142 
MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 
Obviously the elongation of the cervicals must be considered, and an unusually 
long neck, or an attenuated and extended tail would be disturbing factors. 
It is permissible, however, to make a tentative estimate on the average 
proportions of well-known forms, and on this basis it is considered that the 
vertebrae of Aiistromurus mckilbpi represent a giant Dinosaur of about fifty 
feet in length, and it probably exceeded in size the large Dinosaur Rhcetosaurus 
brownei described by the writer from Jurassic deposits at Durham Downs, 
South - western Queensland . 
Habits. — As the Sauropodous or lizard-footed Dinosaurs are semi-aquatic 
quadrupeds which were undoubtedly herbivorous in habits, the discovery of 
these fossils in marine strata, infilled with typically marine matrix and definitely 
associated with marine shells (Inoceramus and Bmdanticeras) , is of considerable 
interest. Dinosaurs are typically found in fresh-water or estuarine deposits, 
but there are several exceptions. In the bone beds at Tendaguru, East Africa, 
the remains of Dinosaurs were found in close association With marine fossils. 
J. Parkinson (1930) 1 gives interesting details of excavating fossils “ showing 
how close the Dinosaurs lived to the sea at Tendaguru.” 
It is generally recognised that these huge Sauropods were adapted for 
wading, with a lengthy, relatively light and flexible neck associated with 
massive limbs and more solid tail. It is unlikely that they were good swimmers 
or that they even resembled the modern crocodile in occasionally making 
lengthy trips in the ocean. But doubtless they roamed around the shores of the 
shallow Cretaceous sea, as well as frequenting the fresh-water lagoons, swamps, 
and rivers, feeding on the luxuriant vegetation of the period. It seems probable 
that the relatively buoyant body of a Dinosaur, after disablement or death, 
might be carried miles out to sea, providing a feast for such formidable swimming 
marine reptiles as Kronosaurus, until its disassociated bones sank to rest in the limey 
mud. But whatever the cause of its death and deposition, the presence of 
these bones in marine beds at " Clut.ha ” is definite evidence of the existence 
during its lifetime of fresh-water Cretaceous formations nearby, which provided 
a suitable environment for these giant Dinosaurs. 
Matrix. — I am indebted to Dr. F. W. Whitehouse for the following 
note : — “ The matrix consists of a fine-grained, argillaceous limestone (or 
calcareous mudstone) of a light fawn colour— a rock type common throughout 
the Cretaceous beds of the Great Artesian Basin. This matrix is found infilling 
the open cavities of the neural arch, the neural canal, the lateral recesses of 
the centra, and it also occurs between the vertebrae. Within the inner recesses 
of the fossil similar matrix is present adjacent to the ojien cavities. In general, 
however, these inner cavities are only partly filled and then with coarsely 
crystalline calcite. The condition thus is similar to that of the preservation of 
the ammonites in these Cretaceous beds where the general matrix of the beds 
1 Parkinson, John, “The Dinosaur in East Africa,” p. 119 (Witherby). 
