinct from Q. intrepidus | ||
S. arthurclarkei [1] | The Arch, Kilcunda | Single damaged ulna | |||
Indeterminate | Possibly also present at the Eumeralla Formation (footprints). | Single furcula. | |||
Ankylosauria indet. [7] | Indeterminate | Flat Rocks | Teeth, dorsal vertebra, ribs, osteoderms | ||
Noasauridae indet. [8] | Indeterminate | San Remo Member | NMV P221202, astragalocalcaneum | A non-elaphrosaurine noasaurid. | |
Ornithopoda indet. [3] | Indeterminate | Flat Rocks | Dentaries referred to as "Victorian ornithopodan dentary morphotype 3" including P228408, NMV P231182, NMV P199135 and isolated teeth | Different from Q. intrepidus. | |
Ornithopoda indet. [3] | Indeterminate | Cape Paterson | single femur | Known as "Victorian Hypsilophodontid Femur Type 2". Larger than contemporaneous ornithopods. | |
Megaraptora indet. | Indeterminate | Flat Rocks | Numerous isolated teeth, and a left astragalus [9] | Originally referred to "Allosaurus" robustus | |
Megaraptoridae indet. [10] | Indeterminate | Shack Bay | a complete frontal, attached to a partial parietal | ||
Mammals of the Wonthaggi Formation | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Ausktribosphenos | A. nyktos | Flat rocks | Partial dentary with teeth | Ausktribosphenid | |
Bishops | B. whitmorei | Partial dentary with teeth | Ausktribosphenid | ||
Corriebaatar | C. marywaltersae | "NMV P216655, a fragment of a left dentary bearing a complete plagiaulacoid p4 and the anterior root of m1" | Multituberculate | ||
Kryoparvus | K. gerriti | Partial dentary with teeth | ?Ausktribosphenid | ||
Teinolophos | T. trusleri | Partial dentary with teeth | Monotreme |
The South Polar region of the Cretaceous comprised the continent of East Gondwana–modern day Australia, Zealandia, and Antarctica–a product of the break-up of Gondwana in the Cretaceous Period. The southern region, during this time, was much warmer than it is today, ranging from perhaps 4–8 °C (39–46 °F) in the latest Cretaceous Maastrichtian in what is now southeastern Australia. This prevented permanent ice sheets from developing and fostered polar forests, which were largely dominated by conifers, cycads, and ferns, and relied on a temperate climate and heavy rainfall. Major fossil-bearing geological formations that record this area are: the Santa Marta and Sobral Formations of Seymour Island off the Antarctic Peninsula; the Snow Hill Island, Lopez de Bertodano, and the Hidden Lake Formations on James Ross Island also off the Antarctic Peninsula; and the Eumeralla and Wonthaggi Formations in Australia.
Qantassaurus is a genus of basal two-legged, plant-eating elasmarian ornithischian dinosaur that lived in Australia about 125-112 million years ago, when the continent was still partly south of the Antarctic Circle. It was described by Patricia Vickers-Rich and her husband Tom Rich in 1999 after a find near Inverloch, and named after Qantas, the Australian airline.
Leaellynasaura is a genus of small herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs from the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, first discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia. The only known species is Leaellynasaura amicagraphica. It was described in 1989, and named after Leaellyn Rich, the daughter of the Australian palaeontologist couple Tom Rich and Patricia Vickers-Rich who discovered it. The specific name, amicagraphica, translates to "friend writing" and honours both the Friends of the Museum of Victoria and the National Geographic Society for their support of Australian paleontology.
Serendipaceratops is a genus of herbivorous ornithischian dinosaur, possibly an ankylosaur, from the early Cretaceous Period of Australia. The type species, S. arthurcclarkei, was named in 2003.
Koolasuchus is an extinct genus of brachyopoid temnospondyl in the family Chigutisauridae. Fossils have been found from Victoria, Australia and date back 125-120 million years ago to Barremian-Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Koolasuchus is the youngest known temnospondyl. It is known from several fragments of the skull and other bones such as vertebrae, ribs, and pectoral elements. The type species Koolasuchus cleelandi was named in 1997. K. cleelandi was adopted as the fossil emblem for the state of Victoria, Australia on 13 January 2022.
Rapator is a genus of theropod dinosaur from the Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia, dating to the Cenomanian age of the Cretaceous period. It contains only the type species, Rapator ornitholestoides, which was originally named by Friedrich von Huene in 1932.
Notoceratops is a dubious genus of extinct ornithischian dinosaur based on an incomplete, toothless left dentary from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia, probably dating to the Campanian or Maastrichtian. It was most likely a ceratopsian and it was found in the Lago Colhué Huapi Formation.
The Winton Formation is a Cretaceous geological formation in central-western Queensland, Australia. It is late Albian to early Turonian in age. The formation blankets large areas of central-western Queensland. It consists of sedimentary rocks such as sandstone, siltstone and claystone. The sediments that make up these rocks represent the remnants of the river plains that filled the basin left by the Eromanga Sea - an inland sea that covered large parts of Queensland and central Australia at least four times during the Early Cretaceous. Great meandering rivers, forest pools and swamps, creeks, lakes and coastal estuaries all left behind different types of sediment.
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.
The Eumeralla Formation is a geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is Aptian to Albian in age. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation, particularly from the Dinosaur Cove locality.
Psilichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish from Eumeralla Formation, the Lower Cretaceous epoch of what is now Victoria, Australia, known from single species P. selwyni. This is the first Mesozoic fossil vertebrate named from Victoria.
Australovenator is a genus of megaraptoran theropod dinosaur from Cenomanian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial cranial and postcranial remains which were described in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues, although additional descriptions and analyses continue to be published. It is the most complete predatory dinosaur discovered in Australia. It has been suggested that Australovenator is a sister taxon to Fukuiraptor, although some phylogenetic analyses find it to be a more derived member of the Megaraptora, possibly being part of the main Megaraptoridae family itself.
Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from Cenomanian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.
The Miria Formation is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation, in Western Australia.
The Molecap Greensand is a Late Cretaceous geologic formation, located in the state of Western Australia in Australia.
Elasmaria is a clade of ornithopods known from Cretaceous deposits in South America, Antarctica, and Australia that contains many bipedal ornithopods that were previously considered "hypsilophodonts".
Diluvicursor is a genus of small ornithischian from the Lower Albian of Australia. It is known from one species, the type species D. pickeringi. The two known specimens, a vertebra and a partial juvenile postcranium discovered in 2005 from the Eumeralla Formation, are known, and they were named in early 2018.
Galleonosaurus is a genus of basal ornithopod dinosaur from the Wonthaggi Formation of the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia. The type and only species is Galleonosaurus dorisae.
The Bulldog Shale is a formation of Early Cretaceous age that forms part of the Marree Subgroup of the Rolling Downs Group, located in the Eromanga Basin of South Australia, Queensland and New South Wales.