A rare,late Paleocene molluscan faunule from the Kings Park Formation,Perth Basin,Western Australia

A shallow marine faunule of eight taxa from the Kings Park Formation of the Perth Basin is the first described Paleocene molluscan assemblage from Western Australia. These species are part of a depauperate suite of macroinvertebrates (molluscs, echinoids and corals) derived from deep, onshore caissons in Perth and are inferred to be late Paleocene in age, based on planktonic foraminiferal biostratigraphy and associated age ranges of the molluscan fauna. Bivalves are Sarepta austranaxa sp. nov. (Sareptidae), Solemya kingsparki sp. nov. (Solemyidae), Periploma vivarirex sp. nov. (Periplomatidae), Parvamussium sp. nov.? (Propeamussiidae), Serripecten? sp. (Pectinidae) and Venericardia (Rotundicardia) petraea Darragh (Carditidae). Gastropods are Levifusus? sp. cf. L.? quadrifunifer Darragh (Buccinidae), and Columbarium rumatoides Darragh (Turbinellidae). Bivalves dominate the fauna in dark, glauconitic siltstone and sandstone facies; gastropods are of relatively poor preservation and low diversity.     

Trilobite faunas and palaeoenvironmental setting of the Silurian (early Ludlow) Melbourne Formation,central Victoria

Trilobites are common faunal elements in the Melbourne Formation, a unit of early Ludlow (upper nilssoni Biozone) age, which crops out extensively in the Darraweit Guim Province of the Melbourne Zone, central Victoria. New diagnoses are given for species previously described, including Maurotarion euryceps (McCoy, 1876; = Cyphaspis spryi Gregory, 1901), Raphiophorus jikaensis (Chapman, 1912; = Ampyx yarraensis Chapman, 1912), Cromus simpliciculus (Talent, 1964), Cromus spryi (Chapman, 1912), Sthenarocalymene kilmorensis (Gill, 1945; = Gravicalymene hetera Gill, 1945) and Trimerus harrisoni (McCoy, 1876). A new phacopid genus, Orygmatos is described, represented by the species O. yanyeani gen. et sp. nov. Other species newly described include Cromus melbournensis sp. nov., Arcticalymene australis sp. nov., “Ananaspis” woiwurrungi sp. nov. and Kettneraspis hollowayi sp. nov.

Species composition of the trilobite fauna varies spatially, and a number of distinct assemblages can be defined. Abundant trilobite moult configurations are conclusive for interpretation of the benthic fauna as autochthonous, inferring depth estimations based on benthic community distribution to be valid. A depth-related succession of communities is recognised and indicate the Melbourne Formation was deposited at relatively shallow depths on a broad, eastwardly deepening shelf, with deposition dominated by storm processes. The palaeoenvironment comprised a BA-1 community including the Arcticalymene australis trilobite assemblage, restricted to very shallow depths (～20 m) on the SW coastal margin of the shelf and preserved in proximal tempestite lithologies; and a BA-5 community group containing three distinct trilobite assemblages dominated by species of Cromus and a deeper water fauna, preserved in distal tempestite lithologies and ranging widely over the shelf at depths in the range of maximum storm wave base (～50 – 80 m).     

Early Miocene bivalves from the Cape Melville Formation,King George Island,West Antarctica

Seven species of marine bivalves, including six new taxa, are described from the Cape early Miocene Melville Formation which crops out on the Melville Peninsula, King George Island, West Antarctica. The bivalve assemblage includes representatives of the families Nuculidae, Ennucula frigida sp. nov., E. musculosa sp. nov.; Malletidae, Neilo (Neilo) rongelii sp. nov.; Sareptidae, Yoldia peninsularis sp. nov.; Limopsidae, Limopsis psimolis sp. nov.; Hiatellidae, Panopea (Panopea) sp. cf. P. regularis; and Pholadomyoida (Periploma acuta sp. nov.). Species studied come from four sedimentary sections measured in the upper part of the unit. Detailed morphologic features of nucloid and arcoid species are exceptionally well preserved and allow for the first time reconstruction of muscle insertions as well as dentition patterns of Cenozoic taxa. Known geological distribution of the species is in agreement with the early Miocene age assigned to the Cape Melville Formation. The bivalve fauna from Cape Melville Formation is the best known from Antarctic Miocene rocks, a time of complex geologic, paleogeographic and paleoclimatic changes in the continent. The new fauna introduces new taxonomic and palaeogeographic data that bear on the question of opening of sea gateways and distribution of Cenozoic biota around Antarctica.     

