| Woolungasaurus | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Holotype paddle | |
Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Reptilia |
| Superorder: | †Sauropterygia |
| Order: | †Plesiosauria |
| Superfamily: | †Plesiosauroidea |
| Family: | †Elasmosauridae |
| Genus: | †Woolungasaurus Persson, 1960 |
| Species | |
Woolungasaurus ('Woolunga lizard', named after an Aboriginal mythical reptile, Persson 1960) is a dubious genus ofplesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile, belonging to theElasmosauridae.
Thetype species,Woolungasaurus glendowerensis, was named afterGlendower Station byPer Ove Persson in 1960,[1] is known from a partial skeleton,holotypeQM F6890, (forty-six vertebrae, ribs, forearms, shoulder girdle and part of the rear limbs) unearthed from theWallumbilla Formation (Albian,Lower Cretaceous) of the Richmond District,Queensland, Australia. Another find of undetermined species, consisting of twelve vertebrae, was unearthed from theMaree Formation (Cretaceous, of uncertain age) ofNeales River, nearLake Eyre, South Australia. A skull formerly referred to this genus from Yambore Creek, near Maxwelton, Queensland, is now the holotype ofEromangasaurus.
However, because of the uninformative, flawed diagnosis of Persson (1960), Welles (1962) consideredWoolungasaurus anomen dubium.[2][3] In 2004, the genus was referred toStyxosaurus bySven Sachs in 2004.[2] Kear (2005) disagreed with this view and followed the interpretation by Welles (1962), rendering the genus to be an indeterminate elasmosaurid.[3]
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