A new Pliocene tree kangaroo species (Marsupialia,Macropodinae) from the Chinchilla Local Fauna,southeastern Queensland

A new species of very large tree kangaroo, Bohra wilkinsonorum, is described from a maxillary fragment from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sands of southeastern Queensland. Allocation to Bohra, which has previously been known from postcranial material only, is suggested on the basisof its similar size and stage of evolution to Bohra paulae. Both species of Bohra are plesiomorphic with respect to species of Dendrolagus, and are much larger than any known species of Dendrolagus. This new taxon from Chinchilla has expanded the tree kangaroo record from the Pliocene of southeastern Australia, supporting the hypothesis that the group originated in the late Miocene of ‘mainland’ Australia, finding refuge in north-eastern Queensland and New Guinea as climate became drier in the Quaternary. Fossil tree kangaroos are unknown from the Pliocene of Papua New Guinea where most living species now occur.     

First record of Acesta (Bivalvia: Limidae) from the Cretaceous of Australia

The cosmopolitan, Jurassic to Recent, bivalve Acesta (Limidae) is documented from Australian Cretaceous (upper Albian) rocks in the lowermost section of the Mackunda Formation of Queensland. These specimens from Landsborough Downs, Flinders Shire, represent an endemic new species, herein named Acesta (Acesta) backae n. sp. Acesta (A.) backae n. sp. was a shallow-water suspension feeder that inhabited the Cretaceous Australian epicontinental sea of the Great Artesian Basin. Although hinge details of Acesta (A.) backae n. sp. are wanting, this new taxon is most closely allied with Acesta? sp. of the Miria Formation of Western Australia and can clearly be discriminated from other Cretaceous Austral forms.     

Early Carboniferous Siphonodella (Conodonta) faunas from eastern Australia

Early to Middle Tournaisian conodont faunas with Siphonodella from ten sections in eastern Australia, between Gloucester in New South Wales and Rockhampton in Queensland, may be referred to the following ‘standard’ zones; 1 sulcata, 2 upper duplicata, 3 sandbergi, 4 lower crenulata and 5 isosticha-upper crenulata, in ascending order. In eastern Australia the first occurrences of Gnathodus cuneiformis, G. delicatus, G. typicus and Protognathodus cordiformis, near the base of the lower crenulata zone, are significantly earlier than in Europe and North America. Consequently the base of the isosticha-upper crenulata zone in eastern Australia is defined by the first appearance of G. punctatus rather than that of G. delicatus. On the present evidence it is difficult to reconcile some brachiopod and conodont occurrences in the Early-Middle Tournaisian of eastern Australia.

Seventeen discrete conodont species are discussed, four of which are described informally: Dinodus sp. nov. A, Dinodus sp. nov. B, Pinacognathus sp. nov. A, and a species of Siphonodella transitional between S. cooperi and S. crenulata.     

Svalbardia (Chonetidina,Brachiopoda) from the Kungurian (Permian) of Western Australia

The rugosochonetid genus Svalbardia is recorded for the first time from the Western Australian Permian. The new species Svalbardia thomasi is described from the Nalbia Greywacke and the Baker Formation of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. The relationship of Svalbardia to allied genera of the Rugosochonetidae Muir-Wood is discussed. The disjunct distribution of the genus in the Permian is documented.     

Review of the Cambrian acrotretid brachiopod Neotreta

The Cambrian acrotretid brachiopod Neotreta Sobolev 1976 is reviewed and re-illustrated, based on new material of the type species, N. tumida Sobolev 1976, from the lower Upper Cambrian of Siberia; Neotreta orbiculata Koneva 1990, originally described from the Middle Cambrian of Kazakhstan, has been obtained from roughly coeval beds in Shropshire, England; Neotreta pusilla Koneva 1986 was unavailable for study. Two new species, N. davidi and N. karagailensis, are described from Queensland, Australia, and Kirgizia, Central Asia respectively.     

Placocystella in the Early Devonian (Lochkovian) of central Victoria

Jell, P.A., 2013. Placocystella in the Early Devonian (Lochkovian) of central Victoria. Alcheringa, 567–569. ISSN 0311–5518.

