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.     

Adaptations to life in freshwater for Mioceratodus gregoryi,a lungfish from Redbank Plains,an Eocene locality in southeast Queensland,Australia

Kemp, A., December 2017. Adaptations to life in freshwater for Mioceratodus gregoryi, a lungfish from Redbank Plains, an Eocene locality in southeast Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa 42, 306–311. ISSN 0311-5518

Few Cenozoic lungfish fossils consist of articulated, associated bones and tooth plates. Mioceratodus gregoryi from the Paleogene (Eocene) deposit of the Redbank Plains Formation in southeast Queensland is unusual in this respect because the fossil includes tooth plates and elements of the skull. An analysis of the material and reconstruction of the skull and associated skeletal material provides new insights into the fish and its environment. The fish has a mandible with a wide separation between the lower tooth-bearing bones, and a strong ceratohyal bone. This suggests that, like the extant Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri, the fossil fish had a moveable basihyal that could be inserted between the prearticular bones to seal the oral cavity. This would have allowed the fish to draw food, air and water into the mouth, and dig holes by sucking mud into the oral cavity and blowing it out again, all useful attributes for a fish that lived in a shallow freshwater lake. The living Australian lungfish has similar structures in the mandible and hyoid apparatus, and performs comparable actions. The occipital ribs, also preserved in the Redbank Plains fossil, are embedded in hypaxial muscles and not moveable. It is unlikely that these ribs have any influence on the suctorial process in these two species.

Anne Kemp [a.kemp@griffith.edu.au] Environmental Futures Centre, Griffith University, 170 Kessels Road, Nathan, Brisbane, Queensland 4111, Australia.     

Ordovician acritarchs from the Canning Basin,Western Australia

A left mandibular toothplate of a chimaeroid fish collected from the Toolebuc Formation (Early Cretaceous, Albian), central Queensland is described. Comparisons with other chimaeroid genera show the toothplate to be sufficiently distinct to warrant the erection of a new genus. Ptyktoptychion tayyo gen. et sp. nov. is distinguished by the size and shape of its three tritors, the form of the symphysial facet and the overall shape of the toothplate.     

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.     

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.     

Cabinet government “Queensland style”

This paper analyses the procedures and processes of state cabinet in Queensland. It also examines the advisory mechanisms supporting the cabinet structure, as well as apparent understandings surrounding the concept and practice of cabinet government in Queensland, in the particular context of the Bjelke‐Petersen premiership. The major features of contemporary cabinet government in Queensland are identified, and are considered in terms of the political style and behaviour of Joh Bjelke‐Petersen.     

Parotosuchus from the Early Triassic of Queensland and Western Australia

Three members of the labyrinthodont Family Capitosauridae are described. Two new species from the Arcadia Formation of the Rewan Group, Queensland, show affinities with more primitive capitosaurs and with pre-capitosaurid groups. A third skull from the Blina Shale of Western Australia is of indeterminate species. These are the first recorded capitosaurs from Queensland and Western Australia and the first Parotosuchus from a Lystrosaurus Zone fauna.     

Cretaceous foraminiferal biostratigraphy of Queensland

The distribution of foraminiferids within Aptian-Albian marine deposits of the Laura, Carpentaria, Eromanga, and Surat Basins in Queensland is described. The foraminiferal distribution patterns are largely a reflection of environmental differences which existed within the basins. Among the benthonic foraminiferids, two major faunal associations are recognized: the Ammobaculites association reflecting hyposaline, cool, shallow water conditions; and the Marssonella association indicating normal marine, open continental shelf environments. As the faunal content of these associations is markedly different, separate time-stratigraphic zonations are proposed: the Ammobaculites association is divided into the Textularia cushmani zone (early Aptian), T. cushmani-Bigenerina pitmani zone (late Aptian), B. pitmani zone (late Aptian), B. pitmani-Riyadhella crespinae zone (early Albian), and R. crespinae zone (early-late Albian); the Marssonella association contains the Anomalinoides intermedia zone (early-middle Albian in Queensland), and the A. cenomanica zone (late Albian in Queensland). Planktonic foraminiferids, which occur with both benthonic associations, are used to correlate the benthonic zonal schemes, and are themselves zoned separately: Hedbergella planispira zone (early-middle Albian), H. infracretacea zone (middle-early late Albian), and the H. delrioensis zone (late Albian). International stage correlations are based on certain foraminiferids and associated ammonites.

