New morphological information about Cretaceous sauropod dinosaurs from the Eromanga Basin,Queensland, Australia

New observations on various sauropod postcranial elements from Queensland provide insights into the taxonomic composition of northern Australia's sauropod fauna and the structure of sauropod vertebrae. An incomplete sauropod humerus from a site near Blackall, Queensland, represents the southernmost occurrence of sauropod fossils in the Eromanga Basin, and indicates a possibly new taxon. The internal architecture of at least one of the vertebral centra of Austrosaurus mckillopi comprises bony disks parallel to the posterior articular face and bony lamellae perpendicular to the anterior articular face reinforcing the structure against axial forces. The lack of pneumaticity proximally in dorsal ribs indicates that A. mckillopi may not be a titanosauriform. Material (QM F6737) from the Winton Formation includes probable osteoderms, the first known from Australian sauropods, and some of the oldest known. Comparison of this specimen with named Winton Formation sauropods suggests that it represents a distinct taxon.     

Jurassic actinopterygian fish from Monto,southeast Queensland

Part of the squamation and fins of a fusiform semionotiform fish has been found in the early Middle Jurassic (Bajocian-Bathonian?) Mulgildie Coal Measures near Monto, southeast Queensland, Australia. The specimen closely resembles the widely distributed Lepidotes, and constitutes the second occurrence of Jurassic fish in Queensland.     

Occurrence of the ammonite Goodhallites goodhalli (J. Sowerby) in the Eromanga Basin,Queensland: an index species for the late Albian (Cretaceous)

Mortoniceratid ammonites of the Eromanga Basin of Queensland, although uncommon, are reviewed and reassessed utilising all known collections. Representatives of this group are restricted to the Allaru Formation and almost all specimens are Goodhallites goodhalli, a well-known species from the English Gault. The Allaru Formation overlies the Toolebuc Formation, widely considered to be an essentially isochronous unit because of its unusual sedimentary and geochemical character. Using G. goodhalli, the middle and upper Allaru Formation can be directly correlated with the early late Albian orbignyi and auritus Subzones of the Mortoniceras inflatum Zone as recognized in the reference ammonite zonation embedded in the standard Cretaceous time scale. Overlapping ranges of G. goodhalli and Labeceras and Myloceras allow these common Austral heteromorph genera to be also confidently assigned a late Albian age in Australia, matching their biostratigraphic occurrence in South Africa.     

Revision of two relic actinopterygians from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation,Karatau Range,Kazakhstan

Three hundred and forty-six articulated fossil specimens of two species from the Middle or Upper Jurassic Karabastau Formation of the Karatau Range (Kazakhstan, Asia) were studied to revise two little-known palaeonisciform fish: Pteroniscus turkestanensis and Morrolepis aniscowitchi. Detailed morphological analysis shows that P. turkestanensis, Daqingshaniscus longiventralis and Uighuroniscidae form a closely related group. They are far more distantly related to the Palaeoniscidae than previously inferred. The first detailed scanning electron microscopy of the unique scale cover of M. aniscowitchi is presented. Morrolepis is found to be devoid of denticles on the surface of the bones, scales and lepidotrichia—so far considered to be a key coccolepidid characteristic. However, it bears exceptionally robust lateral line scales. Comparison of the axial skeletons of M. aniscowitchi and Morrolepis andrewsi reveals their close affinities within Coccolepididae. The axial skeleton, despite its rare preservation in palaeonisciforms, may be taxonomically informative, at least at the family level. The Karatau palaeonisciforms, being among the youngest examples of basal actinopterygians (persisting in Asia through the late Mesozoic), possess a set of conservative morphological characters that suggest they were relictual taxa by Jurassic times, thus highlighting some freshwater systems as refuges for plesiomorphic taxa.     

Early Cretaceous (Neocomian) microplankton from the Carpentaria Basin,northern Queensland

The Neocomian upper Helby Beds, basal Rolling Downs Group and Gilbert River Formation of the Carpentaria Basin contain a dinoflagellate sequence divisible into three zonal intervals; the zones represent the oldest continuous marine Cretaceous record for eastern Australia. Zone DK1 (dated latest Jurassic to Berriasian) commences with the first appearance of four species, zone DK2 (dated Valanginian) with that of four or five species, and zone DK3 (dated Hauterivian to Barremian) with that of three species.

Biostratigraphic aspects are discussed of species selected as possible zone marker fossils in so far as they (a) are relatively poorly known, or represent new species, and (b) have no previously published Neocomian record. New combinations are proposed of one acritarch species and six dinoflagellate species. One new acritarch genus and species, Pseudofromea collaris, and four new dinoflagellate species — Canningia crassicingulata, Cleistosphaeridium australe, Cyclonephelium asymmetricum, and Muderongia testudinaria — are proposed and described.     

