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Hi all I found this little specimen a while back back and have a tenatave Id for the specimen I am still open to other options as to what the fossil may be. This specimen was found in the marine enviroment of the toolebuc formation in central Queensland.This formation is cretaceous aged about 100 millions years. In this enviroment I have found - ichthyosaur, pliosaur, turtle, shark, fish, bird, pterosaur so the posibilities are there. I have held back on the tenatave ID so as not to push in any direction and to allow alternate sugestions. Thanks in advance for any input. Mike

I found this little specimen that I assume is a jaw section a while back when sieving through some matrix. The material that it came from is marine from the toolebuc formation in central Queensland Australia this is cretaceous albian in age. Any input I would be grateful for. The specimen is 4mm on the long so quite small Regards Mike

I collected these two small marine reptile teeth at the council fossil hunting site 2 near Richmond in Queensland, Australia. The location is a Cretaceous marine locality and exposes the Toolebuc Formation, about 100 million years old. Fossils of fish, sharks, ichthyosaurs, pliosaurs and other types of plesiosaur, pterosaurs and turtles are all known from the area. These two teeth i believe could be associated, as they were found in the same fishy layer less than 30 centimetres from one another and exhibit similar features. Marine reptile teeth are also not very common here in general so it would be quite coincidental. The main options are Ichthyosaur (Platypterygius australis) or some kind of plesiosaur. I am leaning towards plesiosaur but would like more opinions. Both teeth have a weird appearance where the enamel covers the tip of the tooth only, then there is a middle section with no enamel that is quite smoothened off and finally at the base of both teeth the crown-root junction appears to be reached. I originally thought the middle section being free of enamel was simply a wear-related thing but the fact that both teeth are like this and especially in the smaller one the feature seems to be quite clear so i'm now confused. The closest match i have so far seen from browsing pictures is teeth of the polycotylid plesiosaur Dolichorhynchops. Obviously this genus is not present in this location, but there is however an unnamed polycotylid plesiosaur from Richmond. Perhaps these teeth come from this animal? The smaller tooth measures only 12 mm and the larger one 19 mm. Tooth 1 Tooth 2 For comparison, here is a picture of the teeth of Dolychorhynchops The smaller ones especially resemble my smaller tooth above in shape, but don't seem to have the same smooth mid section before the root To make things even more interesting, i also found this similar tooth last year from Richmond but at a different locality. The general consensus on this forum was that it was plesiosaurian not ichthyosaur. It also has a clearly enameled tip then a smooth or non enameled mid section and then possibly the top of the root at the very bottom. Another coincidence? Am i completely nuts? I'll let you decide

Collected recently at a marine Cretaceous location near Richmond, QLD, Australia (Toolebuc Formation). 100 million years old. Fossils of both fish (some quite large) and pterosaurs are known from the location. There were also marine reptiles but i think fish or pterosaur are the only two possibilities in this case. I have a number of other definitive fish teeth from this location but they all look somewhat different which is why i am confused with this one. There appears to be a bit of bone attached to the bottom of the tooth, and maybe a little bit to one side of the specimen as well (the large object however i think is a worn belemnite). It measures 18 mm long, but note the tip of the tooth is broken.

G'day everyone! This is the fourth big fossil hunting trip report I’ve written now on TFF and it covers my latest adventures in outback Central Queensland (in and around the small town of Richmond). Had I told myself only 3 years ago that I would get to go on all these amazing fossil hunting trips both in England and now in Australia as well I wouldn’t have believed it for a second! Yet now I can finally cross Richmond off my list, which is something I have wanted to do for many years now. Richmond is arguably the fossil capital of Australia and produces amazing material, both vertebrate and invertebrate, from a time during the Cretaceous period about 101-95 million years ago when roughly a quarter of Australia was periodically covered by a warm inland sea called the Eromanga Sea. Fossils of plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs, fish, turtles, pterosaurs, ammonites and the occasional dinosaur washed in from neighbouring lands are among the most recognisable faunal groups found in the area. I was put into contact with Dr Patrick Smith (who is the curator of the local fossil museum at Richmond called Kronosaurus Korner) by one of my university teachers and from there it was planned for me to come up for a few weeks to Richmond to do a small taxonomy project on fossil shark teeth from the Mackunda Formation. I also participated in a 4 day excavation where Patrick, myself and a small team of other dedicated fossil enthusiasts helped dig up the skeleton of an Ichthyosaur (Platypterygius australis) that had been found in one of the free fossil hunting quarries near Richmond. The excavation made the news and a link to an online article about the dig can be found below. I made it into a couple of the photos! Although I have been collecting for 10 years now this was my first ‘proper’ fossil dig where I got to learn and observe a lot of the necessary skills used by vertebrate palaeontologists in the field when excavating a skeleton such as gridding, mapping bone positions, digging pedestals around the bones and plaster jacketing. Seeing it done countless times on many documentaries doesn’t compare to the real thing! I also got to try out various fossil prep techniques in the lab such as using air scribes and acid prepping. In addition to my internship I was able to do a lot of my own fossil hunting to add to my personal collection and this trip marked the first time that I could collect Australian Mesozoic vertebrate material which was a dream come true for me! My trip to Richmond also coincided with a trip run by the Fossil Club of NSW (which I am a member of) so I was able to collect with them on some days as well and also meet fellow TFF member Foosil, who is part of the club and also attended the trip. The results of my fossil collecting efforts and also my internship excavation are showcased below. Normally I would go into detail about the events of each day and end up with a small novel by the end of it but this time I have decided to let the pictures mostly do the talking instead. What I will say though is that the things I managed to find on this trip absolutely blew me away and are among the best things I have ever collected in my life up to this point, rivalling if not exceeding the very best finds I made on my previous two England collecting trips. To find this kind of fossil material in Australia so soon after doing the same sort of thing in Victoria only 7 months prior was very awesome for me and I already can’t wait for my next fossil trip to Forbes and Dunedoo (for Trilobites and Glossopteris leaves respectively) in just a couple of weeks! I also plan on returning to Richmond in June or July next year as well and continuing work with Patrick at the KK museum. My biggest problem will surely be finding the space to store all of these great finds. Now for the pictures! Ichthyosaur Excavation (5/7/16 to 8/7/16) and Miscellaneous Photos from the Trip News article (I’m the guy in the green jumper!): http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-12/marine-fossils-found-in-outback-qld/7589792 Here is the Ichthyosaurs articulated tail vertebrae, alongside a reconstruction of Platypterygius for reference. A photo of the Ichthyosaurs ribs, some vertebrae and also part of its jaw in the lower right corner More vertebrae, ribs and part of the jaw. The dig site with a grid set up prior to excavation. I am drawing a map of the bone positions in the ground so that the original context of the skeleton can be retained once we took it out in pieces. Me drawing my grid map. I must say it was a lot of fun! The finished product, which i was quite happy with! Note the animal was nicknamed 'B2' by its discoverer due to the banana-like shape of its body. The head is near the top left with its front paddles stretched out on either side, and its tail tip is towards the lower left. Starting to dig out the skeleton. Plaster jacketing sections of the skeleton. These next two photos of Izak (Foosil on TFF) and I were taken on a day collecting trip just out of Richmond. The rocks here are from the Mackunda Formation (97-96 million years old) and produced a nice assortment of shark teeth, crustaceans, bivalves, ammonites and belemnites. The dog belonged to the property owner, he wouldn't leave us alone! Me outside the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum near Winton. Now for the pictures of my fossil finds! Note that all fossil finds below unless otherwise stated are from the marine Toolebuc Formation and are about 100 million years old.