The distribution of foraminiferids in Queensland during the late Early Cretaceous suggests that 1, climate exerted a uniform influence over the region; 2, cool, hyposaline, shallow water conditions prevailed over much of Queensland; 3, open marine shelf conditions (of normal salinity) existed during the Albian in the Laura and northeastern Carpentaria Basins; and 4, during the Albian, at least, there was a northern seaway to the open ocean.     

A long revolution: Writing the political history of Queensland regimes

Peter Coaldrake, Working the System: Government in Queensland. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1989, pp.l85.$12.95 (paper)

Phil Dickie, The Road to Fitzgerald: Revelations of Corruption Spanning Four Decades, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1988. pp.293. $9.95 (paper); second edition, The Road to Fitzgerald ana Beyond, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1989, pp.337. $12.95 (paper)

Evan Whitton, The Hillbilly Dictator: Australia's Police State, Australian Broadcasting Corporation Enterprises, Crows Nest, NSW, 1989, pp. 197. $16.99 (paper)

Ross Fitzgerald and Harold Thornton, Labor in Queensland: From the 1880s to 1988. University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1989, pp.422. $34.95 (paper)

Peter Charlton, State of Mind: Why Queensland is Different, Methuen Haynes, North Ryde, second edition 1987, pp. 263. $12.95 (paper)     

Palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the Jurassic Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed,Gulgong, New South Wales,Australia

BEATTIE, R.G. & AVERY, S., December 2012. Palaeoecology and palaeoenvironment of the Jurassic Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed, Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia. Alcheringa 36, 451–465. ISSN 0311-5518.

The Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed has produced a significant number and variety of insect fossils, including the orders Hemiptera, Coleoptera, Orthoptera, Plecoptera, Odonata, Neuroptera, Diptera, Hymenoptera and Mecoptera. Hemiptera are the most common insects. Coleoptera are both common and diverse. Both orders include terrestrial and aquatic species. The other insect orders represented are less common. Many of the insect fossils discovered were previously unknown in the Australian region during the Jurassic, and the new records extend their palaeogeographic range into southeastern Gondwana. A recent collection of insects, fish, coprolites, gastropods, bivalves, bark, leaves, fruiting bodies, burrows and other ichnofossils supports a model of a shallow-water-lake palaeoenvironment at the northern end of the deposit, grading to a shoreline palaeoenvironment towards the southern end of the deposit. The existence of a productive lake supporting a large population of fish and a diverse, aquatic/shoreline and terrestrial woodland fringe palaeoecosystem, dominated by insects and woody plants, is demonstrated. There is no evidence of tetrapods. The Talbragar Fossil Fish Bed has similarities to Type A and B Mesozoic lake deposits reported from Transbaikalia. Culicimorph pupae are numerous and may have filled a significant niche near the base of the aquatic palaeoecosystem. Other immature aquatic insects are rare. The generally articulated nature of the fossil insects is interpreted to have resulted from a sudden but low-energy burial event.     

Two new Middle Jurassic species of orthophlebiids (Insecta: Mecoptera) from Inner Mongolia,China

QIAO, X., SHIH, C.K. & REN, D., December 2012. Two new Middle Jurassic species of orthophlebiids (Insecta: Mecoptera) from Inner Mongolia, China. Alcheringa 36, 467–472. ISSN 0311-5518.

Two new species of the extinct family Orthophlebiidae, Orthophlebia nervulosa sp. nov. and Orthophlebia stigmosa sp. nov., are described and illustrated. These well-preserved specimens were collected from the Middle Jurassic Jiulongshan Formation near Daohugou Village, Inner Mongolia, China. Morphological characters shown in these well-preserved specimens highlight the diversity of orthophlebiids during the Middle Jurassic and provide data for future phylogenetic studies of orthophlebiids.     

The genera Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae,Caenogastropoda) in the Early Jurassic of Patagonia,Argentina

Ferrari, S.M., September 2012. The genera Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae, Caenogastropoda) in the Early Jurassic of Patagonia, Argentina. Alcheringa 36, 325–339. ISSN 0311-5518.

