Australian fossil marine reptiles: a research and regional museum program

澳大利亚中生代海洋爬行动物化石很常见，但研究很少。其中两个生产力最高的地区--里士满QLD和库伯佩迪SA--在国际上具有重要意义，它们跨越了一个鲜为人知的海洋爬行动物进化的地层区间，代表了一个易受接近冰冻条件影响的高纬度地理区域。这样的保存在其他地方是绝无仅有的，为解剖学、系统性和古生物学研究提供了独特的机会。这种研究使当地社区受益，因为它构成了地区性博物馆展览的基础，产生了长期的旅游收入，并鼓励地质资源被视为宝贵的自然资产，供未来负责任地管理。

Australian Mesozoic marine reptile fossils are common but poorly studied. Two of the most productive localities - Richmond QLD, Coober Pedy SA - are internationally important, spanning a poorly known stratigraphic interval of marine reptile evolution and representing a high-latitude geographic region subject to near freezing conditions. Such preservation occurs nowhere else and provides a unique opportunity for anatomical, systematic and palaeobiological investigations. Such research benefits local communities because it forms the basis for regional museum displays, generates long-term tourism revenue, and encourages geological resources to be viewed as valuable natural assets to be responsibly managed for the future.