The Dinosaurian Ichnofauna of the Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian) Broome Sandstone of the Walmadany Area (James Price Point), Dampier Peninsula, Western Australia

Abstract

<p>Extensive and well-preserved track sites in the coastally exposed Lower Cretaceous (Valanginian–Barremian)Broome Sandstone of the Dampier Peninsula provide almost the entire fossil record of dinosaurs from the western half of the Australian continent. Tracks near the town of Broome were described in the late 1960s as <i>Megalosauropus broomensisand</i> attributed to a medium-sized theropod trackmaker. Brief reports in the early 1990s suggested the occurrence of at least another nine types of tracks, referable to theropod, sauropod, ornithopod, and thyreophoran trackmakers, at scattered track sites spread over more than 80 km of coastline north of Broome, potentially representing one of the world's most diverse dinosaurian ichnofaunas. More recently, it has been proposed that this number could be as high as 16 and that the sites are spread over more than 200 km. However, the only substantial research that has been published on these more recent discoveries is a preliminary study of the sauropod tracks and an account of the ways in which the heavy passage of sauropod trackmakers may have shaped the Dampier Peninsula's Early Cretaceous landscape. With the other types of dinosaurian tracks in the Broome Sands tone remaining undescribed, and the full extent and nature of the Dampier Peninsula's dinosaurian track sites yet to be adequately addressed, the overall scientific significance of the ichnofauna has remained enigmatic.</p>