Micropalaeontological investigation of late Pliocene marine sediments at Sangiran,Central Java

The Upper Kalibeng Formation and the marine intercalations of the lower part of the Pucangan Formation at Sangiran, Central Java, contain more than 30 taxa of fossil calcareous nannoplankton. These fossils indicate a Late Pliocene age for the Upper Kalibeng and lower Pucangan. The Upper Kalibeng Formation is assigned to calcareous nannoplankton Zone NN 16 (3.25 – 2.3 m.y.). The lower Pucangan Formation is within the NN 16 to NN 18 interval (3.25 – 1.65 m.y.).     

Late Oligocene to Early Miocene planktic Foraminiferida from Ashmore Reef No. 1 Well,northwest Australia

Forty-eight species and subspecies, belonging to 13 genera of planktic foraminiferids have been identified from the ‘Cartier Beds’ and unnamed calcarenite in Ashmore Reef No. 1 Well. The assemblages indicate that the units correlate with planktic Zones N.3/4 to N.6–7 (Late Oligocene to Early Miocene). One new species, Subbotina cartieri, is described.     

Miralinidae (Marsupialia: Phalangeroidea) from northern Australia,including the youngest occurrence of the family

Five isolated molars from two localities in the Northern Territory, the middle Miocene Bullock Creek and late Oligocene Kangaroo Well sites, are assigned to the new miralinid genus Barguru, which includes the three new species: Barguru kayir, Barguru maru and Barguru kula. The Miralinidae was previously thought to be restricted to the late Oligocene and early Miocene, but the occurrence at Bullock Creek extends the time range of this family into the middle Miocene. Analysis of metaloph development in the Miralinidae suggests that loph formation in this family followed a different trajectory to that of phalangerids.     

Palaeogeographic setting of a deep-water trilobite fauna from the Early Devonian (Pragian) of the Upper Yarra,central Victoria. Phacopidae of Victoria,Part 3

A Pragian (Early Devonian) trilobite fauna from the Norton Gully Formation in the Upper Yarra area of central Victoria consists exclusively of the phacopid Prokops moorei sp. nov., a species with a highly variable visual surface including greatly reduced and blind morphologies. Several trilobites are preserved as moult assemblages, but most occur as isolated tergites on bedding-planes crowded with dacryoconarids and small bivalves. The autecology and taphofacies of the fauna indicate a deep-water setting, with the biofacies associations closely resembling deep-water assemblages described from Devonian sequences elsewhere. The distributions of laterally equivalent late Pragian facies from eastern areas of the Melbourne Zone indicate an inclined shelf between Lilydale and the Upper Yarra area, deepening eastwards from shoreline to outer shelf settings. To the northwest and northeast of the Upper Yarra area, the shelf was bounded by tectonically active margins associated with the converging Benambra Terrain, and to the south by the Waratah Bay Platform.     

Oceanic palaeoenvironment of the Miocene Fyansford Formation from Fossil Beach,near Mornington,Victoria, interpreted on the basis of Ostracoda

Study of an ostracode assemblage from the Miocene Fyansford Formation near Mornington allows determination of the principal characteristics of the hydrologic environment at that time.

Palaeodepth was upper epibathyal (about 150–250 m). The oxygen minimum zone mostly was weakly demarcated at about O₂ 5 ml/l. Productivity was good and the benthic ostracode microfauna was rich and varied. Occasionally, a sudden and strong increase in productivity occurred which correlated to a rapid and well marked increase in the oxygen minimum zone. Physico-chemical factors, which developed following bacterial breakdown of organic matter that had accumulated on the bottom, are reflected in Bradleya shells by distinct signs of aggradation/degradation. A few allochthonous forms from the nearby continental shelf were transported downwards onto this part of the upper slope. Bottom currents contributed (by furrowing) to the formation of calcareous ‘hard grounds’.

Bradleya morningtonensis n.sp. is described as new.     

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).     

