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.
Minmi is a genus of small herbivorous ankylosaurian dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous Period of Australia, about 120 to 112 million years ago.
Austrosaurus was an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Allaru Formation, from the early Cretaceous of Central-Western Queensland in Australia.
Umoonasaurus is an extinct genus of plesiosaur belonging to the family Leptocleididae. This genus lived approximately 115 million years ago during the Early Cretaceous period, in shallow seas covering parts of what is now Australia. It was a relatively small animal around 2.5 metres (8.2 ft) long. An identifying trait of Umoonasaurus is three crest-ridges on its skull.
Cooyoo is an extinct genus of ichthyodectid fish known from the Lower Cretaceous. It contains a single species, C. australis, known from the Albian-aged Toolebuc and Allaru Formations of Queensland, Australia. C. australis was originally named by Arthur Smith Woodward as a species of Portheus in 1894, which was later amended to Xiphactinus.
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.
Aspidorhynchidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fish from the Mesozoic Era. It is the only member of the monotypic order Aspidorhynchiformes. Members of the group are noted for their elongated, conical rostrums, of varying length, formed from fused premaxillae. The range of the group extends from the Middle Jurassic to the end of the Maastrichtian, with a potential record from the Late Paleocene. The family and order were described by Pieter Bleeker in 1859.
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 Mackunda Formation is a geological formation in Queensland, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. It consists primarily of interbedded and cross bedded greensand, with variably calcareous shale, with local ferricrete.
The Griman Creek Formation is a geological formation in northern New South Wales and southern Queensland, Australia whose strata date back to the Albian-Cenomanian stages of the mid-Cretaceous. It is most notable being a major source of opal, found near the town of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales. Alongside the opal opalised fossils are also found, including those of dinosaurs and primitive monotremes.
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. It is partially equivalent to the Eumeralla 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.
Eromangasaurus is an extinct genus of elasmosaurid known from northern Queensland of Australia.
Flindersichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish that lived during the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous epoch.
Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from Cenomanian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.
The Wallumbilla Formation is an Aptian geologic formation found in Australia. Plesiosaur and theropod remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from its strata.
Australian Age of Dinosaurs Ltd. (AAOD) is a nonprofit organization located in Winton, Queensland, founded by David Elliott and Judy Elliott in 2002. The organization’s activities include the operation of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, which holds annual dinosaur digs in the Winton Formation of Western Queensland and oversees the year-round operation of Australia's most productive dinosaur fossil preparation laboratory. Since 2005, the AAOD Museum has accumulated the largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils in the world and holds the holotype specimens of Diamantinasaurus matildae, Savannasaurus elliottorum, Australovenator wintonensis, Australia's most complete theropod skeleton, Ferrodraco lentoni, the first pterosaur to be named from the Winton Formation, and Confractosuchus sauroktonos. The museum is open to the public daily from April to October and is open six days a week from November to March. The site of the museum was designated a dark-sky preserve, the first International Dark-Sky Sanctuary in Australia, in 2019.
Kunbarrasaurus is an extinct genus of small ankylosaurian dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Australia. The genus conatins a single species, K. ieversi.
Triunfosaurus is a genus of somphospondylan sauropod dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous of Brazil. It contains a single species, T. leonardii, described by Carvalho et al. in 2017. As a genus, Triunfosaurus can be distinguished from all other titanosaurs by the unique proportions of its ischium. It was initially described as a basal titanosaur, making it the earliest basal titanosaur known; however, subsequent research questioned the identification of the taxon as a titanosaur, instead reassigning it to the Somphospondyli.
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.
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