Toolebuc Formation

{{Short description|Geological formation in Australia}}

{{Use Australian English|date=May 2024}}

{{Infobox rockunit

| name = Toolebuc Formation

| type = Geological formation

| age = {{fossil range|Albian|Albian|Albian}}

| period = Albian

| prilithology = Limestone, mudstone

| otherlithology = Shale

| region = Queensland

| country = Australia

| coordinates = {{coord|20.4|S|144.4|E|display=inline,title}}

| paleocoordinates = {{coord|52.7|S|132.5|E|display=inline}}

| unitof = Rolling Downs Group

| underlies = Allaru Formation

| overlies = Wallumbilla Formation

| thickness = Up to {{convert|65|m|ft|abbr=on}}

| extent = Eromanga Basin

| map = {{Location map+ | Australia

| relief = 1

| width = 250

| float = center

| places =

{{Location map~ | Australia

| lat_deg = -20.4

| lon_deg = 144.4

| mark = Green pog.svg

| marksize = 12

}}

}}

}}

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.

= Animals =

== Dinosaurs ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Dinosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
rowspan = 2|Kunbarrasaurus

| K. ieversi

| Queensland

| A preserved skeleton

| rowspan = 2| A parankylosaur.{{cite journal |vauthors=Frauenfelder TG, Bell PR, Brougham T, Bevitt JJ, Bicknell RD, Kear BP, Wroe S, Campione NE |year=2022 |title=New Ankylosaurian Cranial Remains From the Lower Cretaceous (Upper Albian) Toolebuc Formation of Queensland, Australia |journal=Frontiers in Earth Science |volume=10 |pages=Article 803505 |doi=10.3389/feart.2022.803505 |doi-access=free}}

| rowspan = 2| File:Minmi model Canberra email.jpg

K. sp

|Queensland

|A partial skull

Muttaburrasaurus

|M. sp.

|Queensland

| Fossil remains.

| An iguanodontian ornithopod.

|

Nanantius

|N. eos

| Queensland

| "Tibiotarsi and vertebra""Table 11.1," in Weishampel et al., 2004, p.213

| An enantiornithean avialan.

|

== Pterosaur ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Pterosaurs of the Toolebuc Formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
Anhangueria indet.

|Indeterminate

|Queensland

|

|{{Cite journal |last1=Pentland |first1=Adele H. |last2=Poropat |first2=Stephen F. |last3=White |first3=Matt A. |last4=Rigby |first4=Samantha L. |last5=Bevitt |first5=Joseph J. |last6=Duncan |first6=Ruairidh J. |last7=Sloan |first7=Trish |last8=Elliott |first8=Robert A. |last9=Elliott |first9=Harry A. |last10=Elliott |first10=Judy A. |last11=Elliott |first11=David A. |date=2022-03-28 |title=The osteology of Ferrodraco lentoni, an anhanguerid pterosaur from the mid-Cretaceous of Australia |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=41 |issue=5 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2021.2038182 |s2cid=247814094 |issn=0272-4634|doi-access=free }}

|

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.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

|

File:Haliskia Life Restoration.png

Mythunga

| M. camara

| Queensland

| A preserved mandible.

| An anhanguerid.

|

Thapunngaka

|T. shawi

|Queensland

| A partial mandible without dentition.

| An anhanguerid.{{cite journal|vauthors=Richards TM, Stumkat PE, Salisbury SW|year=2021|title=A new species of crested pterosaur (Pterodactyloidea, Anhangueridae) from the Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) of Richmond, North West Queensland, Australia|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|volume=41|issue=3|pages=e1946068|doi=10.1080/02724634.2021.1946068|bibcode=2021JVPal..41E6068R |doi-access=}}

|

== Plesiosaurs ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Plesiosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
Kronosaurus

| K. queenslandicus

| Queensland

|

| A pliosaur.

| File:Kronosaurus_queenslandicus_SW.png

Eromangasaurus

| E. australis

| Queensland

|

| An elasmosaur.

| File:Eromangasaurus_australis.png

Polycotylidae indet.

| Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny){{Cite web|title=Kronosaurus Korner - Penny the Plesiosaur|url=https://www.kronosauruskorner.com.au/museum/collections/penny-the-plesiosaur|access-date=2021-05-17|website=www.kronosauruskorner.com.au}}

| Queensland

|

| An indeterminate polycotylid.