LA-ICP-MS analysis of quartzite from the Upper Gunnison Basin,Colorado

We report the results of LA-ICP-MS analysis of 402 quartzite samples representing 48 collection loci in the Upper Gunnison Basin (UGB), Colorado and determine the extent to which the sources can be geochemically discriminated from one another using this non-destructive technique. The ability to differentiate among the sources would open the door to provenance studies of the quartzite chipped-stone tools and debitage that constitute 95% or more of most of the 3000-plus prehistoric site assemblages documented in the UGB. Our samples represent prehistorically quarried and non-quarried quartzite sources, including outcrop (primary) and gravel (secondary) deposits. The results reveal spatial and chronological trends in quartzite elemental composition that can be exploited for provenance determinations of quartzite artifacts from UGB sites, albeit using an assemblage-based sourcing strategy that differs from the familiar approach of “matching” obsidian artifacts to their statistically likeliest geological source. We offer a preliminary version of a sourcing protocol for UGB quartzite.     

Symbionts in a stromatoporoid-chaetetid association from the Middle Devonian Burdekin Basin,north Queensland

A spectacular association between a chaetetid, a stromatoporoid (Salairella sp.), and straight, vertical tubes interpreted to have housed symbiotic worms is reported from the Givetian Burdekin Formation, Burdekin Basin, north Queensland. The final growth surface of Salairella sp. shows skeletal distortion characterised by long, rather continuous coenosteles and coenostroms with upturned edges. This distorted interface was probably the result of spatial competitive interaction between the encrusting chaetetid and the underlying stromatoporoid. Neither sediment infilling, erosion or surface breakage occurs on the final growth surface of the stromatoporoid skeleton. As such, the growth of the Salairella sp. specimen appears to have been supressed by the encrusting chaetetid. Worm tubes are continuous through the distorted interface without interruption. The skeletal association also suggests that the round, straight, vertical tubes had a symbiotic intergrowth relationship initially with the stromatoporoid and, subsequently, the chaetetid.     

Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia,China

Cao, Y., Shih, C., Bashkuev, A. & Ren, D., September 2015. Revision and two new species of Itaphlebia (Nannochoristidae: Mecoptera) from the Middle Jurassic of Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 40, XX–XX. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species of Itaphlebia Sukatsheva, 1985, Itaphlebia longiovata and I. amoena (Nannochoristidae Tillyard, 1917), are described and illustrated from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Previously described Middle Jurassic nannochoristid genera, Chrysopanorpa Ren in Ren et al., 1995 and Protochoristella Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007b, together with Stylopanorpodes and Netropanorpodes Sun, Ren & Shih, 2007a (originally assigned to Mesopanorpodidae) are revised and considered to be synonyms of Itaphlebia. The following tentative species synonymies are proposed: Protochoristella formosa and Stylopanorpodes eurypterus = Itaphlebia ruderalis (Ren in Ren et al., 1995), comb. nov.; Netropanorpodes sentosus = I. jeniseica Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov.; and Protochoristella polyneura = I. multa Novokshonov, 1997a, syn. nov. Netropanorpodes decorosus is transferred to Itaphlebia. These new species, new material and the new combinations broaden the diversity of the Itaphlebia in mid-Mesozoic ecosystems and provide new characters enabling amendment of the generic diagnosis.

YiZi Cao [easycaoyinzi@aliyun.com], ChungKun Shih [chungkun.shih@gmail.com] and Dong Ren [rendong@mail.cnu.edu.cn], College of Life Sciences, Capital Normal University, Xisanhuanbeilu 105, Haidian District, Beijing, PR China 100048; Alexei Bashkuev [fossilmec@gmail.com], Borissiak Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya st. 123, Moscow 117997, Russia.     

New sinoalids (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cercopoidea) from Middle to Upper Jurassic strata at Daohugou,Inner Mongolia,China

Fu, Y., & Huang, D., December 2018. New sinoalids (Insecta: Hemiptera: Cercopoidea) from Middle to Upper Jurassic strata at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 43, 246–256. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new fossil genus with three species of Sinoalidae, Parasinoala daohugouensis gen. et sp. nov., Parasinoala minuta gen. et sp. nov., Parasinoala magnus gen. et sp. nov., from the Middle to Upper Jurassic Haifanggou Formation at Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, northeastern China, is described and illustrated. The new genus differs from other sinoalids by the tegmen with RA having 2–3 branches, MP with 3–4 branches and MP of hind wings with two branches, which indicates the terminal branches of RA and MP are highly variable within Sinoalidae. The new discovery greatly increases the palaeodiversity of sinoalids in the early assemblage of the Yanliao biota from the Daohugou beds.

Yanzhe Fu [yzfu@nigpas.ac.cn] State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China; University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, PR China; Diying Huang* [dyhuang@nigpas.ac.cn] State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Center for Excellence in Life and Paleoenvironment, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, PR China.     

A new dragonfly,Austroprotolindenia jurassica (Odonata: Anisoptera), from the Upper Jurassic of Australia

Beattie, R.G. & Nel, A., June 2012. A new dragonfly, Austroprotolindenia jurassica (Odonata: Anisoptera), from the Upper Jurassic of Australia. Alcheringa, 189–193. ISSN 0311-5518.

Austroprotolindenia jurassica gen. et sp. nov., a new Mesozoic Australian dragonfly, is described from the Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed (Upper Jurassic) of eastern Australia. It shows some similarities with the Eurasian Mesozoic petalurid family Protolindeniidae, but its incomplete state of preservation prevents us assigning it to a particular anisopteran clade.