Palynology of the Jurassic-Cretaceous transition in the Rajmahal Formation,West Bengal,India

Borehole PGD-1A penetrated Cretaceous Rajmahal Formation and underlying Triassic Panchet Formation between 288–423.51 m. Palynoassemblages recovered within the Mesozoic sequence are assigned to three palynozones closely comparable to Australian assemblages. The oldest palynozone is the Verrucosisporites-Lundbladispora zone, which occurs between 373.5–376 m in the uppermost Panchet Formation. The first occurrence of Callialasporites turbatus occurs at 373.5 m and signals the presence of Jurassic deposits. The overlying Infratrappean greyshales (371.5–354 m) of the Rajmahal Formation is represented by the Murospora florida palynozone of Late Jurassic age. The youngest palynozone identified is the Cicatricosisporites australiensis zone which occurs within the Inter-trappeans (346.35–295.0 m) of the Rajmahal Formation. Based on ages assigned to the M. florida and C. australiensis zones in Australia, the Rajmahal Formation is dated as Oxfordian-Berriasian. The first appearance datums (FADs) of Cicatricosisporites australiensis, Crybelosporites stylolsus, Aequitriradites spinulosus and Lycopodiacidites dettmannae suggest that the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary probably lies just within the interval 346.35–328.81 m in Inter-trappean bed II.     

Evolutionary morphological changes in the new genus Duoforisa: implication for classification and habitat of the unilocular Foraminifera

Qianyu Li & Brian Mcgowran, 1994:03:28. Evolutionary morphological changes in the new genus Duoforisa: implication for classification and habit of the unilocular Foraminifera. Alcheringa 18, 121–134. ISSN 0311-5518.

Unlike other unilocular foraminifera, the new genus Duoforisa from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene possesses a kidney-shaped test with two apertures on its distal ends. It contains two distinct and successional species, both new, and differentiated by their apertural details. In Duoforisa rima the apertures are slit-like, and become radial in the descendant D. diducta. Intermediate forms have transitional apertural configurations between the slit type and radial type, accompanied also by a change of the test outline from subtriangular to compactly U-shaped. The evolution of the lineage occurred during a period of enhanced upwelling in the Early Miocene and it was terminated just before the global warming at the Early-Middle Miocene boundary. This example suggests evolution of the unilocular foraminifera through successional morphological changes in test shape and in the aperture. Unilocular taxa have tended to flourish or speciate in cool or upwelling environments. Their contraction in the latest Early Miocene to early Middle Miocene was probably due to global warming and well oxygenated conditions which were widespread in the neritic domains of southern Australia.     

First record of squamate reptiles from the Oligocene of South America

Squamata are known from South America since the Cretaceous, but their fossil record has an occurrence gap between the late Eocene and early Miocene. Fossils recovered from the Sarmiento Formation (Deseadan South American Land Mammal Age, late Oligocene) at Cabeza Blanca (45°S) partially fill this interval. The squamates recovered from Cabeza Blanca include both lizards (an indeterminate Iguanidae and a probable Iguaninae) and snakes (Madtsoiidae). If these taxonomic assignments are correct, the presence of an Iguaninae at such a latitude is unexpected because these lizards are presently absent from Argentine territory. The madtsoiid, here referred to Madtsoia, would extend the Cenozoic record of this genus back to around 16?Ma. The squamate fauna from Cabeza Blanca is compatible with warm and humid environments inferred for the Patagonian Deseadan.     

A new Late Ordovician microdomatid gastropod genus from Seville,south west Spain,with a revision of Ordovician Microdomatoidea

A new microdomatid gastropod, Eopagodea sevillana gen. and sp. nov., is described from the Late Ordovician (pre-Hirnantian Ashgill) limestones of Seville, Ossa Morena Zone, Spain. Palaeozoic microdomatids lived in shallow-water environments and were restricted to warm-water regions. Occurrence of microdomatid gastropods in the pre-Hirnantian Ashgill limestones of the Cerrón del Hornillo syncline (Ossa Morena Zone, Spain) is interpreted as an example of an influx of warm-water faunal elements into the otherwise cool to cold climate of the Mediterranean region during a short-termed, pre-Hirnantian increase of palaeotemperatures. The Late Ordovician microdomatid genus Daidia Wilson, 1951, is revised and two new Late Ordovician (Ashgill) subspecies of Daidia cerithioides (Salter, 1859) are described: Daidia cerithioides sewardensis n. subsp. from the Don River area of the York Mountains, Seward Peninsula, western Alaska, and Daidia cerithioides wilsonae n. subsp. from the Little East Lake Formation of northwestern Maine.     