New species of Cryptaulax and Procerithium (Procerithiidae, Caenogastropoda) are reported from the Lower Jurassic (Pliensbachian–Toarcian) marine deposits of west-central Chubut province, Argentinean Patagonia. Three new species are described: Cryptaulax redelii, Procerithium (Rhabdocolpus) patagoniensis and Procerithium (Infacerithum) nodosum; and the diagnoses of Cryptaulax damboreneae Ferrari and Procerithium nulloi (Ferrari) are emended. The new fossils derive from the Mulanguiñeu and Osta Arena formations and expand the known diversity of the Procerithiidae, extending its palaeobioeographical distribution into the South American Jurassic.     

The distribution of the Mesozoic ostracod genus Procytherura Whatley: palaeogeographical implications with special reference to Argentina

A review is undertaken of the nine species of Procytherura known to occur in Argentina and a new species, Procytherura serangodes sp. nov. is described. The global distribution of the genus indicates that it was more or less equally diverse and widely distributed in both hemispheres during most of the Lower and Middle Jurassic, but that in the Upper Jurassic and in the Lower Cretaceous, it became progressively restricted to the Southern Hemisphere. The widespread distribution of several Jurassic species of Procytherura, which occur in both Great Britain and Northwest Europe and in Argentina, is shown to be related to the availability of important migration routes, including the Tethys and the Hispanic Corridor. In the Lower Cretaceous, the very widespread distribution of Procytherura in the Southern Hemisphere, is used to support the existence of important routes along the eastern and western seaboards of Africa, the latter associated with the opening of the South Atlantic.     

Lower Cretaceous Anacoracidae? (Lamniformes: Neoselachii); vertebrae and associated dermal scales from Australia

Partially disarticulated shark vertebrae from the Lower Cretaceous Toolebuc Formation in central Queensland and the Bathurst Island Formation in the Northern Territory provide probable evidence of the Anacoracidae in Australia, and are possibly referable to Pseudocorax. Associated with large shark vertebrae from Canary Station, near Boulia, Queensland, are numerous placoid scales of four primary types which indicate a large pelagic shark. The Canary specimen is one of the few Mesozoic sharks known where scales have been found associated with vertebrae. Problems in referring the new shark material to the Anacoracidae and Pseudocorax are discussed. The significance of vertebral structure and scale morphology in Mesozoic shark evolution and ecology is examined. ‘Lamna daviesii’ Etheridge 1888 is considered a nomen dubium as vertebrae of this kind also occur in other genera in the Lamniformes, Orectolobiformes, and Carcharhinidae.     

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.     

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.     

Reappraisal of Austrosaurus mckillopi Longman, 1933 from the Allaru Mudstone of Queensland,Australia’s first named Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur

Poropat, S.F., Nair, J.P., Syme, C.E., Mannion, P.D., Upchurch, P., Hocknull, S.A., Cook, A.G., Tischler, T.R. &; Holland, T. XX.XXXX. 2017. Reappraisal of Austrosaurus mckillopi Longman, 1933 Longman, H.A., 1933. A new dinosaur from the Queensland Cretaceous. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 10, 131–144. [Google Scholar] from the Allaru Mudstone of Queensland, Australia’s first named Cretaceous sauropod dinosaur. Alcheringa 41, 543–580. ISSN 0311-5518

Austrosaurus mckillopi was the first Cretaceous sauropod reported from Australia, and the first Cretaceous dinosaur reported from Queensland (northeast Australia). This sauropod taxon was established on the basis of several fragmentary presacral vertebrae (QM F2316) derived from the uppermost Lower Cretaceous (upper Albian) Allaru Mudstone, at a locality situated 77 km west-northwest of Richmond, Queensland. Prior to its rediscovery in 2014, the type site was considered lost after failed attempts to relocate it in the 1970s. Excavations at the site in 2014 and 2015 led to the recovery of several partial dorsal ribs and fragments of presacral vertebrae, all of which clearly pertained to a single sauropod dinosaur. The discovery of new material of the type individual of Austrosaurus mckillopi, in tandem with a reassessment of the material collected in the 1930s, has facilitated the rearticulation of the specimen. The resultant vertebral series comprises six presacral vertebrae—the posteriormost cervical and five anteriormost dorsals—in association with five left dorsal ribs and one right one. The fragmentary nature of the type specimen has historically hindered assessments of the phylogenetic affinities of Austrosaurus, as has the fact that these evaluations were often based on a subset of the type material. The reappraisal of the type series of Austrosaurus presented herein, on the basis of both external morphology and internal morphology visualized through CT data, validates it as a diagnostic titanosauriform taxon, tentatively placed in Somphospondyli, and characterized by the possession of an accessory lateral pneumatic foramen on dorsal vertebra I (a feature that appears to be autapomorphic) and by the presence of a robust ventral mid-line ridge on the centra of dorsal vertebrae I and II. The interpretation of the anteriormost preserved vertebra in Austrosaurus as a posterior cervical has also prompted the re-evaluation of an isolated, partial, posterior cervical vertebra (QM F6142, the ‘Hughenden sauropod’) from the upper Albian Toolebuc Formation (which underlies the Allaru Mudstone). Although this vertebra preserves an apparent unique character of its own (a spinopostzygapophyseal lamina fossa), it is not able to be referred unequivocally to Austrosaurus and is retained as Titanosauriformes indet. Austrosaurus mckillopi is one of the oldest known sauropods from the Australian Cretaceous based on skeletal remains and potentially provides phylogenetic and/or palaeobiogeographic context for later taxa such as Wintonotitan wattsi, Diamantinasaurus matildae and Savannasaurus elliottorum.

