Stromatolites from Adelaidean (Late Proterozoic) sequences in central and South Australia

New forms of late Precambrian stromatolites are described from the Amadeus and Georgian Basins and additional information is given on Minjaria pontifera Walter from the Bitter Springs Formation. Tesca stewartii gr. et f. nov. is described from the Boord Formation, Elleria minuta gr. et f. nov. from the Pioneer Sandstone, and Tungussia julia f. nov. from the Julie Formation. The latter is compared with Tungussia cf. T. julia from the Wonoka Formation, South Australia. Acaciella australica Walter has been recognised in the Yackah Beds of the Georgina Basin, supporting a correlation with the Bitter Springs Formation. The stromatolites described were selected because of their potential regional and global stratigraphic significance.     

Microflora of the H.Y.C. Pyritic Shale Member of the Barney Creek Formation (McArthur Group), middle Proterozoic of northern Australia

The H.Y.C. Pyritic Shale Member of the Barney Creek Formation (ca 1 500 my old; northern Australia) contains several stratiform base metal sulfide deposits of economic significance. Black cherts within these mineral deposits preserve a diverse assemblage of bacterial and algal microfossils. The assemblage differs from most other Precambrian biotas so far described in that it was deposited in deep water, it is not associated with stromatolites or algal mats, and it is dominated by filamentous bacteria, most of which are pyritized. Analysis of the assemblage suggests that the depth of the depositional basin exceeded that of the photic zone, that the bacteria inhabited the basin floor where they maintained anoxic conditions through heterotrophic degradation of detrital organic matter, and that the algae inhabited overlying near surface waters. Most of the algal fossils have been assigned to the Cyanophyta, although two of the described species are potentially referable to the eukaryotic green or red algae. Differences between this assemblage and other biotas described from the McArthur Group suggest that a workable system of biostratigraphic zonation for the Group is feasible.

Fossils in the H.Y.C. assemblage are here referred to 21 species and 16 genera, of which 14 species and 6 genera are new. The new taxa are: Bacteria, Biocatenoides incrustata sp. nov., B. pertenuis sp. nov., Ramacia carpentariana gen. et sp. nov., Coleobacter primus gen. et sp. nov., Ferrimonilis variabile gen. et sp. nov.; Chroococcales (Cyanophyta), Nanococcus vulgaris gen. et sp. nov., Bisacculoides tabeoviscus gen. et sp. nov., B. vacua gen. et sp. nov., B. grandis gen. et sp. nov.; Nostocales (Cyanophyta), Oscillatoriopsis schopfii sp. nov., Cyanonema inflatum sp. nov., C. minor sp. nov.; Incertae sedis, Clonophycus elegans gen. et sp. nov., Globophycus minor sp. nov. In addition, the new combination Gunflintia septata (Schopf) is proposed.     

Late Silurian trace fossils from the Melbourne Formation,Studley Park,Victoria, southeastern Australia

An ichnoassemblage of 10 ichnospecies is described for the first time from the Late Silurian Melbourne Formation at Studley Park, Victoria, southeastern Australia. The ichnofauna is preserved in a typical deep-water turbidite succession of alternating thin- to thick-bedded sandstone and thin- to medium-bedded mudrocks. Trace fossils observed within the study site have been assigned to three main ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 is best developed on the linguoid-rippled upper surface of thin sandstone beds and includes Laevicyclus, Aulichnites, Nereites, Helminthoidichnites, small Chondrites and possible Zoophycos. Ichnofacies 2 is very similar to Ichnofacies 1 in ichnospecies composition but instead contains large forms of Chondrites together with other thin burrow types usually poorly preserved and in very low abundance compared with Ichnofacies 1. Ichnofacies 3 is preserved mainly as casts on the underside of medium- to thick-bedded turbiditic sandstones, and has a very low diversity, with Planolites being the most common trace. A detailed analysis of the ichnofabrics and tiering structures of these ichnofacies suggest that Ichnofacies 1 and 3 represent ‘simple tiering’, in contrast to Ichnofacies 2, which is more characteristic of ‘complex tiering’. Despite the differences in ichnospecies composition and ichnofabrics between the three recognized ichnofacies, the collective ichnoassemblage from the study site can be assigned confidently to the Nereites ichnofacies and is, therefore, interpreted to have formed in a distal submarine fan environment of lower bathyal to abyssal depth. Further, it is possible to recognize two main subenvironments within this deep-sea setting to account for the differences between the ichnofacies. Ichnofacies 1 and 2 are interpreted to represent a typical Nereites ichnofacies located on a level basin floor subenvironment of relatively low energy conditions at the distal end of a submarine fan deposit. In comparison, Ichnofacies 3 is dominated by Planolites with rare other facies-crossing trace fossil forms, and lacks Nereites. It is, therefore, best interpreted as representing a relatively high-energy environment, possibly a distributary channel near the distal end of the submarine fan system.     

