Fossils of Australia

Lepidodendron, from Ancient Greek λεπίς (lepís), meaning "scale", and δένδρον (déndron), meaning "tree", is an extinct genus of primitive lycopodian vascular plants belonging to the order Lepidodendrales. It is well preserved and common in the fossil record. Like other Lepidodendrales, species of Lepidodendron grew as large-tree-like plants in wetland coal forest environments. They sometimes reached heights of , and the trunks were often over in diameter. They are often known as "scale trees", due to their bark having been covered in diamond-shaped leaf-bases, from which leaves grew during ear

Kronosaurus ( ) is an extinct genus of large short-necked pliosaur that lived during the Aptian to Albian stages of the Early Cretaceous in what is now Australia. The first known specimen was received in 1899 and consists of a partially preserved mandibular symphysis, which was first thought to come from an ichthyosaur according to Charles De Vis. However, it was in 1924 that Albert Heber Longman formally described this specimen as the holotype of an imposing pliosaurid, to which he gave the scientific name K. queenslandicus, which is still the only recognized species nowadays. The genus name,

Glossopteris (etymology: from Ancient Greek γλῶσσα, glôssa 'tongue' + πτερίς, pterís 'fern') is the largest and best-known genus of the extinct Permian order of seed plants known as Glossopteridales (also known as Arberiales, Ottokariales, or Dictyopteridiales). The name Glossopteris refers only to leaves, within the framework of form genera used in paleobotany, used for leaves of plants belonging to the glossopterid family Dictyopteridiaceae.

Obdurodon is a genus of extinct platypus-like Australian monotreme which lived from the Late Oligocene to the Late Miocene. Three species have been described in the genus, the type species Obdurodon insignis, plus Obdurodon dicksoni and Obdurodon tharalkooschild. Obdurodon appeared much like their modern day relative the platypus, except adults retained their molar teeth, and unlike the platypus, which forages on the lakebed, they may have foraged in the water column or surface.

Pelagornis is an extinct genus of prehistoric pseudotooth birds, a group of extinct seabirds. Species span from the Oligocene to the Early Pleistocene. Members of Pelagornis represent among the largest pseudotooth birds, with one species, P. sandersi, having the widest wingspan of any bird known.

Tribrachidium is a tri-radially symmetric fossil animal that lived in the late Ediacaran (Vendian) seas. In life, it was hemispherical in form. T. heraldicum is the best known member of the extinct group Trilobozoa.

Baculites is an extinct genus of heteromorph ammonite cephalopods with almost straight shells. The genus, which lived worldwide throughout most of the Late Cretaceous, and which briefly survived the K-Pg mass extinction event, was named by Lamarck in 1799.

Sacabambaspis is an extinct genus of armored jawless fish which lived in the Ordovician period. Sacabambaspis inhabited shallow waters on the continental margins of the southern supercontinent Gondwana. The most complete specimens have been found in Bolivia, while armor fragments are also known from Argentina, Australia, and Oman. Sacabambaspis vaguely resembles a slender tadpole, with an oversized armor-plated head, flat body, and no discernible fins outside of its narrow tail. The eyes are closely spaced and positioned at the very front of the head, akin to car headlamps. It was about long i

Teinolophos, from Ancient Greek τείνω (teínō), meaning "extend", and λόφος (lóphos), meaning "crest", is a genus of teinolophid monotreme that lived during the late Barremian age of the Early Cretaceous. It is known from four specimens, each consisting of a partial lower jawbone collected from the Wonthaggi Formation at Flat Rocks, Victoria, Australia.

Favosites is an extinct genus of tabulate coral characterized by polygonal closely packed corallites (giving it the common name "honeycomb coral"). The walls between corallites are pierced by pores known as mural pores which allowed transfer of nutrients between polyps. Favosites, like many corals, thrived in warm sunlit seas, feeding by filtering microscopic plankton with their stinging tentacles and often forming part of reef complexes. The genus had a worldwide distribution from the Late Ordovician to Late Permian. ==Distribution== Favosites had a vast distribution, and its fossils can be

Isisfordia is an extinct genus of crocodyliform closely related to crocodilians that lived in Australia during the Middle Cretaceous (Albian–Cenomanian).

Acutiramus is a genus of giant predatory eurypterid, an extinct group of aquatic arthropods. Fossils of Acutiramus have been discovered in deposits of Late Silurian to Early Devonian age. Eight species have been described, five from North America (including A. cummingsi, the type species) and two from the Czech Republic (with one of them potentially found in Australia as well). The generic name derives from Latin acuto ("acute" or "sharp") and Latin ramus ("branch"), referring to the acute angle of the final tooth of the claws relative to the rest of the claw.

fossil bilaterian

thumb|right|Thin-section view of Halysites corallum

Opallionectes andamookaensis (meaning "the opal swimmer from Andamooka") is the name given to a 5 m (16 ft) long cryptoclidian plesiosaur, which is thought to have lived during the early Cretaceous period (Lower middle Aptian), 115 million years ago, in shallow seas covering what is now Australia.

Prosqualodon is an extinct genus of Early to Middle Miocene cetacean from Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and Venezuela.

Palaeospondylus ("early vertebra") is an extinct genus of fish described from fossils found in both the Achanarras slate quarry of Caithness, Scotland, and the Cravens Peak Beds of Queensland, Australia.

