Although the evidence is rare, fossils reveal that there were Mesozoic reptiles, including dinosaurs in New Zealand. Possibly because it lacks the right conditions for fossilization, only fragmentary dinosaur remains have been found there. These fossils are often only a single bone or a piece of a bone, and thus the dinosaurs' species cannot be identified. By comparing the fossils with other, more complete remains from other areas it can be inferenced which family or order a given fossil belonged to. Marine fossils are more common than fossils of land animals in New Zealand because dead animals and plants are easily preserved in sand and mud. Therefore, some fossils of marine reptiles are complete enough to be assigned to a specific genus or species.
Species list
So far, there have been fossils found in New Zealand that have been identified as coming from:
Non-avian dinosaurs
See also: List of Australian and Antarctic dinosaurs| Name | Time | Formation | Location | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ankylosaur | Maastrichtian (Haumurian) | Tahora Formation | Probably a nodosaurid similar to Kunbarrasaurus | |
| Compsognathid? | Tithonian (Puaroan or Ohauan) |
Huriwai Measures Formation | Waikato River, Waikato | Known from phalanges. Associated with possible coprolites. It can’t be identified for certain, but the bones superficially resemble Compsognatids |
| Ornithopod | Maastrichtian (Haumurian) | Tahora Formation | Possibly an elasmarian | |
| Joan Wiffen's theropod | Maastrichtian (Haumurian) | Tahora Formation | Refer to the linked article for sources | |
| Titanosaur | Maastrichtian (Haumurian) | Tahora Formation | Known from a rib |
Dinosaurs that lived in the Ross Dependency, a part of Antarctica within the Realm of New Zealand, include the tetanuran Cryolophosaurus. The Ross Dependency, unlike the Chatham Islands, is not actually part of New Zealand, and this is why it is excluded from the list above until sufficient evidence shows that it entered what was the sector of Gondwana that is now New Zealand. Newer fossils from a Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary fossil formation known as the Takatika Grit in the Chatham Islands include six or seven (possibly more) bones from dinosaurs, as well as numerous bones from early birds, but more information is needed about these to add them to the list.
Other Mesozoic reptiles
Fossils of other reptiles from the Mesozoic Era have also been found in New Zealand. These creatures include:
| Name | Period | Formation | Area | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eidolosaurus | Cretaceous | A mosasauroid outside of the mosasaurid family | ||
| "Hector's ichthyosaur" | Triassic | Torlesse Composite Terrane | Mount Potts | The first ichthyosaur reported from New Zealand. Known from ribs, a partial humerus, a possible tooth and vertebral centra, the largest of which measured 45 cm (18 in) in diameter. With centra almost twice the diameter of those belonging to the largest ichthyosaur with preserved vertebrae, Shastasaurus sikanniensis, it may have been among the largest vertebrates to ever exist. These specimens can no longer be located, and may have been lost. A Canterbury Museum presentation mentioned unprepared giant ichthyosaur bones from Mount Potts. |
| Kaiwhekea | Late Cretaceous | Katiki Formation | An aristonectine plesiosaur | |
| Liodon | Cretaceous | A dubious genus, the maximum length of this species is 30 feet (9.1 m). | ||
| Mauisaurus | Late Cretaceous | Tahora Formation | A dubious genus; largest plesiosaur in New Zealand | |
| Alexandronectes | Late Cretaceous | Conway Formation | ||
| Moanasaurus | Late Cretaceous | Tahora Formation | Largest mosasaur in New Zealand | |
| Nothosaur | Triassic | Torlesse Composite Terrane | ||
| Prognathodon | Cretaceous | A large mosasaur | ||
| Pterosaur | Late Cretaceous | Discovered 1987. Possibly an azhdarchid. | ||
| Taniwhasaurus | Late Cretaceous | Conway Formation | A mosasaur | |
| Tuarangisaurus | Late Cretaceous | Tahora Formation | An elasmosaurid |
See also
References
- Agnolin, Federico L.; Ezcurra, Martín D.; Pais, Diego F.; Salisbury, Steven W. (24 May 2010). "A reappraisal of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaur faunas from Australia and New Zealand: evidence for their Gondwanan affinities". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 8 (2): 257–300. doi:10.1080/14772011003594870.
