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.