Atrypa is a genus of brachiopod with round to short egg-shaped shells covered with many fine radial ridges (or costae). Growth lines form perpendicular to the costae and are spaced approximately 2 to 3 times further apart than the costae.. The pedunculate valve is slightly convex, but oftentimes levels out or becomes slightly concave toward the anterior margin (opposite the hinge and pedicle). The brachial valve is highly convex. Neither valve contains an interarea (a flat area bordering the hinge line, approximately perpendicular with the rest of the valve). Atrypa had a large geographic rang

Batrachosuchus is a genus of temnospondyl that existed from the Early to Middle Triassic of southern Africa (Ntawere Formation of Zambia and Burgersdorp Formation of South Africa) and the Blina Shale of Australia. The holotype is a skull registered at the Natural History Museum UK (NHMUK PV R 3589).

Cretalamna is a genus of extinct otodontid shark that lived from the latest Early Cretaceous to Eocene epoch (about 103 to 46 million years ago). It is considered by many to be the ancestor of the largest sharks to have ever lived, such as Otodus angustidens, Otodus chubutensis, and Otodus megalodon.

Tasmaniosaurus ('lizard from Tasmania', although this genus is not a true lizard) is an extinct genus of archosauromorph reptile known from the Knocklofty Formation (Early Triassic) of West Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. The type species is T. triassicus. This genus is notable not only due to being one of the most complete Australian Triassic reptiles known, but also due to being a very close relative of Archosauriformes. Once believed to be a proterosuchid, this taxon is now believed to have been intermediate between advanced non-archosauriform archosauromorphs such as Prolacerta, and basal arc

Eastmanosteus ("Eastman's bone") is a fossil genus of dunkleosteid placoderms. It was closely related to the giant Dunkleosteus, but differed from that genus in size, in possessing a distinctive tuberculated bone ornament, a differently shaped nuchal plate and a more zig-zagging course of the sutures of the skull roof.

Ferganoceratodus (from Fergana + Ceratodus) is a genus of prehistoric freshwater lungfish known from worldwide during the Mesozoic. Based on morphological evidence, it has either been recovered as a basal member of the Ceratodontiformes or to be the sister group of the Neoceratodontidae (containing the extant Australian lungfish).

extinct shark species

Leptaena is an extinct genus of mid-sized brachiopod that existed from the Dariwilian epoch to the Emsian epoch, though some specimens have been found in strata as late in age as the Tournasian epoch. Like some other Strophomenids, Lepteana were epifaunal, meaning they lived on top of the seafloor, not buried within it, and were suspension feeders.

Eusthenodon (Greek for "strong-tooth" – eusthenes- meaning "strong", -odon meaning "tooth") is an extinct genus of marine tristichopterid tetrapodomorphs from the Late Devonian period, ranging between 365 and 359 million years ago (Late Famennian). They are well known for being a cosmopolitan genus with remains being recovered from East Greenland, Australia, Central Russia, USA (Pennsylvania), and Belgium. Compared to the other closely related genera of the Tristichopteridae clade, Eusthenodon was one of the largest lobe-finned fishes (approximately 2.5 meters in length) and among the most der

Obamus is an extinct enigmatic organism from the late Ediacaran of Australia, . It is torus in shape, and is a monotypic genus, containing only Obamus coronatus.

Horodyskia is a fossilised organism found in rocks dated from to . Its shape has been described as a "string of beads" connected by a very fine thread. It is considered one of the oldest known eukaryotes.

Belonostomus (from , 'dart' and 'mouth') is a genus of prehistoric ray-finned fish that was described by Louis Agassiz in 1844. It is a member of the order Aspidorhynchiformes, a group of fish known for their distinctive elongated rostrums.

Griphognathus (from 'riddle') and 'jaw') is an extinct genus of lungfish from the late Devonian period of Europe and Australia.

Eiectus is a potentially valid genus of extinct short-necked pliosaur that lived in the Early Cretaceous period. Fossil material has been recovered from the Wallumbilla Formation (Aptian) of Queensland was initially classified under the related genus Kronosaurus until 2021.

Confractosuchus is a genus of extinct eusuchian crocodyliform from the Cretaceous Winton Formation of Australia. Described as a macro-generalist, Confractosuchus was found with the bones of a juvenile ornithopod dinosaur in its abdomen. It currently contains a single species, Confractosuchus sauroktonos, which literally means "broken dinosaur killer."

Kenolamna is an extinct genus of mackerel shark from the Cretaceous period known only from isolated teeth. It is named in honor of Kenneth McNamara, former curator of Paleontology at the Western Australian Museum. It is tentatively placed in the family Otodontidae, and is closest in design to Cretalamna and Paleocarcharodon though it is unclear how closely related it is to either. Currently, it is a monotypic genus containing only the species K. gunsoni.

Echidnacaris briggsi is an extinct species of radiodont known from the Cambrian Stage 4 aged Emu Bay Shale of Australia. Formerly referred to as "Anomalocaris" briggsi, it was placed in the new monotypic genus Echidnacaris in 2023. It is only distantly related to true Anomalocaris, and is instead placed in the family Tamisiocarididae.

Ediacaria is a nomen dubium fossil genus dating to the Ediacaran Period of the Neoproterozoic Era. Unlike most Ediacaran biota, which disappeared almost entirely from the fossil record at the end of the Period, Ediacaria fossils have been found dating from the Baikalian age (850–650 Ma) of the Upper Riphean to 501 million years ago, well into the Cambrian Period. Ediacaria consists of concentric rough circles, radial lines between the circles and a central dome, with a diameter from 1 to 70 cm.