A second species of the possum Durudawiri (Marsupialia: Miralinidae) from the early Miocene of Riversleigh,northwestern Queensland

Durudawiri anfractus sp. nov. (Marsupialia: Miralinidae) is described from Riversleigh. This, the second described species of the genus, is very similar in morphology to, but much larger than, D. inusitatus. Durudawiri anfractus and D. inusitatus are found at similar sites, all early Miocene. The Miralinidae remains one of the most time-restricted families of marsupial, being found so far in only the late Oligocene and early Miocene.     

New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area,northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions

Gillespie, A.K., Archer, M., Hand, S.J. & Black, K.H., 2014. New material referable to Wakaleo (Marsupialia: Thylacoleonidae) from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland: revising species boundaries and distributions in Oligo/Miocene marsupial lions. Alcheringa 38, 513–527. ISSN 0311–5518.

New material of Wakaleo oldfieldi and W. vanderleueri from the Miocene freshwater limestones of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, is described. This material includes the first known upper dentition of W. oldfieldi and dentaries of both species bearing the previously undescribed and morphologically distinct M₃. Previously, the two species were distinguished only by size differences in P3 and the size of P₃ relative to M1. Wakaleo oldfieldi exhibits a more plesiomorphic M₃ that retains a well-developed talonid basin in contrast to W. vanderleueri, which has lost this structure. The phyletic succession and geological occurrences of Wakaleo species make this genus an important taxon in biochronological analyses of Australian Cenozoic assemblages. At Riversleigh, W. oldfieldi is found in deposits allocated to Faunal Zone B and Faunal Zone C, which are regarded as early and middle Miocene in age, respectively. The presence of this species in the Kutjamarpu Local Fauna of central Australia suggests that fauna may be of a similar age. Broader faunal correlations have suggested Faunal Zone C correlates with the middle Miocene Bullock Creek Local Fauna, which contains the more derived W. vanderleueri. Based on stage-of-evolution arguments, W. oldfieldi should occur in older deposits than those yielding W. vanderleueri. The presence of both species of Wakaleo in Faunal Zone C assemblages at Riversleigh suggests that current presumptions about the contemporaneity of the many Faunal Zone C Sites should be examined more rigorously.

Anna K. Gillespie [a.gillespie@unsw.edu.au], Michael Archer [m.archer@unsw.edu.au], Suzanne J. Hand [s.hand@unsw.edu.au] and Karen H. Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au] School of Biological Earth and Environmental Science, UNSW 2052, Sydney, Australia. Received 3.1.2014, revised 21.2.2014, accepted 21.3.2014.     

Late Miocene continental birds from the Cerro Azul Formation in the Pampean region (central-southern Argentina)

Cenizo, M.M., Tambussi, C.P. & Montalvo, C.I., iFirst Article. Late Miocene continental birds from the Cerro Azul Formation in the Pampean region (central-southern Argentina). Alcheringa, 1–22. ISSN 0311-5518.

The oldest known birds from the Cerro Azul Formation are described, including the oldest records for the genera Eudromia and Nothura (Tinamidae), Milvago (Falconidae), Pterocnemia (Rheidae) and an undetermined Tyrannidae. The first remains of Phorusrhacidae for this formation are reported and a specimen previously referred to the giant teratorn Argentavis magnificens is reassigned to this family. We outline and update the current knowledge of the groups studied herein. The palaeornithological record from the Cerro Azul Formation is congruent with palaeoenvironmental inferences previously drawn from mammalian assemblages recovered from this unit, which point to the existence of open environments, possibly xerophyllous shrubby steppes, perhaps with some trees. These records are the first indications of a typically Pampean bird fauna at the end of the late Miocene in central-southern Argentina.     