Robert G. Beattie [rgbeattie@bigpond.com] PO Box 320, Berry 2535, NSW, Australia. André Nel [anel@mnhn.fr] CNRS UMR 7205, CP 50, Entomologie, Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle, 45 rue Buffon, F-75005 Paris, France. Received 6.4.2011; revised 8.6.2011; accepted 15.6.2011.     

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.     

Poljanka strigosa,a new species of Protopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera,Sternorrhyncha) from the Middle Jurassic of China

Yang, G., Yao, Y.Z. & Ren, D., iFirst. Poljanka strigosa, a new species of Protopsyllidiidae (Hemiptera, Sternorrhyncha) from the Middle Jurassic of China. Alcheringa, 1–6. ISSN 0311-5518.

A new fossil species, Poljanka strigosa sp. nov., of the extinct family Protopsyllidiidae is described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation of Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. The new species is characterized by wings bearing long, stiff setae that are evident as stained impressions in the fine sedimentary rock. Comparison between Protopsyllidiidae and extant psylloids suggests that Protopsyllidiidae is probably closely related to extant psylloids.     

Significance of new species of Cryptorhynchia (Brachiopoda) from the Middle Jurassic of Kutch,India

Cryptorhynchia is a brachiopod genus, until recently known only from the late Bathonian. Two new species C. karuna and C. jhooraensis are here described from the middle Bathonian at Kutch, western India and record the earliest known occurrences of the genus. They constitute ancestor-descendant lineages with the two existing younger species C. pulcherrima and C. rugosa respectively. Evolution in both cases shows ‘parallel’ trends and the descendants are scaled-down versions of their respective progenitors. Statistical analyses reveal that this evolutionary miniaturization involves allometry-induced heterochrony, especially progenesis, and is marked by a rapid speciation event compatible with the punctuational model. Evolution appears to be anagenetic and may be attributed to the unstable nature of environment where onshore innovation produced smaller descendants that adopted r-strategy. Facies distribution and functional morphology suggest that species of Cryptorhynchia were well adapted to shallow, unstable carbonate shelf. However, they disappeared suddenly at the Bathonian - Callovian boundary which was marked by a global transgression. The possible causal factors of their extinction may be the consequent changes in bathymetry and substrate condition.     

New fossil sawflies (Hymenoptera,Xyelidae) from the Middle Jurassic of northeastern China

Zheng, Y., Chen, J., Zhang, J. & Zhang, H., 6 August 2019. New fossil sawflies (Hymenoptera, Xyelidae) from the Middle Jurassic of northeastern China. Alcheringa 44, 115–120. ISSN 0311-5518.

Magnaxyela rara gen. et sp. nov. and Abrotoxyela curva sp. nov. (Xyelidae, Macroxyelinae, Gigantoxyelini) are described from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation at Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. The two new species are confidently assigned to tribe Gigantoxyelini of subfamily Marcroxyelinae based on their wing venation and various other morphological characters. Magnaxyela rara is established based on the following forewing characters: pterostigma sclerotized completely, Sc two-branched and meeting R before origin of Rs, 1-Rs as long as 1-M, but shorter than Rs?+?M, R curved bewteen 1r-rs and 2r-rs and cell 2r longer than 1r. Abrotoxyela curva is differentiated from congeneric forms by the two-branched vein Sc of the forewing, Sc2 short and inclined towards the base of the wing, 1-Rs, 1-M and Rs?+?M nearly equal in length, crossvein 1m-cu longer than 1cu-a. The fossils described herein increase the diversity of the Mesozoic Xyelidae.

Yan Zheng* [zhengyan536@163.com], Jun Chen* [ubiscada@sina.com], and Junqiang Zhang [zhangjunqiang@lyu.edu.cn], Institute of Geology and Paleontology, Linyi University, Shuangling Road, Linyi 276000, PR China; Haichun Zhang [hczhang@nigpas.ac.cn], State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China. *Also affiliated with: State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology, East Beijing Road, Nanjing 210008, PR China.     

Sauropod (Saurischia: Dinosauria) material from the Early Cretaceous Griman Creek Formation of the Surat Basin,Queensland, Australia

An isolated ischium and possible neural arch recovered from the lower–middle Albian Griman Creek Formation near Surat, are the only sauropod postcranial elements from that unit in Queensland. This is the southernmost occurrence of sauropod post-cranial remains in eastern Australia. Comparison with other sauropod remains suggests that the ischium might represent an indeterminate titanosaur that is different from taxa previously named from Australia.     

The Oral Tradition,Environmental Change and River Basin Management: Case Studies from Queensland and Victoria

River basin management activities are often carried out in the context of real or perceived environmental change. Views of environmental change provided by the oral tradition are compared with histories of change reconstructed from the historical documentary record for the Nogoa River, Queensland, and the Avon River, Victoria. Quite different perspectives on the nature and causes of river channel change are provided by the two types of sources. River basin managers appear to have generally adopted the views provided by the more easily accessible oral tradition, leading to management strategies that are not necessarily justifiable in the light of the documentary history.     

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.