Ankylosaurian dinosaur remains from the Lower Cretaceous of southeastern Australia

The Eumeralla and Wonthaggi formations (Otway and Strzelecki groups, respectively: late Hauterivian to Albian) of Victoria, Australia, have yielded diverse dinosaur faunas. Here we report a set of unassociated isolated specimens from these units including teeth, dorsal vertebrae, ribs and osteoderms of an indeterminate ankylosaurian dinosaur.     

A palynological investigation of plesiosaur-bearing rocks from the Upper Cretaceous Tahora Formation,Mangahouanga, New Zealand

High-palaeolatitude plesiosaur, mosasaur and, more rarely, dinosaur fossils are well known from the Maungataniwha Sandstone Member of the Tahora Formation in Mangahouanga Stream, Hawkes Bay, New Zealand. A palynological investigation of strata exposed along Mangahouanga Stream and of transported boulders hosting vertebrate fossils reveals well-preserved assemblages dominated by terrestrial pollen and spores but also including marine dinoflagellate cysts in some samples. The palynofacies are strongly dominated by wood fragments including charcoal; one outcrop sample and the sample taken from a boulder hosting plesiosaur vertebrae contain entirely terrestrially derived palynoassemblages, suggesting a freshwater habitat for at least some of the plesiosaurs. The host unit spans the Santonian to lowermost Maastrichtian, while the key pollen taxa Nothofagidites senectus and Tricolpites lilliei, together with the dinocyst Isabelidinium pellucidum and the megaspore Grapnelispora evansii, indicate a late Campanian to early Maastrichtian age for the fossiliferous boulders. The palynoflora indicates a mixed local vegetation dominated by podocarp conifers and angiosperms with a significant tree-fern subcanopy. The presence of taxa with modern temperate distributions, such as Nothofagus (southern beech), Proteaceae and Cyatheaceae (tree-ferns), indicates a mild-temperate climate and lack of severe winter freezing during the latest Cretaceous, providing an ecosystem that most probably made it possible for polar dinosaurs to overwinter in this part of the world.     

A new dinoflagellate species from the Upper Cretaceous of New Zealand - a morphological intermediate between three genera

The new dinoflagellate Isabelidinium marshallii sp. nov. was encountered in the lower to middle Campanian Satyrodinium haumuriense Interval Zone and in the middle to upper Campanian Isabelidinium korojonense Interval Zone, in southern Marlborough, South Island, New Zealand. The new taxon is attributed to Isabelidinium but it also closely resembles species of Alterbidinium and Satyrodinium. Despite its close morphological affiliation to three dinoflagellate genera, I. marshallii represents a discrete population of peridinioid cysts that has a stratigraphically useful range in New Zealand.     

Bryozoans from the late Cretaceous Kahuitara Tuff of the Chatham Islands,New Zealand

Taylor, P.D., & Gordon, D.P., December, 2007. Bryozoans from the Late Cretaceous Kahuitara Tuff of the Chatham Islands, New Zealand. Alcheringa 31, 339-363. ISSN 0311-5518.

Fourteen bryozoan species are described from the Campanian – Maastrichtian Kahuitara Tuff of Pitt Island, substantially increasing the known diversity in this deposit from the two species recorded previously and making it the most diverse bryozoan biota yet described from the Cretaceous of Australasia. Nine of the Kahuitara Tuff bryozoans are cyclostomes, four are cheilostomes, and one is a shell-boring ctenostome. Seven new species are described: Ceriocava hakepaensis sp. nov., Tholopora australis sp. nov., Crisidmonea lanauzeorum sp. nov., Cookobryozoon cretacea sp. nov., Chiplonkarina preeceorum sp. nov. Chiplonkarina bifoliata sp. nov. and Aechmella rangiauriensis sp. nov. The remaining species are left in open nomenclature because of preservational deficiencies or lack of taxon-diagnostic gonozooids. The ctenostome family Cookobryozoidae is subsumed in the Terebriporidae. The new family Chiplonkarinidae is proposed for anascan cheilostomes previously assigned to the paraphyletic Electridae and distinguished by having primarily erect colonies with long, tubular zooids reminiscent of stenolaemates. None of the Kahuitara Tuff bryozoan species is known elsewhere, but all apart from one genus occur in roughly coeval deposits. No families regarded as particularly characteristic of the austral post-Cretaceous are evident. The relatively large number (three) of co-occurring species of Chiplonkarina is notable, as is the dominance of cyclostomes and the first record of Tholopora in the Southern Hemisphere.

