Cretaceous marine reptiles from the Eromanga Sea - a research project focussing on the fossils of Outback Queensland

在1.4亿到9500万年前，Eromanga海覆盖了澳大利亚北部和中部的大片地区。内陆海的主要动物组成是海洋爬行动物，如蛇颈龙、鱼龙和海龟。北昆士兰州有广泛的海洋化石矿床有待系统地勘探。来自这些地层的许多具有世界意义的标本被收藏在澳大利亚、昆士兰和里士满海洋化石博物馆。本项目旨在通过改进白垩纪海洋爬行动物的化石记录和分析新发现的澳大利亚标本，包括世界上第一个蛇颈龙胚胎，来解决有关它们的进化、环境、生活方式和分布的基本问题。

The Eromanga Sea covered large tracts of north and central Australia between 140 and 95 million years ago. Major faunal components of this inland-sea were marine reptiles, such as plesiosaurs, ichthyosaurs and sea turtles. North Qld has extensive marine fossil deposits remaining to be systematically explored. Many world-significant specimens from these strata are housed in the Australian, Queensland and Richmond Marine Fossil museums. This project intends to resolve fundamental questions concerning the evolution, environment, lifestyle and distribution of Cretaceous marine reptiles by improving their fossil record and analysing newly discovered Australian specimens, including the world's first plesiosaur embryo.