Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/60850
Title: Diversity and Ecology of Australian Dinosaurs with Insights into Dental Ecomorphology
Contributor(s): Frauenfelder, Timothy George  (author); Bell, Philip  (supervisor)orcid ; Campione, Nicolas  (supervisor)orcid ; Wroe, Stephen  (supervisor)orcid 
Conferred Date: 2024-06-17
Copyright Date: 2023
Thesis Restriction Date until: 2027-06-17
Handle Link: https://hdl.handle.net/1959.11/60850
Abstract: 

Australian dinosaur palaeontology has recently experienced a surge of new discoveries, primarily focusing on the Winton and Griman Creek formations. This thesis contributes to the understanding of Australia’s dinosaur diversity by describing material from lesser-known sites and by exploring how incomplete and isolated material can be used to explore morphological variation and evolution. Notably, it includes the description of the second ankylosaur skull from Australia, identified as the oldest material referrable to cf. Kunbarrasaurus sp., and rediscovery of a diverse vertebrate locality near Surat, Queensland: including dinosaur, marine reptile, and shark fossils, with implications for the age correlation of the Griman Creek Formation. Despite the ever-growing knowledge of Australian dinosaur diversity, their ecology is vastly understudied. I provide the first comprehensive study of Australian sauropod ecology alongside the description of opalised sauropod teeth from New South Wales, and reveal sauropod tooth evolution on a global scale (incorporating Australian taxa for the first time) and explore how it relates to different ecological specialisations and environmental factors, using phylogenetic comparative methods and biomechanical analyses.

Publication Type: Thesis Doctoral
Fields of Research (FoR) 2020: 310306 Palaeoecology
310401 Animal systematics and taxonomy
370506 Palaeontology (incl. palynology)
Socio-Economic Objective (SEO) 2020: 280102
280107 Expanding knowledge in the earth sciences
280111 Expanding knowledge in the environmental sciences
HERDC Category Description: T2 Thesis - Doctorate by Research
Description: Please contact rune@une.edu.au if you require access to this thesis for the purpose of research or study
Appears in Collections:School of Environmental and Rural Science
School of Science and Technology
Thesis Doctoral

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