The Tingamarra Fauna is associated with the early Eocene Murgon fossil site, and contains the earliest known non-flying eutherian, passerine, trionychidae turtles, mekosuchine crocodiles along with frogs, lungfish and teleost fish in Australia. [1] The Murgon fossil site is located near Kingaroy in south-east Queensland (26° 14' S, 151° 57' E).
Material that represents the fossil component is the MP1 horizon in a sequence of lacustrine clays from Boat Mountain. The geological formation of the site is not known for certain, but may be associated with the Oakdale Sandstone formation. The area was a swamp or shallow lake at the time of deposition, though the habitat has not been determined. Potassium-argon dating of illites has given a date of about 54.6 million years, which is before Australia's separation from Antarctica and South America [2]
Fish of Tingamarra | ||||
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Genus | Species | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Amphibians of Tingamarra | ||||
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Genus | Species | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Reptiles of Tingamarra | ||||
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Genus | Species | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Patagoniophis | P. australiensis (Scanlon, 2004) | Many disarticulated vertebrae and fragmented ribs | ||
Alamitophis [3] | A. tingamarra | Fragmented dentary and rib along with disarticulated vertebrae. | ||
Kambara | K. implexidens and K. murgonensis | |||
? Madtsoia | M.sp | Rib head and proximal shaft | Costal tubercle is broken so not able to determine if it was robust as in madtsoiids or slender in proximal view as with the extent serpentes. Some other characteristics indicate a Patagoniophis affinity excluding the large size (3.9 by 2.6 mm), but is still smaller than Madtsoia , to which it is most similar. [4] | |
Murgonemys | M. braithwaitei | Almost complete semi-articulated carapace with vertebrae [5] |
Mammals of Tingamarra | ||||
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Genus | Species | Abundance | Notes | Images |
Archaeonothos | A. henkgodthelpi | A carnivorous metatherian of uncertain affinities. | ||
Australonycteris | A. clarkae | A single dentary bone, many disarticulated teeth, periotics and postcranial bones. | Postcranial material is known but not described. | |
"Chulpasia" | A fossil traditionally referred to the paucituberculate Chulpasia, now thought to represent an unrelated marsupial. [6] | |||
Djarthia | D. murgonensis | Jaw fragments with teeth. [7] | ||
Tingamarra | T. porterorum | Rare | Two teeth one being 3 mm, and an ankle and ear bone is all that is described of this species. | |
Thylacotinga | ? | Isolated teeth. |
Birds of Tingamarra | ||||
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Genus | Species | Abundance | Notes | Images |
QM specimens F20688 (carpometacarpus) and F24685 (tibiotarsus) from Murgon, Queensland, are fossil bone fragments clearly recognizable as passeriform; they represent two species of approximately some 10 and some 20 cm in overall length. [8] | ||||
Presbyornithid material similar to Presbyornis . [9] |
Microbiotheriidae is a family of australidelphian marsupials represented by only one extant species, the monito del monte, and a number of extinct species known from fossils in South America, Western Antarctica, and northeastern Australia.
The magpie goose is the sole living representative species of the family Anseranatidae. This common waterbird is found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. As the species is prone to wandering, especially when not breeding, it is sometimes recorded outside its core range. The species was once also widespread in southern Australia but disappeared from there largely due to the drainage of the wetlands where the birds once bred. Due to their importance to Aboriginal people as a seasonal food source, as subjects of recreational hunting, and as a tourist attraction, their expansive and stable presence in northern Australia has been "ensured [by] protective management".
Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located near the Gregory River in the north-west of Queensland, an environment that was once a very wet rainforest that became more arid as the Gondwanan land masses separated and the Australian continent moved north. The approximately 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds, and reptiles of the Oligocene and Miocene ages, many of which were discovered and are only known from the Riversleigh area; the species that have occurred there are known as the Riversleigh fauna.
Yurlunggur is a genus of fossil snake in the extinct family Madtsoiidae containing the species Yurlunggur camfieldensis known from the Oligocene and Miocene of Australia.
The natural history of Australia has been shaped by the geological evolution of the Australian continent from Gondwana and the changes in global climate over geological time. The building of the Australian continent and its association with other land masses, as well as climate changes over geological time, have created the unique flora and fauna present in Australia today.
Kambara is an extinct genus of mekosuchine crocodylian that lived during the Eocene epoch in Australia. It is generally thought to have been a semi-aquatic generalist, living a lifestyle similar to many of today's crocodiles. Four species are currently recognized, the sympatric Kambara murgonensis and Kambara implexidens from sediments near Murgon, the poorly preserved Kambara molnari from the Rundle Formation and the youngest of the four, Kambara taraina, also from the Rundle Formation. Kambara was a medium-sized crocodilians, with mature specimens generally reaching lengths from 3–4 m (9.8–13.1 ft).
Madtsoiidae is an extinct family of mostly Gondwanan snakes with a fossil record extending from early Cenomanian to late Pleistocene strata located in South America, Africa, India, Australia and Southern Europe. Madtsoiidae include very primitive snakes, which like extant boas and pythons would likely dispatch their prey by constriction. Genera include Madtsoia, one of the longest snakes known, at an estimated 10 metres (33 ft), and the Australian Wonambi and Yurlunggur. As a grouping of basal forms the composition and even the validity of Madtsoiidae is in a state of flux as new pertinent finds are described, with more recent evidence suggesting that it is paraphyletic as previously defined.
Tingamainus is a species of early placenta bearing mammal.
The Fur Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the Limfjord region of northern Denmark from Silstrup via Mors and Fur to Ertebølle, and can be seen in many cliffs and quarries in the area. The Diatomite Cliffs is on the Danish list of tentative candidates for World Heritage and may become a World Heritage site. Fossils found in the Fur Formation are primarily housed at the Fossil and Mo-clay Museum on Mors Island, the Fur Museum on Fur Island, and the Natural History Museum of Denmark in Copenhagen.
Paleontology or palaeontology is the study of prehistoric life forms on Earth through the examination of plant and animal fossils. This includes the study of body fossils, tracks (ichnites), burrows, cast-off parts, fossilised feces (coprolites), palynomorphs and chemical residues. Because humans have encountered fossils for millennia, paleontology has a long history both before and after becoming formalized as a science. This article records significant discoveries and events related to paleontology that occurred or were published in the year 2005.
Madtsoia is an extinct genus of madtsoiid snakes. It is known from the Eocene of Argentina, the Paleocene of Brazil, the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of India, and the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Madagascar. The type species was the largest with an estimated length of 9–10 m (30–33 ft), and the other three species were smaller. A 5.1 m (17 ft) long M. madagascariensis would have weighed 50 kg (110 lb), but an isolated specimen suggests that this species reached 8 m (26 ft) in maximum length.
Djarthia is an extinct monotypic genus of marsupial. It is the oldest marsupial found in Australia, discovered at the Murgon fossil site in south-eastern Queensland.
Alamitophis is a genus of fossil snakes in the extinct family of Madtsoiidae. Its length is estimated at 80 centimetres (2.6 ft) and it probably fed on frogs, lizards, and small mammals. It is found in Australia and Argentina.
Australonycteris is an extinct and monotypic genus of microchiropteran bat with the single species Australonycteris clarkae. The species is known from fragmentary remains found at the Murgon fossil site, in south-eastern Queensland, dating to the early Eocene, 54.6 million years ago. It is the oldest bat from the Southern Hemisphere and one of the oldest bats in the world, and inhabited forests and swampy areas, with a diet of insects and possibly small fish.
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The San Jose Formation is an Early Eocene geologic formation in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado.