Winton Formation | |
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Stratigraphic range: Late Albian-Early Turonian ~ | |
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Type | Geological formation |
Unit of | Rolling Downs Group |
Underlies | Unconformity with Quaternary Lake Eyre Basin sediments |
Overlies | Mackunda Formation, [1] Oodndatta Formation |
Thickness | <100 m (330 ft) at the margin 1,200 m (3,900 ft) in the centre |
Lithology | |
Primary | Sandstone, siltstone, claystone |
Other | Conglomerate, coal |
Location | |
Coordinates | 22°18′S143°06′E / 22.3°S 143.1°E |
Approximate paleocoordinates | 51°48′S134°06′E / 51.8°S 134.1°E |
Region | ![]() |
Country | ![]() |
Extent | Eromanga Basin |
Type section | |
Named for | Winton, Queensland |
Named by | Whitehouse |
Location | Bores in and around Winton |
Year defined | 1955 |
![]() Formation distribution within Australia |
The Winton Formation is a Cretaceous geological formation in central-western Queensland, Australia. It is late Albian to early Turonian in age. [2] 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 period. Great meandering rivers, forest pools and swamps, creeks, lakes and coastal estuaries all left behind different types of sediment.
In some areas, the Winton Formation is over 400 metres thick. To bring with them such a huge amount of sediment, the rivers that flowed across these plains must have been comparable in size to the present-day Amazon or Mississippi rivers. As more and more sediment was brought in, the margins of the inland sea slowly contracted. By around 95 million years ago, the deposition was complete and the inland sea would never be seen again.
By virtue of its age and the environmental conditions under which the rocks it consists of were deposited, the Winton Formation represents one of the richest sources of dinosaur fossils anywhere in Australia.
A fossil footprint-(ichnite), Wintonopus, found with two other dinosaur genera footprints at the Lark Quarry in Australia, c.f. Tyrannosauropus and Skartopus, have been found in the Winton Formation.
Dipnoi of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Metaceratodus [3] | M. bonei | Isolated tooth plates | Lungfish belonging to the extinct family Ceratodontidae | ||
M. ellioti | |||||
M. wollastoni |
Actinopterygii of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Cladocyclus [4] | C. geddesi | Nearly complete skull and partial skeleton | |||
Squamates of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Varanoidea [5] | Indeterminate | A damaged posterior trunk vertebra | Originally considered as dolichosaurid (cf. Coniasaurus ), [6] but reassigned | ||
Crocodyliformes of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Confractosuchus [7] | C. sauroktonos | Nearly complete skeleton preserving a juvenile ornithopod in its abdomen | ![]() | ||
Isisfordia | I. duncani | Nearly complete skeleton and partial skull, referred complete skull | ![]() | ||
Ornithischians of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Amblydactylus | A. gethingi | Lark Quarry. | Multiple footprints. | ||
Ankylosauria [8] | Indeterminate | Three isolated teeth from left and right dentary and right maxilla | |||
Neornithischia | Indeterminate | Tooth [9] | |||
Ornithopoda [7] | Indeterminate | Digested remains associated with the holotype of Confractosuchus [7] | |||
Ornithopoda | Undescribed | A nearly complete skull and mandible and at least three partial postcranial skeletons. [10] | Small-bodied, recovered as part of "Elasmaria" | ||
Wintonopus | W. latomorum | Snake Creek and Lark Quarry track site. | Footprints. | An ornithopod. |
Sauropods of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Australotitan [11] | A. cooperensis | A partial scapula, humeri, ulna, pubes, ischia, femora, presacral vertebral centrum fragments, and rib fragments. | A large diamantinasaurian sauropod that possesses a mosaic of features shared with titanosaurians with similar geographical and temporal range. Possibly a junior synonym of Diamantinasaurus. [12] | ![]() | |
Diamantinasaurus [13] | D. matildae [13] | A squamosal, quadrates, braincase, surangular, atlas intercentrum axis, cervical vertebrae, middle cervical neural arch, co-ossified sacral centra, cervical ribs, dorsal vertebrae, numerous dorsal ribs, fragmentary gastralia, coalesced sacral vertebrae, isolated sacral processes, scapula, coracoid, partial sternal plate, humeri, ulnae, radius, metacarpals I–V, manual phalanges, ilium, pubes, both ischia, femur, tibia, fibula, astragalus, and numerous fragments. | A diamantinasaurian sauropod known from partial cranial material. | ![]() | |