Late Devonian thelodonts (Agnatha) from the Gneudna Formation,Carnarvon Basin,Western Australia

Dermal denticles of two thelodont agnathans, Australolepis seddoni gen. et sp. nov., and a possible nikoliviid gen. et sp. indet. are described from the Gneudna Formation, a marine sequence of interbedded limestone and shale exposed on the eastern edge of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. The age and significance of these new forms are discussed. The Gneudna Formation is Late Devonian, probably early Frasnian, which, if confirmed, makes these the youngest thelodonts known to date.     

Late Silurian and Early Devonian biostratigraphy in the Hill End Trough and the Limekilns area,New South Wales

Precordilleran Late Palaeozoic brachiopod genera considered for this palaeobiogeographical analysis belong to four faunal associations: the low diversity Early Carboniferous (Tournaisian) Protocanites scalabrinii-Azurduya chavelensis Zone; the Late Carboniferous (Bashkirian-Moscovian) Levipustula fauna, which appears in sequences associated with glacial intervals; the latest Carboniferous-earliest Permian (Gzhelian-Asselian) Rhipidomella-Micraphelia and Tuberculatella-Aseptella associations, and the Early Permian (mid to late Asselian) Tivertonia jachalensis-Streptorhynchus inaequiornatus Biozone. The brachiopod affinities of the Precordillera are compared with the biogeographical Late Palaeozoic regions previously suggested by other authors using cluster analysis. During the Bashkirian-Moscovian, the Precordilleran faunas show a high affinity with the Austral Realm because of the presence of the Levipustula faunal elements in Eastern Australia. At the same time the affinity with the central and North American Regions is very low. The Early Permian Precordilleran faunas demonstrate highest affinity with the Gondwanan Realm with several genera also linked to the Tethyan and Boreal Realms. After the Late Carboniferous glacial episodes that affected the southwestern Gondwanan margin, the Precordilleran region underwent climatic amelioration. Subsequently, the Early Permian Precordilleran brachiopod assemblages are characterized by typical cool to cold water genera widely developed in the core Gondwanan Realm, with fewer genera (such as Kochiproductus, Rhynchopora and Neochonetes) suggesting a warmer water influence. The Precordilleran faunas demonstrate an increase in brachiopod diversity from the Carboniferous to the Permian, related to water temperature changes and to the palaeogeographical evolution of the southwestern Gondwanan margin and the movement of Gondwana across the South Pole.     

Oldest meiolaniid turtle remains from Australia: evidence from the Eocene Kerosene Creek Member of the Rundle Formation,Queensland

Poropat, S.F., Kool, L., Vickers-Rich, P. &; Rich, T.H., September 2016. Oldest meiolaniid turtle remains from Australia: evidence from the Eocene Kerosene Creek Member of the Rundle Formation, Queensland. Alcheringa 41, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.

