Griman Creek Formation

Not to be confused with Gorman Creek Formation.

Griman Creek Formation
Stratigraphic range: late Albian-early-mid Cenomanian ~106–98  Ma PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Type	Geological formation
Unit of	Rolling Downs Group
Sub-units	Coocoran Claystone & Wallangulla Sandstone Members
Underlies	Unconformity with Oligo-Miocene Cumborah Gravel
Overlies	Surat Siltstone, Wallumbilla Formation
Thickness	Up to 345 m (1,132 ft)
Lithology
Primary	Sandstone, siltstone, mudstone
Other	Conglomerate, coal
Location
Coordinates	29°24′S147°42′E / 29.4°S 147.7°E / -29.4; 147.7
Approximate paleocoordinates	64°24′S134°54′E / 64.4°S 134.9°E / -64.4; 134.9
Region	Queensland New South Wales
Country	Australia
Extent	Surat Basin
Type section
Named for	Griman Creek
Named by	Reiser
Year defined	1970
Griman Creek Formation (Australia)

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. ^[1] 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. ^[2]

Description

As a whole, the formation primarily consists of thinly bedded medium to fine sandstone, siltstone and mudstone, with sporadic coal seams. In the vicinity of Lightning Ridge, it is divided up into two informal members the underlying Wallangulla Sandstone Member which primarily consists of red fine grained sandstone, light siltstone and grey claystone and is up to 30 metres (98 ft) thick while the overlying Coocoran Claystone consists of about 10 metres of claystone. The contact between the two units is sudden and unconformable. Discontinuous clay lens beds within the Wallangulla Sandstone Member near Lightning Ridge, referred to as the Finch Clay Facies, are one of Australia's primary sources of commercial precious opal, with many mines dug in the area. These deposits are also the primary source of fossils within the formation, a large proportion of which are preserved as semi-precious opalized pseudomorphs. The fauna found in lightning ridge indicates that the depositional environment of the Finch Clay Facies was in near-coastal freshwater lagoons. ^[1]

Background

See also: Surat Basin

Australia was located near the South Pole in the Early and Middle Cretaceous
GPlates reconstruction for 100 Ma (Albian-Cenomanian and Early and Late Cretaceous boundary)

Paleogeography of the Turonian (90 Ma)
Original map by Ron Blakey

Fossil content

Indeterminate avialan, euornithopod, and sauropod remains that were once misidentified as brachiosaurid are present in New South Wales, Australia. ^[2] Euornithopod tracks are also present in New South Wales.^{[ citation needed ]}

Dipnoi

Dipnoi of the Griman Creek Formation
Taxa	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Ceratodus [3]	C. diutinus		Isolated tooth plates
Metaceratodus [3]	M. wollastoni		Isolated tooth plates
Neoceratodus [4]	N. potkooroki		Isolated tooth plates

Actinopterygii

Actinopterygians of the Griman Creek Formation
Taxa	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Calamopleurus ? [4]	sp.		Isolated jaw bones

Mammals

Monotremes

Mammals
Genus	Species	Presence	Materials	Notes	Images
Dharragarra [5]	D. aurora		A partial left mandibular ramus.	A monotreme.
Kollikodon [5]	K. ritchiei		An opalised dentary fragment, with one premolar and two molars in situ, as well as a referred maxillary fragment containing the last premolar and all four molars	A monotreme.
Opalios [5]	O. splendens		A fragmentary left dentary.	A monotreme.
Parvopalus	P. clytiei		A partial left dentary.	A monotreme.
Steropodon	S. galmani			A monotreme
Stirtodon	S. elizabethae		A large isolated premolars.	A monotreme

Crocodyliformes

Crocodyliformes
Genus	Species	Presence	Materials	Notes	Images
Isisfordia	I. molnari	Lightning Ridge	Braincase and referred maxillary fragment [6]	A crocodyliform.

Dinosaurs

Indeterminate ornithopods and iguanodontians are known from the formation. ^[1] Indeterminate avetheropods and megaraptorans are known from the formation. ^[1] Two species of titanosauriforms and one species of titanosaur are known from teeth. ^[7]

Dinosaurs
Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Fostoria	F. dhimbangunmal	New South Wales	A member of Rhabdodontomorpha.
Fulgurotherium	F. australe	New South Wales	[2]
Rapator	R. ornitholestoides	New South Wales	A megaraptoran; "Manual element" [2] [8]
Walgettosuchus	W. woodwardi	New South Wales	"Vertebra" [2] [9] Later determined to be an indeterminate theropod [2]
Weewarrasaurus	W. pobeni	New South Wales	An ornithopod known from an isolated dentary [1]
Ankylosauria	Indeterminate		Osteoderm [10]
Elasmaria indet. [11]	Indeterminate	New South Wales	An articulated hindlimb comprising the femur, tibia, astragalus
Enantiornithes	Indeterminate		Partial femora[ citation needed ]
Megaraptora ("Lightning Claw")	Indeterminate	New South Wales	Partial skeleton including parts of the lower arm, claws, lower leg, part of the hip, and pieces of ribs. [12]
Noasauridae	Indeterminate		Cervical vertebra [13]
Sauropoda	Indeterminate		A tooth

Pterosaurs

Pterosaurs
Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Anhangueria	Indeterminate		"two isolated tooth crowns", possible limb elements[ citation needed ]