|

== Icthyosaurs ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Ichthyosaurs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
Platypterygius

| P. australis

| Queensland

|

| align=center | A platypterygiine ichthyosaur.

| File:Platypterigius_longmani_DB.jpg

== Turtles ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Turtles of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialsNotesImages
Bouliachelys

| B. suteri

| "Around Boulia in Western Queensland"{{Cite book |last=Kear |first=Benjamin P. |title=Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic life from the Southern Continent |date=2011 |publisher=CSIRO Pub |others=Robert J. Hamilton-Bruce, CSIRO Publishing |isbn=978-0-643-10169-2 |location=Collingwood, Vic. |pages=88 |oclc=692219338}}

|

| A Protostegidae sea turtle.

| Image:Poropatetal2023 Bouliachelys.png

Cratochelone

| C. berneyi

| Queensland

|

| A Protostegidae sea turtle.

| Image:Poropatetal2023 Cratochelone.png

Notochelone

| N. costata

| Queensland

|

| A Protostegidae sea turtle.

| File:Notochelone costata.jpg

== Fish ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="6" align="center" | Fish of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceMaterialNotesImages
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"{{Cite journal|last=Kear|first=Benjamin P.|date=2007-12-12|title=First record of a pachycormid fish (Actinopterygii: Pachycormiformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia|url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1671/0272-4634%282007%2927%5B1033%3AFROAPF%5D2.0.CO%3B2|journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology|language=en|volume=27|issue=4|pages=1033–1038|doi=10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[1033:FROAPF]2.0.CO;2|s2cid=89193950 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription}}

|Long-rostrum pachycormiform

|

Canaryichthys

|C. rozefeldsi

|

|A fossil specimen which is "undistorted and preserved in 3-dimensions but lacks all but the cranial vault."{{Cite web |last=Museum |first=c=AU; co=Queensland Government; ou=Queensland |title=An Early Cretaceous (late Albian) halecomorph (? Ionoscopiformes) fish from the Toolebuc Formation of the Eromanga Basin, Queensland |url=https://www.qm.qld.gov.au/About+Us/Publications/Memoirs+of+the+Queensland+Museum/MQM+Vol+59/mqmn-59-bartholomai |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=www.qm.qld.gov.au}}

|A halecomorph, possibly an ionoscopiform.

|

Cardabiodontidae

|Undescribed genus and species{{Cite journal |last1=Berrell |first1=Rodney W. |last2=Boisvert |first2=Catherine |last3=Trinajstic |first3=Kate |last4=Siversson |first4=Mikael |last5=Alvarado-Ortega |first5=Jesús |last6=Cavin |first6=Lionel |last7=Salisbury |first7=Steven W. |last8=Kemp |first8=Anne |date=2020-04-02 |title=A review of Australia's Mesozoic fishes |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2019.1701078 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=286–311 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2019.1701078 |bibcode=2020Alch...44..286B |issn=0311-5518|url-access=subscription }}

|

|Associated teeth and vertebrae suggesting an individual 8 to 9 meters longMikael Siverson (2012). [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAj9t0v06G8 Lamniform Sharks: 110 Million Years of Ocean Supremacy. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology]. Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology. [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/tAj9t0v06G8 Archived] from the original on 2021-12-15.{{Cite journal |last1=Bazzi |first1=Mohamad |last2=Kear |first2=Benjamin P. |last3=Siversson |first3=Mikael |date=2022-03-01 |title=Southern higher-latitude lamniform sharks track mid-Cretaceous environmental change |journal=Gondwana Research |language=en |volume=103 |pages=362–370 |bibcode=2022GondR.103..362B |doi=10.1016/j.gr.2021.10.012 |issn=1342-937X |s2cid=240267171 |doi-access=free}}

|Closely related to Cardabiodon

|

Cooyoo

|C. australis

|

|

|An ichthyodectiform also present in the Allaru Formation{{Cite journal |author=Lionel Cavin |author2=Rodney Berrell|date=May 2019 |title=Revision of Dugaldia emmilta (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes) from the Toolebuc Formation, Albian of Australia, with comments on the jaw mechanics |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=e1576049 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2019.1576049|bibcode=2019JVPal..39E6049C |s2cid=190880286 }}

