Marree Subgroup

Marree Subgroup
Stratigraphic range: Aptian-Albian [1]
Type	Subgroup
Unit of	Rolling Downs Group
Sub-units	Bellinger Sandstone, Bulldog Shale, Coorikiana Sandstone, Oodnadatta Formation
Underlies	Mackunda & Winton Formations
Overlies	Parabarana Sandstone, Cadna-owie Formation
Lithology
Primary	Siltstone
Other	Gravel, conglomerate, shale, clay
Location
Coordinates	30°26′0″S137°10′0″E / 30.43333°S 137.16667°E / -30.43333; 137.16667
Approximate paleocoordinates	57°06′S117°18′E / 57.1°S 117.3°E / -57.1; 117.3
Region	South Australia
Country	Australia
Extent	Eromanga Basin
Type section
Named for	Marree
Named by	Forbes
Year defined	1966
Marree Subgroup (Australia)

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. ^{[2] [3]} Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation. ^[1]

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. ^[1]

Dinosaurs

Dinosaurs of the Marree Subgroup
Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Kakuru [1]	K. kujani [1]	Geographically present in Western Australia, Australia. [1]	"Hindlimb." [6]

Sauropterygians

Sauropterygians of the Marree Subgroup
Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Umoonasaurus [7]	U. demoscyllus [7]	Bulldog Shale of northern South Australia. [7]	Known from an opalized skeleton nicknamed 'Eric'.

See also

• List of dinosaur-bearing rock formations

References

1. 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. ISBN   0-520-24209-2.
2. 1988 - Tanh Van Doan - Sedimentology and mineralogy of some Jurassic-Cretaceous sediments of the southern Eromanga Basin - MSc. thesis
3. "Marree Subgroup". Australian Stratigraphic Units Database. Geoscience Australia and Australian Stratigraphy Commission. Retrieved 23 August 2018.
4. 1999 - Recent developments in Australasian sauropterygian palaeontology (Reptilia: Sauropterygia) - Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement No. 57: 201-205
5. Wooldridge Creek, Alberga River at Fossilworks.org
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. doi:10.1098/rsbl.2006.0504. PMC   1833998 . PMID   17148303.

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