Stephen F. Poropat* [sporopat@swin.edu.au; stephenfporopat@gmail.com] Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, Swinburne University of Technology, John St, Hawthorn, Victoria 3122, Australia; Jay P. Nair [j.nair@uq.edu.au; jayraptor@gmail.com] School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Caitlin E. Syme [caitlin.syme@uqconnect.edu.au] School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Philip D. Mannion [philipdmannion@gmail.com] Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, London SW7 2AZ, UK; Paul Upchurch [p.upchurch@ucl.ac.uk] Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London WC1E 6BT, UK; Scott A. Hocknull [scott.hocknull@qm.qld.gov.au] Geosciences, Queensland Museum, 122 Gerler Rd, Hendra, Queensland 4011, Australia; Alex G. Cook [alex.cook@y7mail.com] School of Earth Sciences, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia; Travis R. Tischler [travisr.tischler@outlook.com] Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, Lot 1 Dinosaur Drive, PO Box 408, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia; Timothy Holland [drtimothyholland@gmail.com] Kronosaurus Korner, 91 Goldring St, Richmond, Queensland 4822, Australia. *Also affiliated with: Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History, Lot 1 Dinosaur Drive, PO Box 408, Winton, Queensland 4735, Australia.     

Macrofossil evidence of early sporophyte stages of a new genus of water fern Tecaropteris (Ceratopteridoideae: Pteridaceae) from the Paleogene Redbank Plains Formation,southeast Queensland,Australia

Rozefelds, A.C., Dettmann, M.E., Clifford, H.T. & Lewis, D., August 2015. Macrofossil evidence of early sporophyte stages of a new genus of water fern Tecaropteris (Ceratopteridoideae: Pteridaceae) from the Paleogene Redbank Plains Formation, southeast Queensland, Australia. Alcheringa 39,. ISSN 0311-5518.

Water fern foliage is described from the Paleogene Redbank Plains Formation at Dinmore in southeast Queensland. The material, which is based upon leaf impressions, records early sporophyte growth stages. The specimens occur at discrete levels in clay pits at Dinmore, and the different leaf stages present suggest that they represent colonies of young submerged plants, mats of floating leaves, or a mixed assemblage of both. The leaf material closely matches the range of variation evident in young sporophytes of Ceratopteris Brongn., but in the complete absence of Cenozoic fossils of the spore genus Magnastriatites Germeraad, Hopping & Muller emend. Dettmann & Clifford from mainland Australia, which are the fossil spores of this genus, it is referred to a new genus, Tecaropteris. The record of ceratopterid-like ferns adds significantly to our limited knowledge of Cenozoic freshwater plants from Australia. The geoheritage significance of sites, such as Dinmore, is discussed briefly.

Andrew C. Rozefelds [andrew.rozefelds@qm.qld.gov.au], Queensland Museum GPO Box 3300, South Brisbane, 4101, Queensland, Australia and School of Earth Sciences, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia; Mary Dettmann [mary.dettmann@qm.qld.gov.au], H. Trevor Clifford [trevor.clifford@qm.qld.gov.au] and Debra Lewis [debra.lewis@qm.qld.gov.au], Queensland Museum, GPO Box 3300, South Brisbane, 4101, Queensland, Australia.     

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.