Savannasaurus [14] | S. elliottorum [14] | Posterior cervical vertebrae, cervical ribs, dorsal vertebrae, dorsal ribs, sacral vertebrae with processes, partial caudal vertebrae, fragmentary scapula, coracoid, sternal plates, incomplete humeri, shattered ulna, radius, metacarpals I–V, metacarpal IV, manual phalanges, fragments of ilia, pubes, ischia, astragalus, metatarsal III, and associated fragments. | A wide-bodied sauropod that was well adapted to the wet, temperate floodplain environment it inhabited. | ![]() | |
Sauropoda [7] | Indeterminate | Poorly preserved remains associated with the holotype of Confractosuchus [7] | |||
Titanosauriformes | Undescribed | Partial skull, consisting of a braincase, quadrates, quadratojugals, a left squamosal, postorbitals, and several unprepared elements. associated with a hind limb [15] | |||
Wintonotitan [13] | W. wattsi [13] | A scapula, both humeri, both ulnae, both radii, near complete metacarpus preserving complete metacarpals II–V with proximal half of metacarpal I, fragmentary dorsal and sacral vertebrae and ribs, partial ilium, ischium, caudal vertebral series including anterior caudals, middle caudals, posterior caudals, proximal chevrons, and numerous unidentifiable fragments. | A titanosaur that is likely to be closely related to Australotitan, Diamantinasaurus and Savannasaurus. | ![]() ![]() |
Theropods of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Australovenator [13] | A. wintonensis | Dentaries, dorsal ribs and rib fragments, gastralial ribs and fragments, partial ilium, ulnae, radius, manus metacarpals, unguals, femur, tibiae, fibula, astragalus, metatarsals, pedal phalanges, humeri, radiale, distal carpal, and manual phalanxes. | A megaraptoran theropod known from postcranial and cranial material. | ![]() | |
Megaraptoridae [16] | Indeterminate | A partial skeleton, consisting of caudal vertebrae, metatarsals, a phalanx, and numerous unidentifiable fragments. | |||
Pterosaurs of the Winton Formation | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Ferrodraco [17] | F. lentoni | A partial premaxillae, maxillae and dentaries, partial frontal, mandibular articular region comprising the surangular, angular and articular, partial cervical vertebrae, partial scapulocoracoid, partial ulna, partial radius, proximal and distal carpals, metacarpal IV, proximal end of metacarpal IV, fragmentary non-wing manual phalanges, partial first wing phalanx (IV-1), and associated fragments. | The most complete pterosaur from Australia and the youngest known anhanguerian. | ![]() | |
Flora of the Winton Formation [18] | |||||
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Taxa | Species | Presence | Material | Notes | Images |
Angiospermae | Indeterminate | Leaf impressions, cuticle fragments | At least ten distinct types, belonging to both monocots and dicotyledons | ||
Araucariaceae | Indeterminate | Leaves | |||
Austrosequoia | A. wintonensis | Cones and leaved axes | A member of Cupressaceae | ||
Cheirolepidiaceae | Four taxa | Dispersed cuticle | |||
Emwadea | E. microcarpa | Seed cones | A member of Araucariaceae, more closely related to Agathis and Wollemia than Araucaria . [19] | ||
Equisetites | Indeterminate | Axes | Horsetail | ||
Ginkgo | G. wintonensis, four other possible species | Leaf impressions (G. wintonensis) Dispersed cuticle | A gingophyte, genus extant. | ||
Lovellea | L. wintonensis | Permineralised flower | A member of Laurales | ||
Aff. Lygodium ? | Indeterminate | Fern pinna | |||
Marchantites | M. marguerita | Liverwort | |||
Microphyllopteris | cf. M. gleichenoides | Frond fragment impression | A fern belonging to the family Gleicheniaceae | ||
Otozamites | cf. O. bengalensis | Leaves | Member of Bennettitales | ||
Phyllopteroides | P. macclymontae | Numerous pinnule impressions | A fern belonging to the family Osmundaceae | ||
Pterostoma | Indeterminate | Leaves | A possible cycad | ||
Ptilophyllum | Indeterminate | Leaves | Member of Bennettitales | ||
Taeniopteris | Indeterminate | Leaf impression | A member of Pentoxylales, youngest record of the group in Australia | ||
Tempskya | T. judithae | Permineralized false trunks | A tree fern | ![]() | |
Austrosaurus was an extinct genus of sauropod dinosaur from the Allaru Formation, from the early Cretaceous of Central-Western Queensland in Australia.
