Wonthaggi Formation

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title: "Wonthaggi Formation" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["geologic-formations-of-australia", "cretaceous-system-of-australia", "early-cretaceous-australia", "valanginian-stage", "hauterivian-stage", "barremian-stage", "aptian-stage", "sandstone-formations", "siltstone-formations", "fluvial-deposits", "fossiliferous-stratigraphic-units-of-oceania", "paleontology-in-victoria-(state)", "geology-of-victoria-(state)"] description: "Geological formation in Victoria, Australia" topic_path: "philosophy" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wonthaggi_Formation" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Geological formation in Victoria, Australia ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox rockunit"]

Field	Value
name	Wonthaggi Formation
type	Geological formation
period	Barremian
age
prilithology	Volcaniclastic sandstone, siltstone
otherlithology	Conglomerate, coal
region	Victoria
country	Australia
coordinates
paleocoordinates
unitof	Strzelecki Group
underlies	Unconformity with Wombat Volcanics & Kersop Arkose
overlies	Paleozoic basement
thickness	Up to 2500 m
extent	Gippsland Basin
map	{{Location map+
relief	1
width	250
float	center
lat_deg	-38.7
lon_deg	145.7
mark	Green pog.svg
marksize	12
image	Flat rocks.jpeg
caption	Flat rocks locality
::

| name = Wonthaggi Formation | type = Geological formation | period = Barremian | age = | prilithology = Volcaniclastic sandstone, siltstone | otherlithology = Conglomerate, coal | region = Victoria | country = Australia | coordinates = | paleocoordinates = | unitof = Strzelecki Group | underlies = Unconformity with Wombat Volcanics & Kersop Arkose | overlies = Paleozoic basement | thickness = Up to 2500 m | extent = Gippsland Basin | map = {{Location map+ | Australia | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = | lat_deg = -38.7 | lon_deg = 145.7 | mark = Green pog.svg | marksize = 12 |map_caption = |image = Flat rocks.jpeg |caption = Flat rocks locality}}

The Wonthaggi Formation is an informal geological formation in Victoria, Australia whose strata date back to the Early Cretaceous. It is part of the Strzelecki Group within the Gippsland Basin. Dinosaur remains are among the fossils that have been recovered from the formation.. It is partially equivalent to the Eumeralla Formation.

Geology

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Eumeralla_and_Wonthaggi_locations.jpeg" caption="Exposure of Wonthaggi Formation green in bottom-right"] ::

The Wonthaggi Formation was deposited within Gippsland Basin, which formed part of a extensional rift valley system between Australia and Antarctica. The lithology primarily consists of fluvially deposited siliciclastics derived from volcanic rocks of the Whitsunday Silicic Large Igneous Province to the East, with suggestions that the sediments either originated from braided river and sheet flood deposits, or meandering river systems on vegetated floodplains. The age of the formation is thought to be Valanginian to Barremian, with the Flat Rocks site being late Barremian (~125 Ma) in age, older than the sediments from the Eumeralla Formation, which are thought to be Aptian-Albian in age.

Permafrost

Paleosol facies in the Wonthaggi have recorded periglacial cryoturbation structures. Unusual soft sediment deformation has been observed at the Flat Rocks and Kilcunda localities, representing cryogenic hummocks. At Kilcunda, clastic dykes representing thermal contraction cracks have been identified. In the coal seams of the Wonthaggi, stone rolls are interpreted as products of a distinct form of periglacial deformation in aapa mires. Periods of warmer, temperate climate conditions are recorded as Ultisols in the Valanginian interval of the sedimentary unit.

Vertebrate paleofauna

Indeterminate ornithopod remains are present in Victoria, Australia. Indeterminate megaraptorid remains are present in Victoria, Australia.

