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.     

Deciduous Nothofagus leaves from the Miocene of Cornish Head,New Zealand

Pole, M.S., 1994:03:28. Deciduous Nothofagus leaves from the Miocene of Cornish Head, New Zealand. Alcheringa 18, 79–83. ISSN 0311-5518.

Nothofagus leaves with plicate vernation, indicating a deciduous habit, are recorded from the Late Miocene of New Zealand. This is the first unequivocal record in New Zealand of deciduous Nothofagus, deciduous species now being restricted to Tasmania and South America.     

Nothofagus macrofossils from the Tertiary of Tasmania

Leaves assignable to Nothofagus from two fossil deposits in Tasmania represent the first macrofossils of this genus from the Tertiary in southeastern Australia. One fossil species, N. johnstonii, is closely related to the extant Australian species N. cunninghamii while the other fossil species, N. tasmanica, has very close affinites with the extant Australian species N. moorei. All four of these species are closely interrelated. The pollen type produced by the fossil species is unknown, since all three types are present in the microfloras. However, both N. cunninghamii and N. moorei produce N. menziesii-type pollen. The macrofossils confirm the conclusion from pollen studies that evolution in Nothofagus has occurred very slowly.     

Approaches to marsupial biochronology in Australia and New Guinea

Mammal (marsupial) palaeontology is useful for the correlation of non-marine strata of Australia and New Guinea. The geochronological framework constructed from marsupial data is based substantially in stage-of-evolution biochronology, which is not subject to the formal guidance of a code, or regulation by an authority. Instead, it has evolved through an informal consensus of usage. Principles and practices of stage-of-evolution biochronology and its historical development are reviewed from an Australian perspective. Amongst more recent developments in the discipline are the establishment of the first marsupial biostratigraphy for the continent, covering the Etadunna Formation of the Lake Eyre Basin (Woodburne et al., 1993), and the introduction of novel terminology to express marsupial succession in the Carl Creek Limestone of northwestern Queensland (Archer et al., 1989). The merits of the various approaches to biochronology are examined: stage-of-evolution biochronology has provided, and will continue to contribute to, a correlation framework for a continent with a sparse mammal record not generally amenable to biostratigraphic resolution. Terminology proposed by Archer et al. (1989) is shown to be unsatisfactory.     

A new theropod dinosaur from South Australia

The Oligocene vegetation at Pioneer was closed temperate rainforest dominated by Nothofagus johnstonii Hill, which probably produced N. menziesii-type pollen. However, other angiosperms (Quintinia, Cupaniae, Ilex, Cunoniaceae, Myrtaceae, Proteaceae and Winteraceae) were also present, as well as several conifers (Athrotaxis, Phyllocladus, Podocarpus, Dacrydium, Dacrycarpus and Araucariaceae). This rainforest was floristically more complex that the modern Tasmanian Nothofagus cunninghamii rainforests but contained many taxonomically related elements. One major difference was that a fern similar to extant Cyathea filled the riparian niche now largely occupied by the tree-fern Dicksonia antarctica. There is indirect evidence that species producing Nothofagus brassii-type pollen may have occurred upstream of the site of deposition, suggesting that the Nothofagus species were altitudinally zoned or edaphically restricted. The current absence of many of these Nothofagus species in Tasmania may be due to their inability to survive the low temperatures of the Quaternary glaciations. The high degree of similarity of the Pioneer palynoflora to that recorded in Oligocene sediments in onshore (Partridge, 1971) and offshore (Stover &; Partridge, 1973; Stover &; Evans, 1973) Gippsland Basin strongly suggests that there was little regional differentation in southeastern Australia at that time.     

Reviews

D.R. Rothwell and R. Davis Antarctic Environmental Protection: a Collection of Australian and International Instruments G.J. Aplin Australians and their Environment: an Introduction to Environmental Studies J. Dargavel (ed.) Australia's Ever-Changing Forests III: Proceedings of the Third National Conference on Australian Forest History D. Slattery The Australian Alps: Kosciuszko, Alpine and Namadgi National Parks J.M. Jacobs Edge of Empire Postcolonialism and the City M. McKinnon with B. Bradley and R. Kirkpatrick (eds) New Zealand Historical Atlas: Ko Papatuanuku e Takoto Nei I.G. Thomas Environmental Impact Assessment in Australia: Theory and Practice D. Shearman and G. Sauer-Thompson Green or Gone A.S. Goudie (ed.) The Human Impact Reader: Readings and Case Studies G.C. Wescott Wilsons Promontory: Marine and National Park, Victoria     

Late quaternary Palorchestes azael (Mammalia,Diprotodontidae) from northwestern Tasmania

A fossil mandible and incisor of the diprotodontid marsupial Palorchestes azeal Owen is reported from a new locality at Pulbeena, near Smithon, in northwestern Tasmania. The fossils occurred with a piece of wood which has a ¹⁴C age of 54,200_-4,500 ^+11,000 B.P. Both fossils and wood were deposited contemporaneously in shallow-lake shell marls and swamp peat deposits of late Quaternary age. Pollen analysis indicates that this P. azael inhabited a Eucalyptus woodland.     