|File:Cooyoo_australis_23.jpg

Dugaldia

|D. emmilta

|

|

|

|

Euroka

|E. dunravenensis

|

|

|An elopiform{{Cite journal |last1=Bartholomai |first1=Alan. |last2=Bartholomai |first2=Alan |date=2010 |title=A new Albian teleost, Euroka dunravenensis gen. et sp. nov. and a new family, Eurokidae, from the Eromanga Basin of Queensland |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/243692 |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum |volume=55 |issue=1 |pages=69–85 |issn=0079-8835}}

|

Flindersichthys

|F. denmeadi

|

|

|{{Cite journal |last=Bartholomai |first=A. |date=2010 |title=Revision of Flindersichthys denmeadi Longman 1932, a marine teleost from the Lower Cretaceous of the Great Artesian Basin, Queensland |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum|s2cid=189970876 }}

|

Marathonichthys

|M. coyleorum

|

|

|An albuliforme{{Cite web |last=Museum |first=c=AU; co=Queensland Government; ou=Queensland |title=New Teleosts (Elopomorpha: Albuliformes) from the Lower Cretaceous (Late Albian) of the Eromanga Basin, Queensland, Australia |url=https://mtq.qm.qld.gov.au/About+Us/Publications/Memoirs+of+the+Queensland+Museum/MQM+Vol+58/mqmn-58-batholomai-teleosts |access-date=2022-08-05 |website=mtq.qm.qld.gov.au}}

|

rowspan = 2|Pachyrhizodus

| P. grawi

| rowspan = 2|

|

| rowspan = 2|Two species known from both this and the Allaru Formation{{Cite journal |last=Bartholomai |first=A. |date=17 February 2012 |title=The pachyrhizodontid teleosts from the marine Lower Cretaceous (latest mid to late Albian) sediments of the Eromanga Basin, Queensland, Australia |url=https://theworkshops.qm.qld.gov.au/About+Us/Publications/Memoirs+of+the+Queensland+Museum/MQM+Vol+56/mqmn56-1-bartholomai |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum – Nature |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=119–148}}{{cite journal | doi=10.1111/j.1475-4983.2011.01095.x | title=Fossil isopods associated with a fish skeleton from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia - direct evidence of a scavenging lifestyle in Mesozoic Cymothoida | year=2011 | last1=Wilson | first1=George D. F. | last2=Paterson | first2=John R. | last3=Kear | first3=Benjamin P. | journal=Palaeontology | volume=54 | issue=5 | pages=1053–1068 | bibcode=2011Palgy..54.1053W | s2cid=82989831 | doi-access=free }}

| rowspan = 2|

P. marathonensis

|

style="background:#E6E6E6;" |Pristiophorus

| style="background:#E6E6E6;" |Indeterminate

| style="background:#E6E6E6;" |

| style="background:#E6E6E6;" |

| style="background:#E6E6E6;" |Known from rostral teeth that are tentatively referred to P. tumidens.{{Cite book |last1=Vickers-Rich, Patricia |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/60647 |title=Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia |last2=Vickers-Rich |first2=Patricia |last3=University |first3=Monash |date=1991 |publisher=Pioneer Design Studio in cooperation with the Monash University Publications Committee, Melbourne |isbn=978-0-909674-36-6 |location=Lilydale, Vic}} Adnet and Cappetta (2001) considered that these remains are teeth and jaw fragments of teleostean instead.{{Cite journal |last1=Adnet |first1=Sylvain |last2=Cappetta |first2=Henri |date=2001 |title=A palaeontological and phylogenetical analysis of squaliform sharks (Chondrichthyes: Squaliformes) based on dental characters |url=https://www.idunn.no/doi/10.1111/j.1502-3931.2001.tb00052.x |journal=Lethaia |language=en |volume=34 |issue=3 |pages=234–248 |doi=10.1111/j.1502-3931.2001.tb00052.x |bibcode=2001Letha..34..234A |issn=0024-1164|url-access=subscription }}

|

?Pseudocorax

|

|

|Partially disarticulated vertebrae

|Probable anacoracid remains{{Cite journal |last=Rozefelds |first=Andrew C. |date=27 November 2008 |title=Lower Cretaceous Anacoracidae? (Lamniformes: Neoselachii); vertebrae and associated dermal scales from Australia |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115519308619604 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |volume=17 |issue=3 |pages=199–210|doi=10.1080/03115519308619604 |url-access=subscription }}

|

Ptykoptychion

|P. tayyo

|

|

|{{Cite book |author=Benjamin P Kear |author2=Robert J Hamilton-Bruce |title=Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent |publisher=CSIRO PUBLISHING |year=2011 |isbn=978-0643100459 |location=Collingwood Australia |page=87}}