Geomorphic perspectives on the sterkfontein australopithecine breccias

Breccias in the upper Sterkfontein cave system levels have yielded artifact assemblages as well as Homo and Australopithecus africanus remains. As mapped by the author, this sytem can be subdivided into a northern sector, comprising small, bedding-controlled passageways, and a southern one with large galleries controlled by subvertical fracture zones and partly filled with two generations of external, detrital sediment. A four-stage model describes the development of these deposits. The implications of this study include: (1) The caves formed in one rather than two phases, as a result of structural rather than watertable controls. (2) The lowest strata of both depositional generations, 50–60 m below the hillcrest are probably the oldest. T. C. Partridge's Sterkfontein Formation only includes approximately the upper half of the stratigraphic column recognized here. Deposits underlying those he described are also fossiliferous and probably substantially older than the 2·8+ million year age attributed to the lower units of the Sterkfontein Formation. (3) The Sterkfontein Formation, as defined by Partridge, is a composite stratotype, comprising one surface exposure and another underground, at mid to upper levels in the system. Their stratigraphic relationships are obscure and since the lower boundary of the Formation also is in doubt, erection of a formal stratotype is premature. Deep-lying breccias may ultimately warrant another component, extending the Sterkfontein Formation to the lowest known levels of the cave system.     

Fluidized sandstone intrusions as an indicator of Paleostress orientation, Santa Cruz, California

The late Miocene sandstone intrusions of northern Santa Cruz County, California, are the largest subaerial exposures of clastic intrusions on earth. The intrusions are sourced from a sandstone, underlying mudstone, accumulated in an outer shelf to upper slope environment. Dikes are the most frequent intrusion type, reach the greatest thickness and tend to strike north‐east and dip steeply. One giant dike is more than 150 m wide. Sills are least frequent, locally > 8 m thick and have no clear preferred geographical distribution. Clustered intrusions are commonly < 10 cm thick and mostly composed of dikes of various attitudes. The majority of the intrusions probably were injected shallowly as some extrude onto the seafloor. The local seafloor extrusion also indicates injection during the deposition of the Santa Cruz Mudstone (7–9 Ma). The intrusions are concentrated at the basin margin. Fluid pressure at the centre of the basin and perhaps hydrocarbons were communicated to the basin margin through the then sand, causing fluid overpressures that contributed to the fluidization and intrusion into the overlying mudstone. Primarily north‐east‐striking, steeply dipping dikes and secondarily, shallowly dipping sills are most significant in terms of regional connectivity of intrusions and physical dilation of the formation. The orientation of the dikes and sills indicates a regional stress field with a horizontal NE–SW maximum and a NW–SE minimum compressive direction. The simultaneous development of dikes and sills suggests similar magnitudes of the minimum and intermediate principal stresses. Preferential weakness along bedding contributed to the development of sills. Palaeomagnetic data indicate no significant block rotation around a vertical axis. The maximum principal stress direction indicated by the intrusions is about 55° to the San Gregorio Fault and about 70° to the San Andreas Fault during the late Miocene. This stress field is similar to the modern stress field and suggests moderate fault weakness.     

First record of Procariama simplex Rovereto, 1914 (Phorusrhacidae,Psilopterinae) in the Cerro Azul Formation (upper Miocene) of La Pampa Province; remarks on its anatomy,palaeogeography and chronological range

Vezzosi, R.I., June 2012. First record of Procariama simplex Rovereto, 1914 (Phorusrhacidae, Psilopterinae) in the Cerro Azul Formation (upper Miocene) of La Pampa Province; remarks on its anatomy, palaeogeography and chronological range. Alcheringa, 157–169. ISSN 0311-5518.

New records of Procariama simplex in central and northwestern Argentina are reported. The fossil material includes mandibular bones, cervical vertebrae and several elements of the fore and hindlimbs. After an exhaustive comparison of anatomical characters and morphometric analysis, the fossil specimens are assigned to the psilopterine Procariama simplex. The specimen from La Pampa Province represents the first record of a psilopterine in this central region of Argentina and derives from upper Miocene sediments of the Cerro Azul Formation. Lithological features and biostratigraphical data allow the host bed to be assigned to the Huayquerian faunal stage (late Miocene). The La Pampa record broadens the geographical distribution of Procariama simplex, which was previously restricted to northwestern Argentina.

