New ankylosaurian cranial remains from the lower cretaceous (upper albian) toolebuc formation of Queensland, Australia

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dc.contributor.authorFrauenfelder, TGen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBell, PRen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBrougham, Ten_AU
dc.contributor.authorBevitt, JJen_AU
dc.contributor.authorBicknell, RDCen_AU
dc.contributor.authorKear, BPen_AU
dc.contributor.authorWroe, Sen_AU
dc.contributor.authorCampione, NEen_AU
dc.date.accessioned2024-10-03T22:02:37Zen_AU
dc.date.available2024-10-03T22:02:37Zen_AU
dc.date.issued2022-03-28en_AU
dc.date.statistics2024-10en_AU
dc.description.abstractAustralian dinosaur research has undergone a renaissance in the last 10 years, with growing knowledge of mid-Cretaceous assemblages revealing an endemic high-paleolatitude Gondwanan fauna. One of its most conspicuous members is ankylosaurs, which are rare but nonetheless occur in most Australian dinosaur-bearing formations spanning the uppermost Barremian to lower Cenomanian. Here we describe a partial ankylosaur skull from the marine Toolebuc Formation exposed near Boulia in western Queensland, Australia. This skull represents the oldest ankylosaurian material from Queensland, predating the holotype of Kunbarrasaurus ieversi, which was found in the overlying Allaru Mudstone. The ankylosaur skull is encased in a limestone concretion with the maxillary tooth rows preserved only as impressions. Synchrotron radiation X-ray tomography was used to non-destructively image and reconstruct the specimen in 3D and facilitate virtual preparation of the separate cranial bones. The reconstruction of the skull revealed the vomer, palatines, sections of the ectopterygoids and maxillae, and multiple teeth. The palate has posteriorly positioned choanae that differs from the more anterior placement seen in most other ankylosaurians, but which is shared with K. ieversi, Akainacephalus johnsoni, Cedarpelta bilbeyhallorum, Gobisaurus domoculus, and Panoplosaurus mirus. Phylogenetic analyses place the new cranial material within the recently named basal ankylosaurian clade Parankylosauria together with K. ieversi. This result, together with the anatomical similarities to the holotype of K. ieversi, permits its referral to cf. Kunbarrasaurus sp. This specimen elucidates the palatal anatomy of Australian ankylosaurs and highlights one of the most ubiquitous components of Australian mid-Cretaceous dinosaur faunas. © 2022 Frauenfelder, Bell, Brougham, Bevitt, Bicknell, Kear, Wroe and Campione. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).en_AU
dc.description.sponsorshipSynchrotron scanning was facilitated by an IMBL beamtime application (15769) awarded to RDCB and TB. RDCB and TB are financed by UNE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. This study was funded by a UNE Research Training Program Scholarship to TGF and an Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Award (DE190101423) to NEC.en_AU
dc.identifier.citationFrauenfelder, T. G., Bell, P. R., Brougham, T., Bevitt, J. J., Bicknell, R. D. C., Kear, B. P., Wroe, S., & Campione, N. E. (2022). New ankylosaurian cranial remains from the lower cretaceous (upper albian) toolebuc formation of Queensland, Australia. Frontiers in Earth Science, 10. doi:10.3389/feart.2022.803505en_AU
dc.identifier.issn2296-6463en_AU
dc.identifier.journaltitleFrontiers in Earth Scienceen_AU
dc.identifier.pagination803505-en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttp://dx.doi.org/10.3389/feart.2022.803505en_AU
dc.identifier.urihttps://apo.ansto.gov.au/handle/10238/15713en_AU
dc.identifier.volume10en_AU
dc.language.isoenen_AU
dc.publisherFrontiersen_AU
dc.subjectAustraliaen_AU
dc.subjectQueenslanden_AU
dc.subjectReptilesen_AU
dc.subjectGondwanaen_AU
dc.subjectSkullen_AU
dc.subjectANSTOen_AU
dc.subjectBeamsen_AU
dc.subjectArchaeological specimensen_AU
dc.titleNew ankylosaurian cranial remains from the lower cretaceous (upper albian) toolebuc formation of Queensland, Australiaen_AU
dc.typeJournal Articleen_AU
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