|

Richmondichthys

|R. sweeti

|

|

|An aspidorhynchid also found in the Allaru Formation{{Cite journal |last=Bartholomai |first=A. |date=2004 |title=The large aspidorhynchid fish, Richmondichthys sweeti (Etheridge Jnr and Smith Woodward, 1891) from Albian Marine deposits of Queensland, Australia |journal=Memoirs of the Queensland Museum|s2cid=195531265 }}

|File:Richmondichthys holotype.jpg

Stewartichthys

|S. leichhardti

|

|

|An albuliforme

|

== Arthropod ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="5" align="center" | Arthropods of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Brunnaega

|B. tomhurleyi

|

| An isopod, over 130 fossil individuals found infesting a Pachyrhizodus marathonensis carcass.

|

== Molluscs ==

class="wikitable" align="center"
colspan="5" align="center" | Molluscs of the Toolebuc formation
GenusSpeciesPresenceNotesImages
Beudanticeras

|B. flindersi

|

|{{Cite book |last=Kear |first=Benjamin P. |title=Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic life from the Southern Continent |date=2011 |publisher=CSIRO Pub |others=Robert J. Hamilton-Bruce, CSIRO Publishing |isbn=978-0-643-10169-2 |location=Collingwood, Vic. |pages=85 |oclc=692219338}}

|

Enchoteuthis

|E. tonii

|

|{{Cite journal |last1=Fuchs |first1=Dirk |last2=Iba |first2=Yasuhiro |last3=Heyng |first3=Alexander |last4=Iijima |first4=Masaya |last5=Klug |first5=Christian |last6=Larson |first6=Neal L. |last7=Schweigert |first7=Günter |date=2020 |editor-last=Brayard |editor-first=Arnaud |title=The Muensterelloidea: phylogeny and character evolution of Mesozoic stem octopods |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/spp2.1254 |journal=Papers in Palaeontology |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=31–92 |doi=10.1002/spp2.1254 |bibcode=2020PPal....6...31F |issn=2056-2799|url-access=subscription }}

|

Inoceramus

| I. sutherlandi

| "Siphon Paddock, Dunluce Street, near Hughendon, North Queensland, Australia"{{Cite journal |author=Robin I. Knight |author2=Noel J. Morris |author3=Jonathan A. Todd |author4=Lauren E. Howard |author5=Alexander D. Ball |date=13 May 2013 |title=Exceptional preservation of a novel gill grade in large Cretaceous inoceramids: systematic and palaeobiological implications |journal=Palaeontology |volume=57 |issue=1 |pages=37–54 |doi=10.1111/pala.12046 |doi-access=free}}

| align="center" |

|

Trachyteuthis

|T. willisi

|

|

|

See also

References

{{reflist|30em}}

= Bibliography =

  • {{cite journal |last1=Leahey |first1=Lucy G. |last2=Molnar |first2=Ralph E. |last3=Carpenter |first3=Kenneth |last4=Witmer |first4=Lawrence M. |last5=Salisbury |first5=Steven W. |year=2015 |title=Cranial osteology of the ankylosaurian dinosaur formerly known as Minmi sp. (Ornithischia: Thyreophora) from the Lower Cretaceous Allaru Mudstone of Richmond, Queensland, Australia |journal=PeerJ |volume=3 |page=e1475 |doi=10.7717/peerj.1475 |doi-access=free |pmid=26664806|pmc=4675105 }}
  • {{cite book |editor-last=Weishampel |editor-first=David B. |editor-link=David B. Weishampel |editor-last2=Dodson |editor-first2=Peter |editor-link2=Peter Dodson |editor-last3=Osmólska |editor-first3=Halszka |editor-link3=Halszka Osmólska |year=2004 |title=The Dinosauria, 2nd edition |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtZFDb_iw40C |publisher=Berkeley: University of California Press |access-date=2019-02-21 |isbn=0-520-24209-2}}

Category:Cretaceous System of Australia

Category:Early Cretaceous Australia

Category:Albian Stage

Category:Aptian Stage

Category:Limestone formations

Category:Mudstone formations

Category:Shale formations

Category:Shallow marine deposits

Category:Lagoonal deposits

Category:Fossiliferous stratigraphic units of Oceania

Category:Paleontology in Queensland