Redescription of Woolungasaurus Glendowerensis (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Northeast Queensland
REDESCRIPTION OF WOOLUNGASAURUS GLENDOWERENSIS (PLESIOSAURIA: ELASMOSAURIDAE) FROM THE LOWER CRETACEOUS OF NORTHEAST QUEENSLAND SVEN SACHS Sachs, S. 2004 06 30: Resdescription of Woolungasaurus glendowerensis (Plesiosauria: Elasmosauridae) from the Lower Cretaceous of Northeast Queensland. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 49(2): 713-731. Brisbane. ISSN 0079-8835. Woolungasaurus glendowerensis Persson, 1960, was based on an incomplete postcranial skeleton, comprising cervical, pectoral, dorsal and caudal vertebrae, an almost complete sacrum, as well as elements of the pectoral and pelvic girdles and of the fore and hind paddles. Following comparisons with specimens referable to all valid genera of the Elasmosauridae, this specimen and additional material is identified as belonging to Styxosaurus. It is the earliest record of this genus and the first in the Southern Hemisphere. o Plesiosauria, Elasmosauridae, Woolungasaurus, Styxosaurus, Lower Cretaceous, northeast Queensland. Sven Sachs, Institut für Paläontologie, Freie Universität Berlin, Malteser Strasse 74-100, Haus D, 12249 Berlin, Germany; 19 November 2001. The Elasmosauridae are a well-known family have been considered, except for the doubtful within the Plesiosauroidea. Most skeletal remains taxa, Fresnosaurus Welles, 1943, are known from the Northern Hemisphere Moraenosaurus Welles, 1943 and Aphrosaurus (especially North America, Carpenter, 1999). In Welles, 1943. Australasia, only few localities have yielded their remains (Cruickshank et al., 1999). An almost INSTITUTIONAL ABBREVIATIONS. complete, but badly crushed skull from the AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, Aptian of northeast Queensland is a new species New York, USA; ANSP, Academy of Natural of Tuarangisaurus. In about the same region as Sciences, Philadelphia, USA; DMNH, Denver the skull, Glendower Station near Prairie, Museum of Natural Sciences, Denver, USA; QM, postcranial skeletal remains were discovered by Queensland Museum, Brisbane, Australia; RMF, A.W.
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