MEMOIRS
OF THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF VICTORIA
MELBOURNE
(World List abbrev. Mem. Nat. Mus. Vic.)
No. 16
Issued December, 1949
КТ. M. PESCOTT, M.Agr.Sc., F.R.E.S.
DIRECTOR
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES
MELBOURNE
BROWN, PRIOR, ANDERSON PTY. LTD., 430 LITTLE BOURKE ST., MELBOURNE, С.л
қа
a MEL
Ea
MEMOIRS
OF THE
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF VICTORIA
MELBOURNE
(World List abbrev. Mem. Nat. Mus. Vic.)
No. 16
Issued December, 1949
ER OU Me PESCOTT, MAgt зе ENES!
DIRECTOR
PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE TRUSTEES
MELBOURNE
BROWN, PRIOR, ANDERSON PTY. LTD., 430 LITTLE BOURKE ST., MELBOURNE, C.ı
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF VICTORIA
TRUSTEES:
W. RUSSELL GRIMWADE, Esq., C.B.E., B.Sc., F.A.C.L (Chairman).
P. CROSBIE Morrison, Esq., M.Sc. (Deputy Chairman).
Е. С. THORPE, Esq., M.C., Е.О. (Treasurer).
G. FINLAY, Esq., O.B.E., L.D.S., B.D.Sc.
L. J. HARTNETT, Esq., C.B.E., M.LE.
PROFESSOR E. S. HILLS, D.Sc., Ph.D.
S. R. MITCHELL, Esq., M.A.I.M.M., A.A.C.I.
О. E. NILSSON, Esq., B.Sc., A.M.LE. (Aust.).
SIR Davip Rivert, K.C.M.G., M.A., D.Sc., F.R.S., F.A.C.I.
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF VICTORIA
DIRECTOR
В. T. М. Реѕсотт, M.Agr.Sc., F.R.E.S.
SCIEN EH TOS STATED
Geology and Palaeontology:
Palaeontology: E. D. GILL, B.A., B.D.
Mineralogy: SYLVIA б. WHINCUP, M.Sc.
Assistant: J. J. JENKIN.
Vertebrate Zoology:
Mammalogy and Herpetology: C. W. BRAZENOR.
Ornithology: W. В. HITCHCOCK.
Assistant: JEANNIE MITCHELL.
Invertebrate Zoology:
Entomology: A. N. Burns, B.Sc., F.R.E.S., F.R.H.S.
C. OKE
Conchology: J. Hope MACPHERSON, B.Sc.
Assistants: PATRICIA HOGGART.
ELIZABETH MATHESON.
Ethnology:
Ethnology: D. J. TucBy, B.Sc.
Librarian: Joyce M. SHAW, B.A.
PREPARATORIAL STAFF
Preparation: P. C. R. BOSWELL.
L. J. CHAPMAN.
M. TRAYNOR.
HONORARY SCIENTIFIC STAFF
Geology and Palaeontology:
Palaeontology: F. A. CUDMORE, Esq.
Rev. E. H. CHAPPLE.
Mineralogy: S. R. MITCHELL, Esq.
Zoology:
Ornithology: C. E. BRYANT, Esq.
A. G. CAMPBELL, Esq., J.P.
N. J. FAVALORO, Esq.
Conchology: C. J. GABRIEL, Esq.
Entomology: G. LYELL, Esq.
F. E. WILSON, Esq.
Arachnology: R. A. DUNN, Esq.
Ethnology :
Ethnology: D. A. CAsEY, Esq.
S. R. MITCHELL, Esq.
Photography:
Photography: P. CROSBIE MORRISON, Esq.
CONTENTS
PEE opui. Ht from Australia and the Solomon Islands. By R. A.
UNN 3 Я TA wi T E Ni in t
An Echinoid from the Tertiary (Janjukian) of South Australia. Brocho-
pleurus australiae sp. nov. By H. BARRACLOUGH FELL us
The Physiography and СОСЕ BADEN of the River Yarra, Vietoria. ae
EDMUND D. GILL, B.A., B.D. Я
Sur Quelques Pauropodes D’Australie. (Récoltes de М. le Professeur
O. W. Tiegs.) Par PAUL REMY .. Я A: x: РЕ T
Australian Opiliones. By R. R. FORSTER
Devonian Fossils from Sandy's Creek, Gippsland, Victoria. By EDMUND
D. GILL, B.A., B.D. i Y e A } de
Yeringian (Lower Devonian) Plant Remains from Lily dale, Victoria, with
Notes on a Collection from a New Locality in the Siluro- Devonian
Sequence. By IsABEL Cookson, D.SC. ТЕ
РАСЕ
117
Мем. Nar. Mus. Уіст., 16, 1949
NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND THE
SOLOMON ISLANDS
By R. A. Dunn,
Honorary Arachnologist, National Musewm of Victoria.
Figs. 1-6.
(Received for publication September 29, 1948.)