Amphibians

::data[format=table]

Amphibians of the Wonthaggi Formation	Genus	Species	Presence	Notes	Images
Koolasuchus	K. cleelandi	Tree Trunk Point, Dwyers Hill, San Remo	Chigutisaurid temnospondyl, last known temnospondyl	[[File:Koolasuchus.png	center
::

Dinosaurs

Ornithischians

::data[format=table]

Ornithischians of the Wonthaggi Formation	Genus	Species	Locality	Material	Notes	Images
Ankylosauria indet.	Indeterminate	Flat Rocks	Teeth, dorsal vertebra, ribs, osteoderms
			known as "Victorian ornithopod maxillary morphotype 4", consists of a partial right maxilla	Intermediate in morphology between Galleonosaurus and Atlascopcosaurus
			Known from a maxilla
Q. ?intrepidus	Flat Rocks	Known as "Victorian ornithopodan dentary morphotype 2", represented by two dentary fragments,	Possibly distinct from Q. intrepidus
			Single damaged ulna
Ornithopoda indet.	Indeterminate	Flat Rocks	Dentaries referred to as "Victorian ornithopodan dentary morphotype 3" including P228408, NMV P231182, NMV P199135 and isolated teeth	Different from Q. intrepidus.
Ornithopoda indet.	Indeterminate	Cape Paterson	single femur	Known as "Victorian Hypsilophodontid Femur Type 2". Larger than contemporaneous ornithopods.
::

Theropods

::data[format=table]

Theropods of the Wonthaggi Formation	Genus	Species	Locality	Material	Notes	Images
Megaraptora indet.	Indeterminate	Flat Rocks	Numerous isolated teeth, and a left astragalus	Originally referred to "Allosaurus" robustus
Megaraptoridae indet.	Indeterminate	Shack Bay	a complete frontal, attached to a partial parietal
Noasauridae	Indeterminate	San Remo Member	NMV P221202, astragalocalcaneum	A non-elaphrosaurine noasaurid.
::

Mammals

::data[format=table]

Mammals of the Wonthaggi Formation	Genus	Species	Presence	Material	Notes	Images
Ausktribosphenos	A. nyktos	Flat rocks	Partial dentary with teeth	Ausktribosphenid
Bishops	B. whitmorei	Partial dentary with teeth	Ausktribosphenid
Corriebaatar	C. marywaltersae	"NMV P216655, a fragment of a left dentary bearing a complete plagiaulacoid p4 and the anterior root of m1"	Multituberculate	[[File:Corriebaatar.png	center	frameless]]
Kryoparvus	K. gerriti	Partial dentary with teeth	?Ausktribosphenid
Teinolophos	T. trusleri	Partial dentary with teeth	Monotreme
::

References

References

1. Weishampel, David B; ''et al.'' (2004). "Dinosaur distribution (Early Cretaceous, Australasia)." In: Weishampel, David B.; Dodson, Peter; and Osmólska, Halszka (eds.): The Dinosauria, 2nd, Berkeley: University of California Press. Pp. 573-574. {{ISBN. 0-520-24209-2.
2. Retallack, G. J.. (2023-08-18). "Dinosaur and tree-line invasion of southeastern Australia during Cretaceous greenhouse spikes". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences.
3. (2018-04-03). "Early Cretaceous polar biotas of Victoria, southeastern Australia—an overview of research to date". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology.
4. (September 2010). "Ankylosaurian dinosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous of southeastern Australia". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology.
5. (2019). "New small-bodied ornithopods (Dinosauria, Neornithischia) from the Early Cretaceous Wonthaggi Formation (Strzelecki Group) of the Australian-Antarctic rift system, with revision of ''Qantassaurus intrepidus'' Rich and Vickers-Rich, 1999". Journal of Paleontology.
6. "Table 18.1," in Weishampel, ''et al.'' (2004). Page 395.
7. (2014). "Oldest known avian footprints from Australia: Eumeralla Formation (Albian), Dinosaur Cove, Victoria". Palaeontology.
8. (2019-07-04). "New megaraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) remains from the Lower Cretaceous Eumeralla Formation of Cape Otway, Victoria, Australia (Including supplemental material)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.
9. (2023-11-02). "A megaraptorid (Dinosauria: Theropoda) frontal from the upper Strzelecki Group (Lower Cretaceous) of Victoria, Australia". Cretaceous Research.
10. (2020-01-29). "Noasaurids are a component of the Australian 'mid'-Cretaceous theropod fauna". Scientific Reports.

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