- Molnar, Ralph E.; Wiffen, Joan; Hayes, Brendan (June 1998). "A probable theropod bone from the latest Jurassic of New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 41 (2): 145–148. doi:10.1080/00288306.1998.9514798. ISSN 0028-8306.
- Wiffen, J.; Molnar, R.E. (January 1989). "An Upper Cretaceous Ornithopod from New Zealand". Geobios. 22 (4): 531–536. doi:10.1016/S0016-6995(89)80104-4.
- Poropat, Stephen F; Kundrát, Martin; Mannion, Philip D; Upchurch, Paul; Tischler, Travis R; Elliott, David A (31 May 2021). "Second specimen of the Late Cretaceous Australian sauropod dinosaur Diamantinasaurus matildae provides new anatomical information on the skull and neck of early titanosaurs". Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. 192 (2): 610–674. doi:10.1093/zoolinnean/zlaa173.
- Fleming, C. A.; Gregg, D. R.; Welles, S. P. (1971-01-05). "New Zealand Ichthyosaurs—a summary, including new records from the Cretaceous". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 14 (4): 734–741. doi:10.1080/00288306.1971.10426331. ISSN 0028-8306. Retrieved 2024-05-10.
- Zammit, Maria (September 2010). "A review of Australasian ichthyosaurs". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 34 (3): 281–292. doi:10.1080/03115511003663939. ISSN 0311-5518.
- Giant marine reptiles of North Canterbury. Retrieved 2024-04-22 – via www.youtube.com.
- Cruickshank, Arthur R. I.; Fordyce, R. Ewan (May 2002). "A New Marine Reptile (Sauropterygia) from New Zealand: Further Evidence for A Late Cretaceous Austral Radiation of Cryptoclidid Plesiosaurs". Palaeontology. 45 (3): 557–575. doi:10.1111/1475-4983.00249.
- Hiller, Norton; O’Gorman, José P.; Otero, Rodrigo A.; Mannering, Al A. (3 April 2017). "A reappraisal of the Late Cretaceous Weddellian plesiosaur genus Mauisaurus Hector, 1874". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 60 (2): 112–128. doi:10.1080/00288306.2017.1281317.
- Wiffen, J. (July 1980). "Moanasaurus, a new genus of marine reptile (Family Mosasauridae) from the Upper Cretaceous of North Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 23 (4): 507–528. doi:10.1080/00288306.1980.10424122.
- Schulp, Anne S.; Polcyn, Michael J.; Mateus, Octávio; Jackbs, Maria Luísa Morais; da Silva Tavares, Tatiana (2006). "New mosasaur material from the Maastrichtian of Angola, with notes on the phylogeny, distribution and palaeoecology of the genus Prognathodon". Maastricht Mosasaurs. Publicaties van het Natuurhistorisch Genootschap in Limburg. 45 (1): 57–67.
- Wiffen, J.; Molnar, R.E. (January 1988). "First pterosaur from New Zealand". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 12 (1): 53–59. doi:10.1080/03115518808618996.
- Caldwell, Michael W.; Holmes, Robert; Bell, Gorden L.; Wiffen, Joan (27 June 2005). "An unusual tylosaurine mosasaur from New Zealand: a new skull of Taniwhasaurus oweni (Lower Haumurian; Upper Cretaceous)". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 25 (2): 393–401. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2005)025[0393:AUTMFN]2.0.CO;2.
- Wiffen, J.; Moisley, W. L. (April 1986). "Late Cretaceous reptiles (Families Elasmosauridae and Pliosauridae) from the Mangahouanga Stream, North Island, New Zealand". New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics. 29 (2): 205–252. doi:10.1080/00288306.1986.10427535.