Middle Devonian gastropods from Xiangzhou and Wuxuan,Guangxi, South China

Eighteen taxa of Middle Devonian (Givetian) gastropods, including two new genera and five new species, are présent in the Tungkangling and Yingtang Formations, Wuxuan and Xiangxhou counties, Guangxi Province, China. Pingtianispira tuberculata gen. et sp. nov., Wuxuanella nodusa gen. et sp. nov. and Wuxuanella luifengshanensis sp. nov., Crenulazone wuxuanensis sp. nov. and Murchisonia luifengshanensis sp. nov. are erected from this distinct fauna. The fauna is dominated by nodose and unusual murchisonioids and has strong European and other Old World realm affinities.     

An Early Permian brachiopod fauna of Gondwanan affinity from the Baoshan block,western Yunnan,China

The present paper describes and illustrates an Early Permian brachiopod fauna collected from two localities from the upper part of the type Dingjiazhai Formation near Youwang, 30 km south of Baoshan in the Baoshan block, western Yunnan, China. The brachiopod fauna is dominated by Stenoscisma sp. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov. and exhibits strong generic and some specific links with faunas from the Bisnain assemblage of Timor and the Callytharra Formation of Western Australia and, to a lesser extent, faunas from the Jilong Formation of southern Tibet, the Tashkazyk Formation of southeastern Pamir, the lower Toinlungkongba Formation of northwestern Tibet, the upper Pondo Group of central Tibet, and the Jimba Jimba Calcarenite of the Carnarvon Basin, Western Australia. Based on these correlations, a Late Sakmarian (Sterlitamakian) age is preferred for the Dingjiazhai brachiopod fauna. Two new species are proposed: Globiella youwangensis sp. nov. and Elivina yunnanensis sp. nov.     

Wenlock brachiopods from Canberra,Australia

Twenty-four brachiopod species are described from a well-preserved shelly fauna in the Walker Volcanics, collected from the Molonglo valley west of Canberra. There are three inarticulates and twenty-one articulates, of which nine are new, three are closely compared with previously described species and twelve are under open nomenclature. New are Skenidioides thrinax, Salopina mediocostata, Aegiria (Epelidoaegiria subgen. nov.) chilidifera, Morinorhynchus oepiki, Australina (Australina) kausi, Coelospira cavata, Endospirifer anxius, Reticulariopsis silurica and Vadum (gen. nov.) coppinsense. The fauna is shown to be cosmopolitan in character and falls within the scope of Benthic Assemblages 3 to 5 of Boucot (1975). It is of Wenlock age.     

Acanthodian fish remains from the Lower Devonian Cavan Bluff Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group), Taemas district,New South Wales