The South African allanicytidiid mitrate carpoid Placocystella africana (Reed) is recorded for the first time from Australasia having been collected from a Lochkovian bed of the Humevale Formation at Mooroolbark in eastern Melbourne. The Southern Hemisphere Allanicytidiidae incorporating five monospecific genera in Brazil, South Africa, Tasmania, Victoria and New Zealand is now known to have a species in common between South Africa and Victoria. The previously suggested synonymy of these five is revised to accept Placocystella, Tasmanicytidium, Allanicytidium and Australocystis (but not Notocarpos) as synonymous so that the family contains Placocystella with four species and monospecific Notocarpos.

Peter A. Jell [p.jell@uq.edu.au], School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia. Received 10.4.2013; revised 6.6.2013; accepted 17.6.2013.     

Friends Farm: Australia’s First Quaker Commune

Australia has a long and rich history of religious groups trying to establish some sort of utopia by removing themselves from urban centres to rural idylls. The first of these was H errnhut, in western Victoria (1853–1889), and today there are many such as D anthonia B ruderhof and N ew G ovardhana, in NSW, C henrezig, in Queensland and R ocky C ape H utterites in Tasmania. While Quakers in the UK and USA have a tradition of forming rural communes starting from the seventeenth century, the first, and most important of such in Australia was F riends F arm, established in 1869 on what is now Queensland’s Sunshine Coast. This group was led by the charismatic Alfred Allen, a radical Quaker from Sydney. He believed that he had been reborn, held Christ within him, and had achieved sin‐free perfection. He was disowned, twice, by Sydney Quakers after when he led his small band of would‐be communards to the “wilderness” of Queensland where they sought to create a perfect society. Not surprisingly, it did not quite work out that way.     

First fossil pollen record of the Northern Hemisphere species Aglaoreidia cyclops Erdtman, 1960 in Australia

Sánchez Botero, C.A., Oboh-Ikuenobe, F.E. & Macphail, M.K., 2013. First fossil pollen record of the Northern Hemisphere species Aglaoreidia cyclops Erdtman, 1960 in Australia. Alcheringa 37, 1–5. ISSN 0311-5518.

Aglaoreidia cyclops Erdtman, 1960 is a fossil pollen species associated with upper Eocene to lower Oligocene freshwater deposits in Europe and North America. Specimens preserved in upper Eocene lignites near Norseman, Western Australia, are the first record of this Northern Hemisphere species both in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere. This new report widens the biogeographic distribution originally considered for this species. The stratigraphical and environmental characteristics of A. cyclops also make it an excellent stratigraphic indicator of upper Eocene freshwater deposits in Western Australia.

Carlos A. Sánchez Botero [casmwc@mail.mst.edu], Francisca E. Oboh-Ikuenobe [ikuenobe@mst.edu] Department of Geological Sciences and Engineering, Missouri University of Science and Technology, 129 McNutt Hall, Rolla, MO 65409, USA; Mike Macphail [mike.macphail@anu.edu.au] Department of Archaeology and Natural History, College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Received 12.10.2012; revised 6.3.2013; accepted 7.3.2013.     

Pleistocene frogs from the Darling Downs,southeastern Queensland,and their palaeoenvironmental significance

Systematic collecting from fluvial late Pleistocene deposits from the Darling Downs, southeast Queensland, Australia, has led to the recovery of the first fossil frogs from the region, ail from the Myobatrachidae, a family of ground dwelling and burrowing frogs. The most common species recovered, Limnodynastes tasmaniensis, is extant on the Darling Downs. The fossil taxa include species whose extant populations inhabit arid zones(Limnodynastes sp. cf. L. spenceri), montane forests (Kyarranus spp.), and open woodlands (Neobatrachus sudelli), and indicate the existence of a mosaic of habitats during the Pleistocene. The absence of the Hylidae (tree frogs), a family common throughout the Darling Downs today, may be explained by a taphonomic bias that favours non-arboreal forms. Alternatively, hylids may have been rare or absent on the Darling Downs during the Pleistocene.     