Raúl Ignacio Vezzosi [vezzosiraul@gmail.com], Centro de Investigaciones Científicas y Transferencia de Tecnología a la Producción CICYTTP-CONICET, Materi y España s/n (3105), Diamante, Entre Ríos, Argentina. Received 1.4.2011, revised 28.5.2011, accepted 14.6.2011.     

A late Miocene–early Pliocene Mihirung bird (Aves: Dromornithidae) from Victoria,southeast Australia

Park, T. & Fitzgerald, E.M.G. September 2012. A late Miocene–early Pliocene Mihirung bird (Aves: Dromornithidae) from Victoria, southeast Australia. Alcheringa 36, 427–430. ISSN 0311-5518.

An incomplete tarsometatarsus identified as an indeterminate species of Dromornithidae is described from the upper Miocene–lower Pliocene shallow marine Black Rock Sandstone at Beaumaris, Victoria, Australia. This isolated specimen represents one of the few pre-Pleistocene dromornithids with a well-constrained geologic age. Additionally, it is one of the few pre-Quaternary dromornithid fossils recorded from southeast Australia. Comparisons with known dromornithid taxa suggest that the Beaumaris dromornithid is distinct from previously established species. This hitherto unknown species of dromornithid in the late Neogene of southeastern Australia cautions against deriving evolutionary patterns solely on the basis of fossils from northern Australia.     

Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou,Guangxi, South China

Shen, Y. & Wang, X.L., 24.6.2015. Foraminiferal biostratigraphy of the Bei’an Formation (Visean–Serpukhovian) in the Pengchong area of Liuzhou, Guangxi, South China. Alcheringa 39,559–572 ISSN 0311-5518

The type section of the Mississippian Bei’an Formation is well exposed on both sides of the Beihuan expressway at Liuzhou in Guangxi, South China, about 700 m east of the Pengchong GSSP (Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point) for the base of the Visean Stage. Foraminifers are abundant and diverse (at least 59 species and 39 genera) in this section, and five foraminiferal zones are recognizable in the Bei’an Formation. In ascending order, these are the Pojarkovella nibelis, Koskinotextularia, Bradyina, Janischewskina and ‘Millerella’ tortula zones. Based on the foraminifers, the Bei’an Formation is regarded as being of middle Visean to Serpukhovian age, i.e., equivalent to biozones MFZ12–MFZ15 from the stratotypes of Europe, and the Visean–Serpukhovian boundary is placed at the base of the ‘Millerella’ tortula Zone.

Yang Shen [shenybj@126.com] (Corresponding author) and Xun-Lian Wang [wxl@cugb.edu.cn], School of Earth Sciences and Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), 29 Xueyuan Road, Beijing 100083, PR China.     

Llanvirn-early Caradoc trilobite biofacies of western Hubei and Hunan,China

On the basis of representative collections made from seven measured sections in western Hubei and Hunan, four early Llanvirn and five late Llanvirn-early Caradoc trilobite biofacies are distinguished along a bathymetric gradient from shallow to deep outer shelf. The diversity and relative abundance of mesopelagic cyclopygids gradually increased southwards or seawards. According to the facies association exhibited in the region, the upper limit of living depth for different forms is inferred as follows: 1) more than 70 m (M. (Microparia)); 2) less than 100 m (M. (Quadratapyge), Pricyclopyge, Aspidaeglina); 3) at approximately 100 m (Cyclopyge); and 4) more than 100 m (Symphysops, Psilacella). Benthic forms were absent in the deep outer-shelf basin because of stagnant conditions. In shallower sites of the outer shelf, genera of nileids in the carbonate facies and raphiophorids in the clastic facies were relatively abundant, but some endemic forms, such as the asaphid Birmanites and remopleuridid Hexacopyge, became dominant during the late Llanvirn-early Caradoc. Rorringtoniids are mainly associated with deeper outer-shelf facies. Panderia is common in an early Llanvirn nileid fauna at Yichongqiao, Cili area, and may well indicate development of shelf carbonate buildups. A transgressive event is suggested by the sudden appearance of rich Cyclopyge in the early Caradoc at Jiuxi, Changde.