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Mythunga is a genus of anhanguerid pterosaur from the late Early Cretaceous of Australia. Fossil remains of Mythunga dated back to the Albian stage of the Early Cretaceous, and the animal itself was found to be a close relative of another Australian anhanguerid called Ferrodraco.
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Wintonotitan is a genus of titanosauriform dinosaur from Cenomanian -age Winton Formation of Australia. It is known from partial postcranial remains.
Diamantinasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod from Australia that lived during the early Late Cretaceous, about 94 million years ago. The type species of the genus is D. matildae, first described and named in 2009 by Scott Hocknull and colleagues based on fossil finds in the Winton Formation. Meaning "Diamantina lizard", the name is derived from the location of the nearby Diamantina River and the Greek word sauros, "lizard". The specific epithet is from the Australian song Waltzing Matilda, also the locality of the holotype and paratype. The known skeleton includes most of the forelimb, shoulder girdle, pelvis, hindlimb and ribs of the holotype, and one shoulder bone, a radius and some vertebrae of the paratype.
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.
Savannasaurus is a genus of titanosaurian sauropod dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia. It contains one species, Savannasaurus elliottorum, named in 2016 by Stephen Poropat and colleagues. The holotype and only known specimen, originally nicknamed "Wade", is the most complete specimen of an Australian sauropod, and is held at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum. Dinosaurs known from contemporary rocks include its close relative Diamantinasaurus and the theropod Australovenator; associated teeth suggest that Australovenator may have fed on the holotype specimen.
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Ferrodraco is an extinct genus of anhanguerid pterosaur known from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation of Queensland, Australia, containing the single species F. lentoni. The species was named after the former mayor of Winton, Graham Thomas ‘Butch’ Lenton. It is the most complete pterosaur fossil from Australia, being known from the holotype specimen AODF 876, consisting primarily of the anterior portion of the skull and dentary, cervical vertebral centra and a partial wing. Its wingspan was estimated to be about 4 meters (13 ft). Ferrodraco was found to have been within the subfamily Ornithocheirinae, as sister taxon to Mythunga. A recent study also recovered Ferrodraco as sister taxon to Mythunga, but both placed within the family Anhangueridae, more specifically within the subfamily Tropeognathinae.
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Australotitan is an extinct genus of possibly titanosaurian somphospondylan dinosaurs from the Late Cretaceous Winton Formation (Cenomanian–Turonian) of southern-central Queensland, Australia. The genus contains a single species, A. cooperensis, known from multiple partial skeletons. The genus Australotitan may be synonymous with Diamantinasaurus, a contemporary relative.
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David Anthon Elliott is an Australian palaeontologist and sheep and cattle grazier who co-founded the Australian Age of Dinosaurs in Winton, Queensland, with his wife Judy and currently serves as Executive Chairman. His significant contributions to the local, national and global communities have been far-reaching, with a profound impact on the field of palaeontology. Through the establishment and development of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, he has pioneered a new form of tourism known as palaeotourism, attracting new visitors to regional Australia.