Marree Subgroup Explained

Marree Subgroup
Type:	Subgroup
Age:	Aptian-Albian
Period:	Albian
Prilithology:	Siltstone
Otherlithology:	Gravel, conglomerate, shale, clay
Region:	South Australia
Paleocoordinates:	-57.1°N 117.3°W
Unitof:	Rolling Downs Group
Subunits:	Bellinger Sandstone, Bulldog Shale, Coorikiana Sandstone, Oodnadatta Formation
Underlies:	Mackunda & Winton Formations
Overlies:	Parabarana Sandstone, Cadna-owie Formation
Extent:	Eromanga Basin
Namedfor:	Marree
Namedby:	Forbes
Year Ts:	1966

The Marree Subgroup, previously described as Maree Formation and Marree Formation, is a geological subgroup in the Eromanga Basin of South Australia whose strata date back to the Aptian. The subgroup was first described as a formation by Forbes in 1966.^{[1] [2]} Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.^[3]

An opalised plesiosaur specimen of the genus Umoonasaurus has been nicknamed 'Eric' and was described in 1998 by Schroeder.^[4] The decapod crab Dioratiopus salebrosus was described in 1980.^[5]

Vertebrate paleofauna

Indeterminate theropod remains present in Western Australia.

Dinosaurs

Sauropterygians

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

Further reading

• Schroeder, N. (1998). A review of order Pliosauria, and the description of a new, opalised pliosauroid, from the Early Cretaceous of Coober Pedy, South Australia. M.Sc. thesis, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria
• M. F. Glaessner. 1980. New Cretaceous and Tertiary crabs (Crustacea: Brachyura) from Australia and New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia 104(6):171-192

Notes and References

1. 1988 - Tanh Van Doan - Sedimentology and mineralogy of some Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments of the southern Eromanga Basin - MSc. thesis
2. Web site: Marree Subgroup. Geoscience Australia and Australian Stratigraphy Commission. Australian Stratigraphic Units Database. 23 August 2018.
3. Weishampel, David B; et al. (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Australasia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 573-574. .
4. http://museum.wa.gov.au/sites/default/files/16.%20Cruickshank,%20Fordyce,%20Long.pdf 1999 - Recent developments in Australasian sauropterygian palaeontology (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) - Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 57: 201-205
5. https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displayCollResults?collection_no=37715 Wooldridge Creek, Alberga River
6. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, et al. (2004). Page 76.
7. Kear; Schroeder; Lee . Benjamin P; Natalie I; Michael S. Y . 2006 . An archaic crested plesiosaur in opal from the Lower Cretaceous high-latitude deposits of Australia . Biology Letters. 2 . 4 . 615–619 . 10.1098/rsbl.2006.0504 . 17148303 . 1833998 .