A well-preserved acanthodian fish fauna from the Lower Devonian (early Emsian) Cavan Bluff Limestone (Murrumbidgee Group), Taemas, Yass district, New South Wales, consists of dentigerous jawbones, fin spines and scales. Four taxa belonging to the Order Ischnacanthida are recognized including Taemasacanthus erroli Long, 1986 and newly described genera and species Cavanacanthus warrooensis gen. et sp. nov., Cambaracanthus goodhopensis gen. et sp. nov. and Taemasacanthus porca sp. nov. An amended diagnosis is provided for T. erroli. The jawbone of C. warrooensis gen. et sp. nov. is of moderate size and bears a single row of teeth with a circular parabasal section. The jawbone extends in an anterior direction beyond the foremost tooth. C. goodhopensis gen. et sp. nov. is a small to moderate sized jawbone bearing two teeth rows separated by a longitudinal ridge. The teeth of the mesial tooth row, the main tooth row, are circular in parabasal section. The lateral tooth row is weakly developed, bearing one or two incipient teeth. T. porca sp. nov. is represented by a small curved jawbone (mesially concave) bearing two teeth rows separated by a prominent longitudinal ridge. The teeth of both tooth rows have a circular parabasal section. The anterior extension of this ridge beyond the foremost tooth represents approximately one quarter the length of the jawbone. These fishes inhabited a Lower Devonian carbonate platform consisting of patch reefs built upon a muddy substrate on a low energy shallow marine shelf which was subjected to frequent storm surges.     

A new athyridacean brachiopod from the Carboniferous of Rawdon Vale,New South Wales

Rawdonia nasharae gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Carboniferous Carsonville and Berrico Creek Formations at Rawdon Vale, N.S.W. Rawdonia is distinguished from other athyridaceans by: the possession of a smooth brachial valve; a cardinal process which is rod-like, bordered by extensions of the socket plates, and has an alveolus or pit at the base; the lack of a cardinal plate; and the lack of well-defined dental plates. In New South Wales Rawdonia nasharae ranges from the Delepinea aspinosa Zone to the Rhipidomella fortimuscula Zone.     

Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) brachiopods from the Itaituba Formation of the Amazon Basin,Brazil

A new brachiopod fauna is described from the lower Itaituba Formation at the Caima Quarry 2 section in the Itaituba area, Amazon Basin, Brazil. The Amazonoproductus amazonensis-Anthracospirifer oliveirai Assemblage is proposed for this fauna, which is considered early Pennsylvanian (Morrowan) as constrained by associated conodont and fusulinacean faunas. Nine brachiopod taxa are described herein, including Amazonoproductus amazonensis gen. et sp. nov., and Buxtonioides itaitubensis sp. nov. and Linoproductus caima sp. nov. The new tribe Marginovatini of the Linoproductoidea (the Productida) is also proposed.     

Tertiary frogs from South Australia

Four species of hylid and leptodactylid frogs are reported from the Tertiary (mid-Miocene) Ngapakaldi fauna of the Etadunna Formation at Lake Palankarinna, South Australia. The species comprise Limnodynastes archeri sp. nov., Litoria sp. cf. caerulea (White), Litoria sp. indet. and Australobatrachus ilius Tyler. Previously the extant genera Limnodynastes and Litoria have been known only from Quaternary deposits.     

Late Triassic (Carnian) corals from Timor-Leste (East Timor): their identity,setting, and biogeography

Four scleractinian coral taxa are described from limestones within a sandstone-shale séquence correlated with the Late Triassic Babulu Formation, Manatuto township, on the northern coast of Timor-Leste (East Timor). The coral fauna consists of three phaceloid taxa, Paravolzeia tìmorìca gen. et sp. nov., Craspedophyll ramosa sp. nov., Margarosmilia confluens (Münster), and a generically indeterminate solitary taxon attributed to the family Margarophylliidae. Ali four corals are related at various taxonomie levels to Carnian faunas from the Dolomites of northern Italy. Previously, only Norian coral faunas were known from the Triassic of Timor. The fauna exhibits both similarities to and differences from Carnian faunas of the Dolomites and helps confirm palaeogeographic affinities with the western Tethys, although during Late Triassic time Timor lay in the distant southeastern portai of the Tethys. Despite isolation from the western Tethys, the presence of two species foundalso in the Dolomites indicates that larvai dispersai occurred between the two areas.     

