Cretaceous ichthyosaurs from Western Australia

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 9 years ago

Abstract: Outcrops of probable Birdrong Sandstone (late Hauterivian-mid Barremian) at Cardabia Station, Giralia Anticline, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia, have yielded numerous ichthyosaurian remains in recent years. Two fragmentary skeletons from the area are referred to Platypterygius sp. indet. A proximal humerus from one of these skeletons bears a dorsal trochanter that is morphologically distinct from that of P. longmani from the Albian of Queensland and more closely resembles forms of Platypterygius from Europe and Russia.

Briefly reviewed is additional indeterminate ichthyosaur material from Cardabia Station, as well as fossils from the Birdrong Sandstone and Alinga Formation (early Cenomanian) from just north of Kalbarri.