Silicified wood of Early Miocene Nothofagus,Acacia and Myrtaceae (aff. Eucalyptus B) from the upper Lachlan valley,New South Wales

Three specimens of silicified wood, two transported and one probably in situ, have been found in association with Early Miocene basaltic lavas in the upper Lachlan valley, N.S.W. On the basis of their preserved structure, the three specimens have been identified as belonging to Nothofagus, Acacia, and the family Myrtaceae, respectively. The specimen of Nothofagus (one of the transported specimens) constitutes the first identification of a macrofossil of this genus from this interval in southeastern mainland Australia, while its conjunction with the myrtaceous specimens (one probably in situ) may indicate vegetation zonation according to elevation, as proposed on pollen evidence from Kiandra. Such zonation is not demanded by the upper Lachlan evidence, however, but if it is favoured, reconstruction of the Early Miocene geography of the upper Lachlan constrains the maximum elevation above the locality of the myrtaceous fossils to be 350 m.     

Reviews

Books reviewed in this article: E. Shepard and T. J. Barnes (eds.), A Companion to Economic Geography G. L. Clark, M. P. Feldman and M. S. Gertler (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Economic Geography A. Rogers and H. A. Viles (eds.), The Student's Companion to Geography, 2^nd edition G. Bridge and S. Watson (eds.), A Companion to the City G. Bridge and S. Watson (eds.), The Blackwell City Reader G. Aplin, Heritage: Identification, Conservation, and Management T. Huybers and J. Bennett, Environmental Management and the Competitiveness of Nature‐based Tourism Destinations M. Shaw, D. Dorling and R. Mitchell, Health, Place and Society J. Collins, G. Noble, S. Poynting and P. Tabar, Kebabs, Kids, Cops and Crime: Youth, Ethnicity and Crime N. A. Geeson, C. J. Brandt and J. B. Thornes (eds.), Mediterranean Desertification S. Boehmer‐Christiansen and A. Kellow, International Environmental Policy: Interests and the Failure of the Kyoto Process L. Head, Cultural Landscapes and Environmental Change     

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.     

Tertiary megafossil flora of Maslin Bay,South Australia: a preliminary report

The Maslin Bay flora of South Australia is of lower Middle Eocene age and contains diverse, well preserved angiosperm assemblages. It has yielded 2700 specimens belonging to approximately 200 leaf taxa.

Physiognomic analysis (sensu Webb, 1959; Wolfe 1970) indicates greatest similarity to extant Simple Mesophyll Vine Forest and Complex Notophyll Vine Forest found currently in Queensland.

Preliminary taxonomic studies have confirmed the presence of taxa closely resembling Podocarpus (Podocarpaceae), Agathis (Araucariaceae), Fatsia (Araliaceae) and Banksia (Proteaceae). Microfloral analysis of the deposit confirms the presence of the latter three families, but suggests far greater occurrence of Proteaceae than the number of leaf specimens of this family indicates. Nothofagus pollen is the dominant type, although leaves of this genus are absent from collections. Based on sedimentation, physiognomy and systematic studies of leaves and fungi (Lange, 1969) it is concluded that the Maslin Bay region supported tropical to subtropical rain forest during the lower Middle Eocene.     

Tertiary Nothofagus macrofossils from Cethana,Tasmania

Two new Tertiary species of Nothofagus from the Early Eocene-Oligocene deposit at Cethana represent the first reports of fossil species which are not closely related to the extant Australian species N. moorei and N. cunninghamii. N. cethanica sp. nov. is most closely related to the extant New Zealand species N. fusca and N. truncata and gives further evidence of the relatively slow evolution within this genus. The other specimen is indistinguishable from extant adult N. gunnii leaves, and has been assigned to that species. This fossil shows that the deciduous habit was probably already present in N. gunnii by the Oligocene, and this may have helped N. gunnii to survive the Late Tertiary/Quaternary glaciations. Juvenile N. gunnii foliage gives some insight into the possible origins of this species, which may have been from the same ancestral stock as N. fusca, N. truncata, and N. cethanica.     