Fossil meiolaniid turtles are known only from South America and Australasia. The South American record is restricted to the Eocene, and comprises two genera: Niolamia and Gaffneylania. The Australasian meiolaniid record is more diverse, with three genera known (Ninjemys, Warkalania and Meiolania); however, the oldest known specimens from this continent are significantly younger than those from South America, deriving from upper Oligocene sediments in South Australia and Queensland. Herein, we describe the oldest meiolaniid remains found in Australasia to date. The specimens comprise a posterior peripheral, a caudal ring, and an osteoderm, all of which derive from the middle–upper Eocene Rundle Formation of The Narrows Graben, Gladstone, eastern Queensland. Despite their fragmentary nature, each of these specimens can be assigned to Meiolaniidae with a high level of confidence. This is particularly true of the partial caudal ring, which is strongly similar to those of Niolamia, Ninjemys and Meiolania. The extension of the Australasian meiolaniid record to the Eocene lends strong support to the hypothesis that these turtles arose before South America and Australia detached from Antarctica, and that they were consequently able to spread across all three continents.

Stephen F. Poropat*^? [stephenfporopat@gmail.com], Australian Age of Dinosaurs Natural History Museum, The Jump-Up, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia; Lesley Kool*^? [koollesley@gmail.com] and Thomas H. Rich [trich@museum.vic.gov.au], Melbourne Museum, 11 Nicholson St, Carlton, Victoria 3053, Australia; Patricia Vickers-Rich [pat.rich@monash.edu], Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia. *These authors contributed equally to this work. ^?Also affiliated with Monash University, Wellington Rd, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia.     

A second incisoscutid arthrodire (Pisces,Placodermi) from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation,Western Australia

Long, J. A., 1994:03:28. A second incisoscutid arthrodire (Pisces, Placodermi) from the Late Devonian Gogo Formation. Western Australia. Alcheringa 18. 59–69. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new incisoscutid arthrodire is described from the Upper Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia as Gogosteus sarahae gen. et sp. nov. It is characterised by its narrow headshield with cheek unit firmly attached to skull roof, crushing gnathal plates, deep postnasal plates, elongate anterior lateral plate with deeply embayed postbranchial notch and squarely cut posterior margin, and fine dermal ornamentation. The family Incisoscutidae Denison 1984 is redefined to include Incisoscutum ritchiei Dennis & Miles 1981 and Gogosteus gen. nov., and the superfamily Incisoscutoidea nov. defined to include Incisoscutidae and Camuropiscidae.     

Genyornis eggshell (Dromornithidae; Aves) from the Late Pleistocene of South Australia

Fossil eggshell fragments from a sand dune near Port Augusta are attributed to the extinct dromornithid, Genyornis newtoni Stirling & Zietz. Shell curvature measurements show that the eggs were larger than those of the Emu, Dromaius novaehollandiae. Radiocarbon dates indicate an age in excess of 40,680 BP. Holes pierced through some fragments are attributed to the action of predators.     

A new Late Devonian acanthodian fish from the Hunter Formation near Grenfell,New South Wales

The ischnacanthid acanthodian Grenfellacanthus zerinae gen. et sp. nov. is described on the basis of two large jaw bones from the Late Devonian (late Famennian) Hunter Formation, near Grenfell, N.S.W. The new species is the youngest known ischnacanthid, and the largest ischnacanthid from Gondwana. As for many ischnacanthids, the structure of the jaws and teeth indicate that Grenfellacanthus was probably an ambush predator.     

Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales,Australia

Zhen, Y.Y., Wang, G.X. &; Percival, I.G., August 2016. Conodonts and tabulate corals from the Upper Ordovician Angullong Formation of central New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 41, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Angullong Formation is the youngest Ordovician unit exposed in the Cliefden Caves area of central New South Wales. Its maximum age is constrained by a Styracograptus uncinatus graptolite Biozone fauna at the very top of the underlying Malongulli Formation, but the few fossils previously reported from higher in the Angullong Formation are either long-ranging or poorly known. From allochthonous limestone clasts in the middle part of the formation, we document a conodont fauna comprising Aphelognathus grandis, A. solidum, Aphelognathus sp., Aphelognathus? sp., Belodina confluens, Drepanoistodus suberectus, Panderodus gracilis, Panderodus sp., Phragmodus undatus, Pseudobelodina inclinata and Pseudobelodina? sp. aff. P. obtusa, which supports correlation with the Aphelognathus grandis Biozone (late Katian) of the North American Midcontinent succession. The species concepts of Aphelognathus and Pseudobelodina are reviewed in detail. Associated corals are exclusively tabulates, dominated by agetolitids, including Agetolites angullongensis sp. nov., Heliolites orientalis, Hemiagetolites breviseptatus, Hemiagetolites sp. cf. H. spinimarginatus, Navoites sp. cf. N. circumflexa, Plasmoporella bacilliforma, P. marginata, Quepora sp. cf. Q. calamus and Sarcinula sp. Affinities of the coral fauna from the Angullong Formation are closer to faunas from northern NSW and northern Queensland than to the locally recognized Fauna III of late Eastonian age in central NSW. We propose a subdivision of Fauna III to account for this difference, with the late Katian Fauna IIIB characterized by the incoming of agetolitid corals. The currently known distribution of representatives of this group with adequate age constraints suggests that agetolitids possibly originated in North China, subsequently migrating to Tarim, South China and adjacent peri-Gondwanan terranes while also spreading eastward to northern Gondwana, where they progressively moved through eastern Australia to reach the central NSW region by the early Bolindian.

Yong Yi Zhen* (yong-yi.zhen@industry.nsw.gov.au) and Ian G. Percival (ian.percival@industry.nsw.gov.au), Geological Survey of New South Wales, W.B. Clarke Geoscience Centre, 947–953 Londonderry Road, Londonderry, NSW 2753, Australia; Guangxu Wang (gxwang@nigpas.ac.cn), State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, 39 East Beijing Road Nanjing 210008 PR China.     

Early Silurian (Llandovery) trilobites from the Cotton Formation,near Forbes,New South Wales,Australia

A trilobite fauna from the upper part of the Cotton Formation (late Llandovery, Spirograptus turriculatus Zone) in central west New South Wales includes the new species Raphiophorus sandfordi, Odontopleura (Sinespinaspis) markhami and Aulacopleura pogsoni. Species of Odontopleura and Aulacopleura have not previously been documented in Australasia. The association of these genera is observed in offshore biofacies in the Llandovery/Wenlock on several palaeocontinents. Affinities of the species are with congeners from Bohemia and northwestern Canada (Odontopleura, Aulacopleura) and Tarim and South China (Aulacopleura, Raphiophorus).     

A new Late Famennian lungfish from New South Wales,Australia, and its bearing on Australian-Asian terrane relations

A new genus and species of lungfish with toothplates, Adelargo schultzei, is described from the Hunter Siltstone (Devonian, Late Famennian) near Grenfell, New South Wales. Materials assigned to Adelargo schultzei gen. et sp. nov., include a portion of the left side of the skull comprising B, I (postparietal) and J (parietal) bones, pterygoid and prearticular toothplates, a parasphenoid with a long posterior stalk, vertebrae, ribs, anal fin supports and scales. Toothplates are similar to Dipterus, although morphology of the skull, parasphenoid and postcranial elements is more derived. Biogeographic relationships of the Grenfell fauna were based on the presence of the antiarch group Sinolepidoidei, also present on Asian terranes during the Late Devonian. A small number of lungfish scales have been described from Asian sinolepid localities of this age, but differ from those of Adelargo schultzei, and other faunal similarities between these areas appear limited. Paucity of eastern Australian Devonian taxa on the North and South China blocks implies that strong biogeographic relationships between eastern Australia and Euramerican localities during the Late Devonian were not the result of Asian migration routes, but the closer proximity of these areas.     