Trilobites from the Middle Ordovician Stairway Sandstone,Amadeus Basin,central Australia

Abstract

During the Middle Ordovician (Darriwilian) sandstones and siltstones were deposited in the epicontinental Larapintine Sea, which covered large parts of central Australia. The Darriwilian Stairway Sandstone has, for the first time, been sampled stratigraphically for macrofossils to track marine benthic biodiversity in this clastic-dominated shallow-water palaeoenvironment situated along the margin of northeastern Gondwana. The faunas from the Stairway Sandstone are generally of low diversity and dominated by bivalves but include several animal groups, with trilobites representing 25% of the entire shelly fauna. Thirteen trilobite taxa are described from the Stairway Sandstone; the fauna displays a high degree of endemism. One new species, Basilicus (Parabasilicus) brumbyensis sp. nov. is described.     

Ordovician stromatoporoids from Tasmania

The Hunter Siltstone near Grenfell, New South Wales, contains a rich Upper Devonian fish fauna including the sinolepid Grenfellaspis and the new antiarchs Bothriolepis grenfellensis sp. nov. and Remigolepis redcliffensis sp. nov. Bothriolepis grenfellensis sp. nov. is the first bothriolepid species described from N.S.W., and R. redcliffensis sp. nov. is the first species of Remigolepis described from Australia. Traditionally, the Hunter Siltstone was considered to be uppermost Famennian or earliest Carboniferous in age based on the presence of Grenfellaspis, and the related taxon Sinolepis, which is known from the Wutung and Sanmentan formations of southeastern China. However, available data indicates the Hunter Siltstone may be early Famennian in age. Ongoing work suggests that all Famennian Bothriolepis from N.S.W., including B. grenfellensis, possess a trifid preorbital recess, but differ in other aspects of headshield morphology. In North China, the Famennian Zhongning Formation contains six species of Remigolepis and a species of Sinolepis. However, R. redcliffensis does not show any similarity to these species beyond those of Remigolepis as a whole.     

Confirmation of a Middle Jurassic age for the Eedemt Formation in Dundgobi Province,southeast Mongolia: constraints from the discovery of new spinicaudatans (clam shrimps)

Two spinicaudatan species, Triglypta eedemtensis Li sp. nov. and Dundgobiestheria mandalgobiensis Li gen. et sp. nov., are described on the basis of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) imaging of newly collected specimens from paper-thin laminated black shale of the Eedemt Formation exposed at the Eedemt locality in the Khootiin Khotgor coal mine region of Dundgobi Province in southeast Mongolia. Triglypta eedemtensis is ornamented mainly with puncta and a punctate fine reticulum; radial lirae occur only on two or three growth bands near the venter. The small spinicaudatan Triglypta is a common component of the Middle Jurassic Euestheria ziliujingensis fauna and Sinokontikia fauna, and is a typical taxon in the Middle Jurassic lacustrine sequences of northern Hebei and the Junggar and Turpan basins of the Xinjiang Autonomous District of China; however, it does not occur in stratigraphically higher units elsewhere. Therefore, the age of the Eedemt Formation should be considered Middle Jurassic rather than Early Cretaceous. The Eedemt Formation is much older than the Early Cretaceous Shinekhudag Formation in the Shine Khudag area of southeast Mongolia.     

Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin,S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov

Schmidt, R., March 2007. Australian Cenozoic Bryozoa, 2: Free-living Cheilostomata of the Eocene St. Vincent Basin, S.A., including Bonellina gen. nov. Alcheringa 31, 67-84. ISSN 0311-5518.

Free-living bryozoans are diverse in the Eocene sediments of the St. Vincent Basin, South Australia. They include Bonellina pentagonalis gen. et sp. nov., Otionellina sp. cf. O. exigua (Tenison Woods), Otionellina sp. cf. O. cupola (Tenison Woods), Tubiporella magna (Tenison Woods), Celleporaria nummularia (Tenison Woods), and an indeterminate species only found as moulds. This diversity and abundance is highest in the sediments representing the initial transgressive marine facies, where they occur in ‘sand fauna’ bryozoan assemblages (e.g. with Melicerita and Siphonicytara). Free-living bryozoans decrease up-section and are absent from latest Eocene sediments, indicating a significant environmental shift.