On the identity of Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891 with a description of a new zygomaturine genus

An occluded skull and dentaries, recovered from the Floraville Local Fauna, northern Queensland, is referred to Euowenia robusta De Vis, 1891. The specimen has distinctive zygomaturine features including a quinquetubercular upper third premolar and lower molars with cristids obliqua, directly challenging the synonymy of E. robusta with Nototherium inerme and N. mitchelli proposed by Woods (1968 Woods, J. T. 1968. The identity of the extinct marsupial genus Nototherium Owen. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, 15: 111–116.  [Google Scholar]). Comparison with the genotypic Euowenia grata (De Vis, 1887) has further confirmed that E. robusta does not belong within the Diprotodontinae. After examining all named zygomaturine genera, including a large data set of Zygomaturus trilobus Macleay, 1858, it is concluded that Euowenia robusta can not be placed within any known zygomaturine genus and, therefore, a new genus is proposed. It is perhaps the most derived of all the zygomaturines described to date from the Australian Cenozoic.     

Postcranial functional adaptations in the South American Miocene borhyaenoids (Mammalia,Metatheria): Cladosictis,Pseudonotictis and Sipalocyon

Three Santacrucian borhyaenoids, Cladosictis patagonica, Pseudonotictis pusillus and Sipalocyon gracilis, are analyzed from a functional-adaptive perspective. Five extant placentals and one marsupial model are also examined in order to interpret the locomotor adaptations of these fossils. Pseudonotictis pusillus is the smallest of the Santacrucian borhyaenoids and is known from fragmentary remains; from its small size, dental specializations and elbow anatomy, this species was certainly not far ecologically from an extant weasel. The postcranium of Sipalocyon gracilis, although poorly known, suggests climbing capabilities, and the pseudo-opposable pollex indicates skilful manipulative behaviour. Cladosictis patagonica was an active predatory form, short-legged and able to climb, although it was a less specialized arboreal form than the contemporaneous Prothylacinus patagonicus; the proportions of its limbs recall that of a living South American marten, the tayra. The pseudo-opposable pollex of Cladosictis, as in Sipalocyon, indicates skilful manipulative behaviour.     

From Reindeer to Wallaby: Recovering Patterns of Seasonality, Mobility, and Prey Selection in the Palaeolithic Old World

Data regarding major human prey from Franco-Cantabrian Palaeolithic sites have been gained through skeletochronological analyses. Trends gleaned from these data suggest temporal shifts in mobility, territoriality, and subsistence strategies. Compilation of control samples of teeth of recent animals (e.g., Cervus, Rangifer, Equus, Capreolus, Bos) of known-age and date-of-death has been requisite to these growth-increment studies. These methods have now been applied to modern Bennett's wallaby (Macropus rufogriseus) populations from Tasmania in order to expand the potential of skeletochronological study for Australia's Palaeolithic-aged marsupial archaeofaunas.     

Maradidae: a new family of vombatomorphian marsupial from the late Oligocene of Riversleigh,northwestern Queensland

Black, K., March 2007. Maradidae: a new family of vombatomorphian marsupial from the late Oligocene of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. Alcheringa 31, 17-32. ISSN 0311-5518.

Marada arcanum gen. et sp. nov. is described from the late Oligocene Hiatus Site, Riversleigh World Heritage Property, northwestern Queensland. Although known from only a single dentary, it is assigned to a new family Maradidae, based on a unique combination of both plesiomorphic and apomorphic features. Of the known vombatomorphians, Marada is most similar to primitive wynyardiids and diprotodontoids (palorchestids and diprotodontids). Further clarification of the phylogenetic position of Maradidae within Vombatomorphia requires discovery of upper dentitions and crania.

Karen Black [k.black@unsw.edu.au], Vertebrate Palaeontology Laboratory, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, 2052, Australia; received 17.1.2005, revised 1.6.2005.     

Functional-adaptive features and palaeobiologic implications of the postcranial skeleton of the late Miocene sabretooth borhyaenoid Thylacosmilus atrox (Metatheria)

A functional-adaptive study of the postcranium of two late Miocene sabretooth borhyaenoid specimens (Mammalia, Metatheria) is presented. Thylacosmilus atrox developed a longer neck than in non-sabretooth borhyaenoids and was capable of strong flexion of the head. The lower back is well-stabilized and more rigid than in the other borhyaenoids. The forelimb appears well-suited for manipulating and capturing prey, with a probably well-developed deltoid and pectoral musculature. Compared with other Miocene borhyaenoids, the hip joint of Thylacosmilus is modified to allow greater postural flexibility (e.g. possibility of erect stances). The low greater femoral trochanter, the short and sigmoid tibia, and the semiplantigrade hind foot of Thylacosmilus precluded fast running. Thylacosmilus killed by stabbing, a peculiar mechanism that evolved in parallel in many other sabretooth taxa. This technique has significant functional-adaptive consequences on the postcranial skeleton, superimposed on the generalized morphological pattern reflected in its non-sabertooth relatives. The superficial similarities observed between Thylacosmilus and Smilodon overshadow real differences (at the level of joint patterns and muscular groups involved in particular movements), a condition that suggests the development in the marsupial form of a morphological type unique to the thylacosmilid lineage within Borhyaenoidea.     

