{{Short description|Australian geological formation}} {{Use Australian English|date=May 2024}} {{Infobox rockunit | name = Blina Shale | image = | caption = | type = [[Geological formation]] | age = [[Induan]] | period = Anisian | prilithology = [[Shale]] | otherlithology = | namedfor = | namedby = | region = Western Australia | country = Australia | coordinates = {{coord|17.9|S|124.4|E|display=inline,title}} | paleocoordinates = {{coord|45.6|S|101.8|E|display=inline}} | unitof = | subunits = | underlies = | overlies = | thickness = {{convert|650|-|1000|m|ft|abbr=on}} | extent = [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region | area = | map = {{Location map+ | Australia#Western Australia | relief = 1 | width = 250 | float = center | places = {{Location map~ | Australia#Western Australia | lat_deg = -17.9 | lon_deg = 124.4 | mark = Pink ff0080 pog.svg | marksize = 12 }} }} | map_caption = }} '''Blina Shale''' is a fossil bearing geological formation located in the [[Kimberley (Western Australia)|Kimberley]] region of [[Northwest Australia]]. The location is rich in deposits of vertebrate material, and the site of previously unknown [[Triassic]] species. Flora and invertebrate species have also been identified in the deposits, including microplankton and microflora.
== Description == The site is located near [[Derby, Western Australia]]. The shale bed extends inland from [[King Sound]] at the coast, forming claypans where it is rarely exposed, with exploratory drilling indicating it is between {{convert|650|and|1000|m|ft}} thick. The upper parts of the bed are finer layers sediments; these are evident in some ridges of the Erskine range.<ref name="Cosgriff1965" /> As with the [[Kockatea Shale]] in the same region, the bed was formed by deposition in marine environs and at [[Delta (river)|river delta]]s and estuaries.<ref name="Vickers-Rich1993" /> The palaeontological significance of the area was recognised in a geological survey of a region known a Fitzroy Trough in 1953, and examination by Brunnschweiler in 1954 determined the age to be Triassic and associated with the Erskine formation. The earliest collections were forwarded to [[R. A. Stirton]] in the eastern states, and then to the United States for closer analysis.<ref name="Vickers-Rich1991" />
The first extensive survey was undertaken by a collaboration between the [[University of California]], represented by [[C. L. Camp]] and his undergraduate [[John Cosgriff]], and the [[Western Australian Museum]] and [[University of Western Australia|University]] team of [[David Ride]], [[Duncan Merrilees]] and [[K. G. McKenzie]].<ref name="Cosgriff1965" /> The discoveries included the first [[early Triassic]] taxa to be found on the Australian continent.<ref name="Vickers-Rich1991" />
== Fossil content == Discoveries at the site include the species ''[[Batrachosuchus henwoodi]]'' and ''[[Deltasaurus kimberleyensis]]'',<ref name="Cosgriff1969" /> the larger ''[[Erythrobatrachus noonkanbahensis]]'', along with previously described [[Temnospondyli]] taxa.<ref name="Kear2011">{{cite book |last1=Kear |first1=B.P. |last2=Hamilton-Bruce |first2=R.J. |authorlink1=Benjamin P. Kear |authorlink2=Robert J. Hamilton-Bruce |title=Dinosaurs in Australia: Mesozoic Life from the Southern Continent |date=2011 |publisher=Csiro Publishing |isbn=9780643102316 |page=48 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FTMOFi5EZDUC&pg=PA48 |language=en}}</ref> Other new species and fossil material includes a coelacanth, lungfish species, shark teeth and an [[actinopterygian]] species of ''[[Saurichthys]]''.<ref name="Cosgriff1965" /><ref name="Vickers-Rich1991" />
== References == <references>
<ref name="Cosgriff1969">{{cite journal |last1=Cosgriff |first1=J.W. |authorlink1=John W. Cosgriff |title=Blinasaurus, a brachyopid genus from Western Australia and New South Wales |journal=Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia |date=1969 |volume=52 |issue=3 |pages=65–90 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/46132673 |publisher=The Society}}</ref> <ref name="Cosgriff1965">{{cite journal | author = Cosgriff, J. W. | year = 1965 | title = A new genus of Temnospondyli from the Triassic of Western Australia | journal = Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of Western Australia | volume = 48 | pages = 65–90 |url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/50787086}}</ref> <ref name="Vickers-Rich1993">{{cite book |last1=Vickers-Rich |first1=P. |title=Wildlife of Gondwana |date=1993 |publisher=Reed |location=NSW |isbn=0730103153 |page=111}}</ref> <ref name="Vickers-Rich1991">{{cite book |last1=Vickers-Rich |first1=P. |title=Vertebrate palaeontology of Australasia / |date=1991 |publisher=Monash University Publications |location=Melbourne |isbn=9780909674366 |url=https://archive.org/details/Vertebratepalae00PVic/page/58 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/Vertebratepalae00PVic/page/58 58, 374] }}</ref>
</references>
[[Category:Geologic formations of Australia]] [[Category:Triassic Australia]] [[Category:Induan Stage]] [[Category:Shale formations]] [[Category:Deltaic deposits]] [[Category:Paleontology in Australia]] [[Category:Geology of Western Australia]]