A new fossil genus of forest wallaby (Marsupialia,Macropodinae) and a review of Protemnodon from eastern Australia and New Guinea

A new macropodine genus and species, Silvaroo bila, is described from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sand of Queensland. The generic concept of Protemnodon is reviewed, and it is concluded that two Pliocene species previously placed in that genus (bandharr and buloloensis) belong in Silvaroo. Species of Silvaroo resemble the modern forest wallabies of Papua New Guinea (species of Dorcopsis and Dorcopsulus) and also bear close phenetic resemblance to the late Miocene Dorcopsoides fossilis. Forest wallabies are not known from mainland Australia after the middle Pliocene, but occur in the late Pliocene and Pleistocene of New Guinea.     

Record of the deep marine Clinocythereis australis Ayress and Swanson, 1991 (Ostracoda) from the upper Miocene Tambo River Formation,Gippsland Basin,Australia: Palaeo-oceanographic and biostratigraphic implications

A new species of Tertiary lungfish, Neoceratodus djelleh, is based on two well-preserved upper tooth plates, from Duaringa, Queensland. Both specimens are elongate and have curved mediolingual faces and poorly defined ridges, with little trace of crests or clefts on the flat occlusal surface. Each ridge is supported by a bony base which extends into a peak. Enameloid is present, showing growth lines without associated cusps on the labial surface. Another specimen from Billeroo Creek, South Australia, is referred to Neoceratodus cf. N. djelleh.     

Emwadea microcarpa gen. et sp. nov.—anatomically preserved araucarian seed cones from the Winton Formation (late Albian), western Queensland,Australia

Dettmann, M.E., Clifford, H.T., Peters, M., June 2012. Emwadea microcarpa gen. et sp. nov.—anatomically preserved araucarian seed cones from the Winton Formation (late Albian), western Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa, 217–237. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new genus and species, Emwadea microcarpa Dettmann, Clifford & Peters, is established for ovulate/seed cones with helically arranged cone scales bearing a centrally positioned, inverted ovule from the basal Winton Formation (late Albian), Eromanga Basin, Queensland. The cones are small, prolate ellipsoidal (9.5–14 mm vertical axis, 6.3–8.7 mm transverse axis) with wedge-shaped cone scales bearing winged seeds attached adaxially to the scale only by tissues surrounding the vasculature entering the ovule. Ovuliferous tissue that is free from the cone scale extends distally from the chalaza; the seeds' lateral wings are derived from the integument. Foliage attached to the cones is spirally arranged, imbricate and with spreading and incurved bifacial blades with acute tips; stomata are arranged in longitudinal files and are confined to the adaxial surface. The cone organization testifies to placement within the Araucariaceae, and is morphologically more similar to Wollemia and Agathis than to Araucaria.

Mary Dettmann [mary.dettmann@qm.qld.gov.au] and Trevor Clifford, Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300, South Brisbane, Q 4101, Australia; Mark Peters, PO Box 366 Gumeracha, SA 5233, Australia. Received 31.3.2011; revised 23.8.2011; accepted 5.9.2011.

     

Morphological comparisons of metacarpal I for Australovenator wintonensis and Rapator ornitholestoides: implications for their taxonomic relationships

WHITE, M.A., FALKINGHAM, P.L., COOK, A.G., HOCKNULL, S.A. & ELLIOTT, D.A., 2013. Morphological comparisons of metacarpal I for Australovenator wintonensis and Rapator ornitholestoides: implications for their taxonomic relationships. Alcheringa 37, 1 - 7. ISSN 0311-5518.

Various comparisons of left metacarpal I of the Australovenator wintonensis holotype have been made with Rapator ornitholestoides. These specimens were identified as being morphologically more similar than either was to that of the neovenatorid Megaraptor namunhuaiquii. Owing to the poor preservation of A. wintonensis and R. ornitholestoides, distinct morphological separation between the two appeared minimal. The recent discovery of a near perfectly preserved right metacarpal I of A. wintonensis enables a direct and accurate comparison with R. ornitholestoides. Distinct morphological differences exist between the metacarpals of the two species. A re-evaluation of the age of the A. wintonensis holotype site (AODL 85 ‘Matilda Site’) with zircon dating reveals a maximum age of 95 Ma, 10 Ma younger than the Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, from which R. ornitholestoides was recovered. This age difference detracts from the probability that the specimens belong to the same genus.

