Huriwai Measures Formation

The Huriwai Measures Formation is a geological formation in New Zealand, dating to the Late Jurassic.
It is one of two geological formations in New Zealand where dinosaur fossils have been found, with the other being the Late Cretaceous-aged Tahora Formation.

History

Ferdinand von Hochstetter discovered the Huriwai Measures Formation during the Austrian Novara expedition to New Zealand in 1857, and he later described the formation in 1864.
Plant fossils were then identified from the formation by Purser, and the first tetrapod fossil was discovered in the formation in 1995. AU13802 was identified by Molnar, Wiffen & Hayes as a phalanx bone probably belonging to a theropod dinosaur, making it the first dinosaur fossil from the Jurassic to be discovered in New Zealand.

Plant fossils found in the Huriwai Measures Formation suggest that it was a forested environment. Ballance & Campbell have also suggested it to have been a braided floodplain delta because the region was subject to volcanic ash falls from a distant volcano.

Plants recovered from the Huriwai Measures Formation include Cladophlebis, Equisetum, Taeniopteris, conifers, and liverworts.