| Kudnu Temporal range: Early Triassic, ~ | |
|---|---|
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| Holotype skull (top) and referred skull (bottom) | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Clade: | Neodiapsida |
| Genus: | † Kudnu Bartholomai, 1979 |
| Species: | †K. mackinlayi |
| Binomial name | |
| †Kudnu mackinlayi Bartholomai, 1979 | |
Kudnu is an extinct genus of neodiapsid reptile from the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation of Australia. [1] The type species is K. mackinlayi. [2]
The holotype is QM F9181, an anterior section of a cranium with articulated dentary rami, and it was discovered in the Crater, southwest of Rolleston, Queensland. [3] The referred skull QM F9182 is also known. [4] Kudnu mackinlayi was named and described by Alan Bartholomai in 1979. [2]
Kudnu was initially classified within Paliguanidae by Bartholomai (1979). Benton (1985) classified Kudnu within Lepidosauromorpha, [5] while Evans (2003) classified Kudnu within Prolacertiformes, [6] and Evans & Jones (2010) later assigned Kudnu to the Procolophonidae. [7] More recent authors, such as Poropat et al. (2023), consider Kudnu to be a basal member of Neodiapsida. [4]
The world Kudnu inhabited was still recovering from the recent Permian–Triassic extinction event, and as a result global biodiversity had remained low throughout much of the Early Triassic. [8] The world at this time was generally a hot and arid environment, reaching a temperature of 50 °C or even 60 °C at times. [9]
Currently a high diversity of fauna has so far been recorded from the Arcadia Formation that lived alongside Kudnu. This includes a high diversity of amphibians including 14 genera, [10] the archosauriform Kalisuchus rewanensis , [11] the archosauromorph Kadimakara australiensis , [1] the procolophonid Eomurruna yurrgensis [12] as well as an indeterminate dicynodont. [13]
There is also evidence of a diversity of indermitae ichnotaxa based on coprolites. [14]
A therapsid is a member of the clade Therapsida, which is a major group of eupelycosaurian synapsids that includes mammals and their ancestors and close relatives. Many of the traits today seen as unique to mammals had their origin within early therapsids, including limbs that were oriented more underneath the body, as opposed to the sprawling posture of many reptiles and salamanders.
Koolasuchus is an extinct genus of brachyopoid temnospondyl in the family Chigutisauridae. Fossils have been found from Victoria, Australia and date back 125-120 million years ago to Barremian-Aptian stages of the Early Cretaceous. Koolasuchus is the youngest known temnospondyl. It is known from several fragments of the skull and other bones such as vertebrae, ribs, and pectoral elements. The type species Koolasuchus cleelandi was named in 1997. K. cleelandi was adopted as the fossil emblem for the state of Victoria, Australia on 13 January 2022.
The Australosphenida are a clade of mammals, containing mammals with tribosphenic molars, known from the Jurassic to Mid-Cretaceous of Gondwana. Although they have often been suggested to have acquired tribosphenic molars independently from those of Tribosphenida, this has been disputed. Fossils of australosphenidans have been found from the Jurassic of Madagascar and Argentina, and Cretaceous of Australia and Argentina. Monotremes have also been considered a part of this group in many studies, but this is also disputed.
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.
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 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.
Warendja is an extinct genus of wombat. It is known from two species, W. encorensis from the Late Miocene Riversleigh site in Queensland, and W. wakefieldi known from the Pleistocene of South Australia, New South Wales, and Victoria. The two species are primarily distinguished by features of their enamel. It became extinct as part of the Quaternary extinction event. Warendja wakefieldi is estimated to have weighed about 10 kg, considerably smaller than living wombats. Warendja thought to be relatively basal amongst wombats, being the most primitive member to possess hypselodont cheek teeth. The morphology of the humerus of W. wakefieldi suggests that it engaged in scratch-digging.
Bulgosuchus is an extinct genus of prehistoric amphibians, known from an incomplete mandible and a femur recovered from the Bulgo Sandstone at Long Reef in Sydney, Australia. The type species is Bulgosuchus gargantua, which was named in 1999.
Keratobrachyops is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl found in the Arcadia Formation of Queensland, Australia. It had been thought to be a basal chigutisaurid but is now thought to be a basal brachyopomorph closely related to the genus Bothriceps, and may even be a synonym of it.
Plagiobatrachus is an extinct genus of plagiosaurid temnospondyl. It is known from the Rewan Formation, an Early Triassic formation in Australia.
Tirraturhinus is an extinct genus of trematosaurian temnospondyl within the family Trematosauridae. The type species is T. smisseni.
Psilichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric bony fish from Eumeralla Formation, the Lower Cretaceous epoch of what is now Victoria, Australia, known from single species P. selwyni. This is the first Mesozoic fossil vertebrate named from Victoria.
The Talbragar fossil site is a paleontological site of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) age in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. It lies about 30 kilometres (19 mi) north-east of the town of Gulgong, and 300 kilometres (190 mi) north-west of Sydney. The site has been known for over a century during which it has been extensively excavated to the point of near exhaustion. It is now registered as a Crown Land Reserve for the preservation of fossils; access is by permit, and the collection of rocks and fossil specimens is prohibited. The 4-hectare (9.9-acre) reserve is listed on the Register of the National Estate.
Cyclodendron was a genus of lycophytes dating from the Permian. Plants were vascularized with reproduction by spores.
Bruce Norman Runnegar is an Australian-born paleontologist and professor at UCLA. His research centers on using the fossil record to determine how, where, and when life originated and evolved. He has published on a wide variety of topics, including the phylogeny of molluscs, Dickinsonia fossils and oxygen levels, and molecular clock techniques.
Prolacertidae is an extinct family of archosauromorph reptiles that lived during the Early Triassic epoch. It was named in 1935 by the British palaeontologist Francis Rex Parrington to include the species Prolacerta broomi of South Africa and Antarctica. In 1979 a second species, Kadimakara australiensis, was described from Australia. Several other genera, such as Macrocnemus, Pamelaria and Prolacertoides, have also been assigned to this family in the past, but these have been placed elsewhere by later studies, leaving Prolacerta and Kadimakara as the only well-supported members.
Bulgo Sandstone is a sedimentary rock occurring in the Sydney Basin in eastern Australia. This stratum is up to 100 metres thick, formed in the early Triassic (Olenekian). A component of the Narrabeen Group of sedimentary rocks. It consists of layers of fine to medium-grained quartz-lithic sandstone, with lenticular shale interbeds.
Eomurruna is a genus of procolophonid reptile that existed in what is now Queensland, Australia during the Early Triassic period. The genus is made up of a single species, E. yurrgensis, originally uncovered within the Arcadia Formation in 1985. Since then over 40 specimens have been referred to the genus, making Eomurruna one of the most complete organisms so far found from the Mesozoic of Australia.
The Arcadia Formation is a geological formation located within central-eastern Queensland, Australia, which has been aged between the Induan–Olenekian epoch of the Early-Triassic period. It is most well known for its abundance of Early-Triassic aged fossils, most notably its high diversity of amphibians.
Sedophascolomys is an extinct genus of wombat known from the Pliocene and Pleistocene of Australia. There is a single recognised species, S. medius, which was formerly placed in the invalid genus Phascolomys. It was found in the northeastern and eastern regions of the continent. It is estimated to be somewhat larger than extant wombats, with a body mass of 70–75 kilograms (154–165 lb). The youngest remains of the genus date to the Late Pleistocene, around 50–40,000 years ago. It is thought to be closely related to the giant wombat genera Phascolonus and Ramsayia.