Late Devonian gastropods from the Canning Basin,Western Australia

Over 50 identifications of Tertiary pollen are reviewed. The pollen assemblages indicate rain-forest through most of the Tertiary, but the requisites for pollen preservation are biased towards the wetter climates.

The present day geographical affinities of the botanical groups are largely with taxa of the tropical zone and Australia-wide taxa. There is geographic variation in the fossil pollen assemblages when southeastern Australia is compared with Central Australia and Queensland.

The major changes in the fossil floras coincide with climatic change, indicating the influence of climate on the evolution of plant assemblages. The older phytogeographic concepts are inappropriate for the fossil record, especially when considered in conjunction with palaeoclimates and palaeogeography.

It is unfortunate that palynology has given little information of the evolution of floras in drier climatic regimes, or of the evolution of the eucalypts.     

Microflora of the middle Proterozoic Balbirini Dolomite (McArthur Group) of Australia

New genera of the Spiriferidae are described from the Permian sequences of the Carnarvon, Canning and Bonaparte Gulf Basins of Western and northwestern Australia. New taxa described are Latispirifer gen. nov. with type species Latispirifer callytharrensis sp. nov. and Latispirifer amplissimus sp. nov.; Costatispirifer gen. nov. with type species Costatispirifer gracilis sp. nov.; Cratispirifer gen. nov. with type species Cratispirifer nuraensis sp. nov. and Crassispirifer gen. nov. with type species Spirifer rostalinus Hosking (1931) and Crassispirifer pinguis sp. nov. The holotype and only extant specimen of Spirifer kimberleyensis Foord (1890) is re-examined and is assigned to Crassispirifer gen. nov. with a query.     

Late Silurian vertebrate microfossils from the Carnarvon Basin,Western Australia

Burrow, C.J., Turner, S., Trinajstic, K. &; Young, G.C., 27 February 2019. Late Silurian vertebrate microfossils from the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Alcheringa 43, 204–219. ISSN 0311-5518.

A core sample from the offshore Pendock 1A well, Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia yielded microvertebrate residues at an horizon in the lower part of the Hamelin Formation, dated as late Silurian, ? Ludlow, based on associated conodonts. The fish fauna comprises loganelliiform thelodont scales, the ? stem gnathostome Aberrosquama occidens nov. gen. et sp., the acanthodian Nostolepis sp. aff. N. alta, and the ? stem osteichthyan Andreolepis sp. aff. A. petri. Because of the paucity of the material, and some differences between the Pendock scales and those of established species, a precise age can not be confirmed; however, the composition of the fauna at generic level most closely resembles that of late Silurian (Ludlow) assemblages from northern Eurasia.

Carole J. Burrow* [carole.burrow@gmail.com], Geosciences, Queensland Museum, Hendra QLD 4011, Australia; Susan Turner [palaeoich@yahoo.com], Geosciences, Queensland Museum, Hendra QLD 4011, Australia; Kate Trinajstic [k.trinajstic@curtin.edu.au], School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Perth, WA 6102, Australia; Gavin C. Young [gavin.young@anu.edu.au], Research School of Physics and Engineering, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2000, Australia.     

Brachiopods of the Yarralumla Formation (Ludlovian), Canberra,Australia

The Yarralumla Formation of Canberra has been considered the stratigraphic equivalent of the earliest Ludlovian Yass Formation of the Yass Syncline north of Canberra. The previously unpublished brachiopod fauna of the Yarralumla Formation is fully described; comparison with that of the Yass Formation confirms approximate age equivalence. Of the eleven species, none of which is new, eight also occur in or a little above the Yass Formation.     

Significance of Claraia from the Late Permian of South Guizhou,China

Recently collectée material of two Claraia taxa, Claraia zhiyunica Yang et al, 2001 and Claraia sp. nov. from the Late Permian of South China, are described. Late Permian Claraia species are compared with those from the Early Triassic, and the survival of Claraia across the mass extinction period across the Permian- Triassic boundary (PTB) is discussed.