Fig. 133—Ichthyosaurus australis, McCoy.
A—Part of head, showing eye protected by sclerotic plates
B—Left pectoral paddle. L. Cretaceous. Flinders River, Queensland. 1/8 nat. size
(Nat. Mus. Coll.)
Lower Cretaceous Reptiles.—
The Rolling Downs formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Thompson and Flinders Rivers in Queensland has yielded remains of a Tortoise, Notochelone costata (see antea, Fig. 17); and the interesting Fish-lizard Ichthyosaurus. Numerous and well preserved remains of I. australis McCoy come from the Flinders River ([Fig. 133]); whilst I. marathonensis is recorded from Marathon Station, Queensland. The former species is typically represented by a nearly complete skeleton, and was considered by McCoy to be one of the largest examples of the genus, since a perfect specimen would probably reach the length of 25 feet. Its teeth resemble those of I. campylodon, Carter, from the English Chalk. Of the Sauropterygia two species of Pliosaurus (P. macrospondylus and P. sutherlandi) have been described from the Lower Cretaceous of the Flinders River; whilst the latter species has also occurred at Pitchery Creek, Central Queensland and at Marathon. P. macrospondylus is distinguished from P. sutherlandi by the roughened edges of the vertebral centra. Another genus of the “lizard-finned” reptiles (Sauropterygia), viz., Cimoliosaurus, occurs in the Upper Cretaceous of White Cliffs, New South Wales ([Fig. 134 B, C.])
A—Taniwhasaurus oweni. Hector. (Lower jaw). Cretaceous. New Zealand
B—Cimoliosaurus leucoscopelus, Eth. fil. (Teeth). Up. Cretaceous. New South Wales
C—Cimoliosaurus leucoscopelus, Eth. fil. (Phalangeal). Up. Cretaceous. New South Wales
D—Miolania oweni, A. S. Woodw. Pleistocene. Queensland
Cretaceous Reptiles, New Zealand.—
The Waipara Series (Cretaceous) of New Zealand contains a fairly large number of reptilian species belonging to several genera among which may be mentioned Plesiosaurus, Polycotylus, and Cimoliosaurus among the Sauropterygia; and Tylosaurus and Taniwhasaurus ([Fig. 134 A]), marine lizard-like reptiles, belonging to the sub-order Pythonomopha.