Matt A. White? [fossilised@hotmail.com], School of Engineering, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, New South Wales 2308, Australia; Peter L. Falkingham? [pfalkingham@rvc.ac.uk], Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, Structure and Motion Laboratory, Royal Veterinary College, London, UK; Alex G. Cook [alex.cook@y7mail.com] and Scott A. Hocknull [scott.hocknull@qm.qld.gov.au], Ancient environments, Queensland Museum, Hendra, Queensland, 4011, Australia; David A. Elliott [david.elliott@aaod.com.au], Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, The Jump Up, Winton, Queensland, 4735, Australia. ?Also affiliated with Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, The Jump Up, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia. ?Also affiliated with Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Division of Biology and Medicine, Brown University, USA. Received 22.9.2012; revised 13.1.2013; accepted 17.1.2013.     

A short-snouted trematosauroid (Tetrapoda,Temnospondyli) from the Early Triassic of Australia: the oldest known trematosaurine

The trematosauroid temnospondyl Tirraturhinus smisseni gen. et sp. nov. from the Arcadia Formation of central Queensland, Australia, is described on the basis of its rostrum. This is the first trematosaurine (short-snouted) trematosauroid from Australia, and is considered to be most closely related to Tertrema acuta from Spitzbergen. Tirraturhinus smisseni occurs alongside lonchorhynchine (long-snouted) trematosauroids in the Arcadia Formation; the co-occurrence of both trematosauroid morphotypes in that fauna is repeated in a number of non-marine Early Triassic faunas elsewhere in Pangaea. The Arcadia Formation is probably Griesbachian (earliest Triassic), so that T. smisseni is the oldest known trematosaurine.     

Mecochirus Germar (Decapoda: Glypheoidea) in the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland

JELL, P.A., WOODS, J.T. & COOK, A.G., May 2017. Mecochirus Germar (Decapoda: Glypheoidea) in the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland. Alcheringa 41, 514–523 ISSN 0311-5518.

Three new species of glypheoid decapod crustaceans, Mecochirus mcclymontorum, M. bartholomaii and M. lanceolatus, are described from the late Aptian of the Eromanga, Carpentaria and Maryborough basins, respectively. The first two occur in the Doncaster Member of the Wallumbilla Formation and the last in the Maryborough Formation. This is the first record of Mecochirus Germar, 1827 or the Mecochiridae Van Straelen, 1925 in Australia and one of only a few Cretaceous occurrences of this largely Jurassic genus.

Peter A. Jell [amjell@bigpond.com], Jack T. Woods and Alex G. Cook [alex.cook@y7mail.com], School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia Queensland 4072, Australia.     

Wombats (Vombatidae: Marsupialia) from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sand,southeast Queensland,Australia

Louys, J., 23.3.2015. Wombats (Vombatidae: Marsupialia) from the Pliocene Chinchilla Sand, southeast Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa 39, XXX–XXX. ISSN 0311-5518

The Chinchilla Local Fauna is one of the richest Pliocene vertebrate fossil assemblages in Australia. However, Vombatidae material preserved in the Chinchilla Sand is very poorly known, and no systematic examination of the wombats from Chinchilla has been conducted. Here I review the cranio-dental and mandibular wombat remains derived from Chinchilla. This material includes both adults and pouch-young specimens. At least five species of wombats are preserved in the fluviatile Chinchilla deposits, although a lack of stratigraphically controlled excavations makes it impossible to determine whether all five species were sympatric. Several wombat taxa are revised: Sedophascolomys gen. nov. is formally erected to replace the invalid ‘Phascolomys’; Vombatus mitchelli (Owen) is recognized as a species distinct from Vombatus ursinus (Shaw), and is recorded for the first time from Chinchilla. In addition to Vombatus mitchelli, the Chinchilla Sand also preserves evidence of Phascolonus gigas, Ramsayia magna, Ramsayia lemleyi and Sedophascolomys medius.

Julien Louys [julien.louys@anu.edu.au], Department of Archaeology and Natural History, School of Culture, History, and Languages, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.     

Oldest Australian vespertilionid (Microchiroptera) from the early Miocene of Riversleigh,Queensland

An upper molar of a small bat, here described from an early Miocene freshwater lime-stone deposit at Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland, is the oldest record in Australia of the microchiropteran family Vespertilionidae. The new taxon is referred to the cosmopolitan genus Leuconoe, but it does not appear to be closely related to the two extant Australian species of this genus.     

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.