Testudines

Turtles
Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Spoochelys	S. ormondea		Perichelydian stem-turtle [14] [15]
Chelidae	Indeterminate [16]

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations
• South Polar region of the Cretaceous
• Western Interior Seaway
• Cenomanian-Turonian extinction event

References

1. Bell et al. 2019.
2. Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004, pp. 573–574.
3. Kemp, A. (1997). "Four species of Metaceratodus (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi, Family Ceratodontidae) from Australian Mesozoic and Cenozoic deposits". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology . 17 (1): 26–33. doi:10.1080/02724634.1997.10010949. ISSN   0272-4634. Wikidata   Q104114935.
4. Kemp, Anne; Berrell, Rodney (3 May 2020). "A New Species of Fossil Lungfish (Osteichthyes: Dipnoi) from the Cretaceous of Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 40 (3). doi:10.1080/02724634.2020.1822369.
5. Flannery, Timothy F.; McCurry, Matthew R.; Rich, Thomas H.; Vickers-Rich, Patricia; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Helgen, Kristofer M. (2024-04-02). "A diverse assemblage of monotremes (Monotremata) from the Cenomanian Lightning Ridge fauna of New South Wales, Australia" . Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 48 (2): 319–337. doi: 10.1080/03115518.2024.2348753 . ISSN   0311-5518.
6. Hart et al. 2019.
7. Frauenfelder et al. 2021.
8. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004 , p. 74
9. "Table 4.1," in Weishampel, Dodson & Osmólska 2004 , p. 78
10. Bell, Burns & Smith 2018.
11. Bell, P. R.; Herne, M. C.; Birch, S. A.; Molnar, R. E.; Smith, E. T. (2025-08-10). "Articulated hindlimb of a small-bodied ornithopod dinosaur from the Cenomanian Griman Creek Formation of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. doi: 10.1080/03115518.2025.2537025 .
12. Bell et al. 2016.
13. Birch, Smith & Bell 2020.
14. T-Bone Extension, Coocoran Opal Fields at Fossilworks.org
15. Smith & Kear 2013.
16. Smith, Elizabeth T. (September 2010). "Early Cretaceous chelids from Lightning Ridge, New South Wales". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 34 (3): 375–384. Bibcode:2010Alch...34..375S. doi:10.1080/03115518.2010.488117. S2CID   129726482.

Bibliography

• Frauenfelder, Timothy G.; Campione, Nicolás E.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Bell, Phil R. (July 2021). "Diversity and palaeoecology of Australia's southern-most sauropods, Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia". Lethaia. 54 (3): 354–367. Bibcode:2021Letha..54..354F. doi:10.1111/let.12407.
• Birch, Sienna A.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Bell, Phil R. (29 January 2020). "Noasaurids are a component of the Australian 'mid'-Cretaceous theropod fauna". Scientific Reports. 10 (1): 1428. Bibcode:2020NatSR..10.1428B. doi:10.1038/s41598-020-57667-7. PMC   6989633 . PMID   31996712.
• Bell, Phil R.; Fanti, Federico; Hart, Lachlan J.; Milan, Luke A.; Craven, Stephen J.; Birch, Sienna A.; Smith, Elizabeth (January 2019). "Revised geology, age, and vertebrate diversity of the dinosaur-bearing Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 514: 655–671. Bibcode:2019PPP...514..655B. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.11.020. hdl: 11585/651841 .
• Hart, Lachlan J.; Bell, Phil R.; Smith, Elizabeth T.; Salisbury, Steven W. (21 June 2019). "Isisfordia molnari sp. nov . , a new basal eusuchian from the mid-Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia". PeerJ. 7 e7166. doi: 10.7717/peerj.7166 . PMC   6590469 . PMID   31275756.
• Bell, Phil R.; Herne, Matthew C.; Brougham, Tom; Smith, Elizabeth T. (4 December 2018). "Ornithopod diversity in the Griman Creek Formation (Cenomanian), New South Wales, Australia". PeerJ. 6 e6008. doi: 10.7717/peerj.6008 . PMC   6284429 . PMID   30533306.
• Bell, Phil R.; Burns, Michael E.; Smith, Elizabeth T. (2 January 2018). "A probable ankylosaurian (Dinosauria, Thyreophora) from the Early Cretaceous of New South Wales, Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 42 (1): 120–124. Bibcode:2018Alch...42..120B. doi:10.1080/03115518.2017.1384851.
• Bell, Phil R.; Cau, Andrea; Fanti, Federico; Smith, Elizabeth T. (August 2016). "A large-clawed theropod (Dinosauria: Tetanurae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Australia and the Gondwanan origin of megaraptorid theropods". Gondwana Research. 36: 473–487. Bibcode:2016GondR..36..473B. doi:10.1016/j.gr.2015.08.004.
• Smith, Elizabeth T.; Kear, Benjamin P. (2013). "Spoochelys ormondea gen. Et sp. Nov., an Archaic Meiolaniid-Like Turtle from the Early Cretaceous of Lightning Ridge, Australia". Morphology and Evolution of Turtles. Vertebrate Paleobiology and Paleoanthropology. pp. 121–146. doi:10.1007/978-94-007-4309-0_9. ISBN   978-94-007-4308-3.
• Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; Osmólska, Halszka, eds. (2004). The Dinosauria (2nd ed.). University of California Press. ISBN   978-0-520-94143-4.