Eocene palynology of the Mulga Rocks deposits,southern Gunbarrel Basin,Western Australia

Mack, C.L. & Milne, L.A., 19.2.2015. Eocene palynology of the Mulga Rocks deposits, southern Gunbarrel Basin, Western Australia. Alcheringa 39, xxx–xxx. ISSN 0311-5518

Late Eocene palynomorph assemblages have been recovered from carbonaceous sediments within a tenement centred on the Mulga Rocks uranium deposits, currently under exploration by Energy and Minerals Australia. The Mulga Rocks deposits occur in a palaeovalley incised into rocks of the Cretaceous southern Gunbarrel Basin, and the underlying Neoproterozoic to Late Devonian southern Officer Basin, Western Australia. The palynomorph assemblages recovered from the Mulga Rocks deposits most closely resemble the Middle Nothofagidites asperus Zone equivalent of the Murray Basin. Many of the species recovered, and the abundance and diversity at which they are present, are considerably different from most of the southeastern Australian palynoassemblages of similar age. Common in the assemblages are species belonging to Nothofagus, Casuarinaceae, Myrtaceae and Picrodendraceae. Proteaceous species are diverse, with Banksia affiliates being prominent. Of most significance are assemblages dominated by Myrtaceidites species, which also contain affiliates of Petrophile and Xylomelum that occur in modern heathland, woodland and dry sclerophyll forests. The prominence of these taxa, and their co-occurrence, suggests that sclerophylly, at present linked closely with xeromorphy and now ubiquitous in the vegetation of Western Australia, was present in the late Eocene of southern Australia and suggests that at that time this trait may have been more prevalent than previously interpreted.

Charlotte Mack [charlotte.mack@postgrad.curtin.edu.au] and Lynne Milne [l.milne@curtin.edu.au], Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. Received 4.7.2014; revised 11.2.2015; accepted 19.2.2015.     

Pits,mounds, and vernal ponds in a Tasmanian subalpine grassland

Falling trees commonly turbate soils in primary forest, creating characteristic edaphic patterns related to pit and mound topography. Vernal ponds with associated mounds were observed in mineral soils on a treeless plain in subalpine Tasmania, Australia. The hypothesis that paired ponds and mounds on the plain originated as pit and mound features in forests that were later destroyed by fire was tested by comparing the soils and landforms caused by recent tree falls in adjacent forest with those on the plain. The soil characteristics, orientations, and dimensions of the ponds and mounds were consistent with a tree fall origin, although rare secondary ponds on the tops of mounds may derive from the burrowing activities of the medium‐sized marsupial, Vombatus ursinus (common wombat). The characteristics of pond and mound soils suggested that most were hundreds to thousands of years old, with the ponds persisting because of differences in deflation, deposition, and organic matter formation between themselves and adjacent persistently dry land.     

Angiosperm association from the Río Turbio Formation (Eocene–?Oligocene) Santa Cruz,Argentina: revision of Hünicken’s (1955) fossil leaves collection

Vento, B. &; Prámparo, M. B., January 2018. Angiosperm association from the Río Turbio Formation (Eocene–?Oligocene), Santa Cruz, Argentina: Revision of Hünicken’s (1955 Hünicken, M., 1955. Depósitos neocretácicos y terciarios del extremo S.S.W. de Santa Cruz: Cuenca Carbonífera de Río Turbio. Revista del Instituto Nacional de Investigacion de las Ciencias Naturales 4, 1–161. (in Spanish) [Google Scholar]) fossil leaves collection, Alcheringa 42, 125–153. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Río Turbio Formation (Eocene–?Oligocene) is of particular paleobotanical interest owing to its combination of high fossil plant diversity associated with the coexistence of warm-temperate and cool-temperate components. As the first suite of fossils related to a documented stratigraphic section, Hünicken’s fossil plant collection is one of the most important from the Paleogene of South America. A total of 34 angiosperm species from the collection were reviewed and taxonomically updated, with Nothofagus as the dominant genus. The taxa identified indicate a warm and humid climate with the development of some elements of a cool-temperate climate marked by a transitional climate change to cooler conditions. The comparison of angiosperms from different paleofloras from the southernmost of South America confirms that the assemblage of Río Turbio Formation was similar to that of the Río Pichileufú area, both from Patagonia, Argentina.

Bárbara Vento [bvento@mendoza-conicet.gov.ar] Mercedes B. Prámparo [mprampar@mendoza-conicet.gov.ar] Instituto Argentino de Nivología, Glaciología y Ciencias Ambientales (IANIGLA) CCT-CONICET, Mendoza, Adrián Ruiz Leal s/n, Casilla Correo 131, C5500, Mendoza, Argentina.