| Toolebuc Formation | |
| Type: | Geological formation |
| Period: | Albian |
| Prilithology: | Limestone, mudstone |
| Otherlithology: | Shale |
| Region: | Queensland |
| Coordinates: | -20.4°N 144.4°W |
| Paleocoordinates: | -52.7°N 132.5°W |
| Unitof: | Rolling Downs Group |
| Underlies: | Allaru Formation |
| Overlies: | Wallumbilla Formation |
| Thickness: | Up to 65m (213feet) |
| Extent: | Eromanga Basin |
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,[1] pterosaurs, plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, protostegid turtles, sharks, chimaeroids and bony fish remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.
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.
Possible indeterminate ankylosaurid remains are present in Queensland, Australia. Indeterminate ornithopod remains have also been found in Queensland, Australia.
| Dinosaurs of the Toolebuc formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Kunbarrasaurus | K. ieversi | Queensland | A preserved skeleton | A parankylosaur. [2] | |
| Intermediate | Queensland | ||||
| Muttaburrasaurus | Indeterminate | Queensland | An ignuanodontian ornithopod. | ||
| Nanantius | N. eos | Queensland | "Tibiotarsi and vertebra"[3] | An enantiornithean avialan. | |
| Pterosaurs of the Toolebuc Formation | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images |
| Anhangueria indet. | Indeterminate | Queensland | [4] | ||
| 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.[5] | |
| Mythunga | M. camara | Queensland | A preserved mandible. | An anhanguerid. | |
| Thapunngaka | T. shawi | Queensland | A partial mandible without dentition. | An anhanguerid. [6] | |
| Plesiosaurs of the Toolebuc formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images | |
| Kronosaurus | K. queenslandicus | Queensland | align=center | |||
| Eromangasaurus | E. australis | Queensland | ||||
| Polycotylidae indet. | Undescribed polycotylid (specimen QM F18041, nicknamed Penny)[7] | Queensland | align=center | |||
| Turtles of the Toolebuc formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Materials | Notes | Images | |
| Bouliachelys | B. suteri | "Around Boulia in Western Queensland"[8] | align=center | |||
| Cratochelone | C. berneyi | Queensland | align=center | |||
| Notochelone | N. costata | Queensland | align=center | |||
| Fish of the Toolebuc formation | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images | |
| 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"[9] | Long-rostrum pachycormiform | |||
| Canaryichthys | C. rozefeldsi | A fossil specimen which is "undistorted and preserved in 3-dimensions but lacks all but the cranial vault."[10] | A halecomorph, possibly an ionoscopiform. | |||
| Cardabiodontidae | Undescribed genus and species[11] | Associated teeth and vertebrae suggesting an individual 8 to 9 meters long[12] [13] | Closely related to Cardabiodon | |||
| Cooyoo | C. australis | An ichthyodectiform also present in the Allaru Formation[14] | ||||
| Dugaldia | D. emmilta | |||||
| Euroka | E. dunravenensis | An elopiform[15] | ||||
| Flindersichthys | F. denmeadi | [16] | ||||
| Marathonichthys | M. coyleorum | An albuliforme[17] | ||||
| Pachyrhizodus | P. grawi | Two species known from both this and the Allaru Formation[18] [19] | ||||
| P. marathonensis | ||||||
| Pristiophorus | Indeterminate | Known from rostral teeth that are tentatively referred to P. tumidens.[20] Adnet and Cappetta (2001) considered that these remains are teeth and jaw fragments of teleostean instead.[21] | ||||
| ?Pseudocorax | Partially disarticulated vertebrae | Probable anacoracid remains[22] | ||||
| Ptykoptychion | P. tayyo | [23] | ||||
| Richmondichthys | R. sweeti | An aspidorhynchid also found in the Allaru Formation[24] | ||||
| Stewartichthys | S. leichhardti | An albuliforme | ||||
| Molluscs of the Toolebuc formation | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Presence | Notes | Images |
| Beudanticeras | B. flindersi | [25] | ||
| Enchoteuthis | E. tonii | [26] | ||
| Inoceramus | I. sutherlandi | "Siphon Paddock, Dunluce Street, near Hughendon, North Queensland, Australia"[27] | ||
| Trachyteuthis | T. willisi | |||