The Enigmatic Dinosaur Faunas of Australia

• Published in: The Paleontological Society Special Publications
• Main Author: Long, John
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1994
• Subjects: Antarctic; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s2475262200009679; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S2475262200009679

Australia has a scant but significant record of dinosaurs which includes a prosauropod, two or three sauropods, at least four theropods (including carnosaurs and an ornithomimosaur), four hypsilophodontids, an aberrant iguanodont, a primitive thyreophoran (possibly an ankylosaur), and a possible primitive neoceratopsian. Footprint fossils indicate higher taxonomic diversity, including small bipedal ornithopods and coelurosaurs, very large sauropods, large carnosaurs, and a stegosaur. The most diverse dinosaur assemblage, from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria, represents a polar dinosaur community that lived within the Cretaceous Antarctic Circle.