Rolf Schmidt [rschmid@museum.vic.gov.au], Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia; received 18.3.2005, revised 14.12.2005.     

Biostratigraphic potential of Middle Cambrian hyoliths from the eastern Georgina Basin

Fourteen hyolith taxa are documented from the Middle Cambrian (Templetonian to Floran) of the eastern (Queensland) portion of the Georgina Basin, Australia, as a contribution toward a prospective Australian Cambrian hyolith biozonation. The described fauna is from the Beetle Creek Formation (including Monastery Creek Phosphorite Member) and Gowers Formation. Additionally, the enigmatic Cupittheca and some indeterminate hyoliths are figured to illustrate aspects of hyolith morphology. Guduguwan hardmani, widespread in Ordian-early Templetonian strata of northern Australia, is here recorded from the early Templetonian of the eastern Georgina Basin. A new family Gakidae is established for sulcavitide hyolithomorphs with a conch of pentagonally tabernacular transverse section, to include Gaka, Kalkatungu gen. nov. and possibly Dorsolinevitus. New genera are the hyolithid Yalarrnga mara gen. et sp. nov., sulcavitid Kulangarra kutjurru gen. et sp. nov., gakid Kalkatungu murlu gen. et sp. nov. and angusticornid Yuku tjurtu gen. et sp. nov.; new species are Loculitheca kunka sp. nov., Carinolithes tjikilirri sp. nov., ?Sololites kankari sp. nov., ?Shandongolithes thakal sp. nov., ?Gerkella thuka sp. nov. and ?Yacutolituus rakatju sp. nov. Taxa in open nomenclature are Foersteotheca cf. dubecensis, ?Holmitheca sp. and ?Dorsojugatus sp. On present knowledge, the potential for an Australian Cambrian hyolith biozonation is limited in the Early Cambrian, but for the Middle Cambrian, G. hardmani is a widespread Ordian-early Templetonian indicator, while hyolith distribution in the Monastery Creek Phosphorite Member suggests a faunal turnover at or about the incoming of Acidusus atavus which may provide a basis for biozonation in the Floran stage.     

Early Carboniferous Bivalvia from western Argentina

González, C. R., Early carboniferous Bivalvia from western Argentina. Alcheringa 18, 169–185. ISSN 0311-5518.

Lower Carboniferous deposits of western Argentina yield invertebrates and plant remains. In the Tournaisian epoch, a transgression from the ‘Pacific’ flooded the Rio Blanco Basin, forming a semi-restricted inland sea. Marine invertebrates of this age comprise the Malimanian fauna, which is based on the Protocanites-Rossirhynchus Assemblage. Eleven species of Bivalvia are here described Palaeoneilo subquadratum sp. nov., Malimania triangularis gen. et sp. nov., Phestia sp., Volsellina? sp. Posidoniella malimanensis sp. nov., Leptodesma? sp., Schizodus sp., Cypricardinia? sp., Edmondia? sp., Sanguinolites punillanus sp. nov., and Vacunella? sp. nov. They are accompanied by gastropods, trilobites, conularids and corals. The Malimanian fauna is regarded as a poorly to moderately varied assemblage that was influenced by some basinal restrictions. It was probably connected to faunas of Chile and Peru, and lived during a stage of mild climate before the beginning of the Late Palaeozoic ice age.     

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.     

New corystosperm ovulate fructifications from the Middle Triassic of eastern Australia

The genus Umkomasia Thomas is emended to include the corystosperm ovulate inflorescent genera Pilophorosperma Thomas and Karibacarpon Lacey. Three new species of large inflorescences are described and illustrated: Umkomasia polycarpa sp. nov. from the Esk Formation of Queensland and U. distans sp. nov. and U. sessilis sp. nov. from the Basin Creek Formation of New South Wales.