Paul D. Taylor [p.taylor@nhm.ac.uk], Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK; Dennis P. Gordon [d.gordon@niwa.co.nz], National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research, Private Bag 14-901, Kilbirnie, Wellington, New Zealand; received 7.3.2006, revised 3.9.2006.     

Change and continuity in strategic culture: the cases of Australia and New Zealand

The relationship between strategic culture and defence policies has not yet been much explored. Australia and New Zealand provide some evidence of the impact of strategic culture on defence policy. Australia has a dominant strategic culture which is strong enough to prompt both the major political parties to adopt realist defence policies, even though Labor has a traditionally ‘idealist’ outlook. Until the 1970s, New Zealand had a similar dominant strategic culture which influenced both major political parties, but it was always less strong than Australia's. In recent years, the Labour Party has rejected that culture, and allowed an alternative strategic culture based on its ideology to influence its defence policies. The result has been that on the last two occasions when Labour has been in government, New Zealand's defence policy has changed dramatically.     

华人新移民在澳大利亚、新西兰的生存适应分析

澳大利亚、新西兰自上世纪七八十年代开始实行面向亚洲的政策以来 ,来自亚太地区不同国家的华人移民以及其他亚裔移民大量移进这两个国家。他们在异国他乡面临着以高失业率为主要特征的生存危机。但这一包括中国大陆新移民的华人群体 ,克服重重困难 ,站稳脚跟 ,逐步积累 ,取得了初步的成功     

Making an Edgier Interpretation of the Gold Rushes: Contrasting Perspectives from Australia and New Zealand

This article examines the interaction between changing interpretations of history and visitor interpretation provided at heritage tourist sites. Generally, the literature distinguishes between history (which is seen as objective and fixed) and heritage interpretation (which is characterised as biased, selective and serving parochial interests). It is argued that history is actually far more dynamic and subjective and that this requires an ongoing revision of interpretation for visitors as historical interpretations change. To illustrate these processes, Goodman's concept of a new ‘edgier history of Gold’ is applied to interpretation at Sovereign Hill and the Mount Alexander Diggings in Australia and the Central Otago Heritage Trail in New Zealand.     

Fish and crayfish from the Washpool Midden site,New Zealand: Their use in determining season of occupation and prehistoric fishing methods

A method is suggested whereby modern ecological information on fish behaviour and distribution, together with commercial catch figures, may be used to assess season of occupation of archaeological sites. Monthly catch probabilities for each species are scaled by minimum numbers from prehistoric osteological assemblages to yield an overall likelihood of the fish being caught at different months of the year. A test case on two assemblages from Palliser Bay, New Zealand, suggested year-round habitation, and this was consistent with individual qualitative seasonal markers. The fishbone evidence can also be used to comment on aspects of prehistoric technology connected with marine foods, such as the use of canoes, baited traps, long line hauling, rock fishing and seine netting. In addition, the fish information substantiated subtle environmental changes which are believed to have taken place in this region.     

Connecting high school and university teachers in national and international contexts: perspectives from the 2012 Bangalore workshop of the AAG-CGGE

This paper focuses on the Center for Global Geography Education teaching workshop held in Bangalore, India, in March 2012 which served as a collaborative forum linking geography teachers in secondary and higher education in the USA and India. It considers the inclusion of the Advanced Placement Human Geography teachers from the USA and the building of global teaching content in collaborative teams as a useful way to connect geography teachers across institutional contexts. Based on a survey of workshop participants, it also highlights some of the issues that need to be addressed for further strengthening of high school–university linkages within national and across international contexts.