This paper deals principally with two new whip-scorpions. Of
these, the one described hereunder as Charinus pescotti sp. nov. is
recorded from Australia and the Solomon Islands, and is but the
second species of the order to be reported from Australia. The
statement by Werner (1935, p. 475) that “Australien (Festland)
enthalt keine einzige Gattung und Art” is erroneous, inasmuch
as the ill-defined Charon annulipes Lauterer had been described
from Brisbane, Queensland, many years previously.
The other species dealt with, namely Stygophrynus (Neo-
charon) forsteri subgen. et sp. nov., is from the Solomon Islands,
and seems to be sufficiently distinctive to warrant separation from
the more typical congeners.
Order PEDIPALPI
Suborder AMBLYPYGI
Family TARANTULIDAE
Subfamily Charontinae
Genus CHARINUS Simon, 1892
SYNOPSIS OF SPECIES
1. Finger with one dorsal spine. С. jeanneli Simon.
— Finger with two dorsal spines. 9.
- Finger with three dorsal spines. 5.
2. Spines of finger small and subequal. C. australianus (L. Koch).
— Distal spine of finger about twice the length of the proximal. 3.
3. The first tarsal segment of ambulatory legs only slightly longer
than the other four together. . C. pescotti sp. nov.
— Тһе first tarsal segment of ambulatory legs about 13 times as long
as the other four together. 4.
4. Lateral eyes pigmented. C. seychellarum Krpln.
— Lateral eyes without pigment. C. seychellarum diblemma (Simon).
5. Dorsal spines of hand subequal. C. neocaledonicus Simon.
Dorsal spines of hand unequal, the distal much the larger. C. milloti Fage.
The genus also includes the Galapagos species C. insularis
Banks. The deseription is, however, insufficient to incorporate
7
8 NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS
that species in the above key and, further, the type-specimens,
which should be in the collection of the Stanford University,
California, seem to have been lost. Certainly Professor G. F.
Ferris, to whom I am nevertheless indebted, can find no trace of
them.
In the placement of C. neocaledonicus Simon, I have been
guided by the figures given by Simon in support of his genus.
Obviously these are not referable to the designated genotype
C. australianus (L. Koch), which suggests that the genus was,
in fact, described from a specimen of neocaledonicus. Other
evidence tends to support this supposition. In erecting the genus,
Simon (1892, p. 48) remarked that it ‘‘comprenant une seconde
espèce de Nouvelle-Calédonie, encore inedite,” and the definition
of the genus, particularly where referring to the position of the
lateral eyes, when compared with Kraepelin’s descriptions of both
species (1899, pp. 249-250), agrees better with neocaledonicus
than with australianus. Unfortunately, I have not been able to
obtain a specimen of Simon’s species for examination; in view
of the foregoing, it would be advisable for that species to be
described in more detail.
Acknowledgments are also made to Dr. S. L. Hora, of the
Zoological Survey of India, for details of the armature of the
hand and finger of the two specimens of C. seychellarum Ктріп.
under his care.
Charinus pescotti sp. nov.
Figs. 1-3.
Female. mm.
Total Length 5c qi
Length of Cephalothorax fs A ». A v. 2:8
Width of Cephalothorax .. E 3 Py 75 m 3:9
Length of Abdomen х 4-8
Width of Abdomen La 3:5
Meta-
Femur Patella Tibia tarsus Tarsus Total
Let f E EX Р 0-7 10:6 — 103 = 21-9
ii TD Na 556 0:7 28%. 1:8 122 = 10:0
Ші 4-1 0:9 8:4. 1:9 ES = 14156
iv 2 МІ 0:8 34 sn as, ES 11:1
Femur Tibia Hand Finger
Palp L^ O ca T7 9-4 ЕЗІ 1-4 == 6:6
darker; sternum and coxae yellowish. Abdomen yellowish-brown
above and below, with darker markings.
NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS 9
Carapace obcordate, convex, finely granular; grooves distinct,
that behind the median eyes indistinct; anterior margin rounded,
armed with six slender spines; posterior and lateral margins
forming a narrow flange.
Eyes small and about equal in size; the two median, placed
together on a low tubercle, are about their diameter apart and
about the same from the anterior margin. Three lateral eyes to
each side, close together on a low tubercle, about three times their
individual diameter from the antero-lateral margin.
Chelicerae somewhat cylindrical in shape, projecting past the
anterior margin of the carapace; promargin of falx-furrow armed
with four teeth of which that nearest the base of the fang is
deeply bifid, and the two intermediate are much the smallest;
retromargin unarmed, fringed with long hairs. Fang moderately
long, curved, armed on the inside of the curve with about four
teeth decreasing in length distally.
Figs. 1-3. Charinus pescotti sp. nov.
Fig. 1. Dorsal view, omitting legs and palp on left side.
Fig. 9. Metasternum and portions of coxae iii and iv.
Fig. 3. Retrolateral view of left hand and finger.
Prosternum long and tapering anteriorly, provided with long
and slender spines of which two are apical. Mesosternum short.
Metasternum (Fig. 2) about twice as long as broad, excavated
laterally opposite coxae iv, and, like the mesosternum, armed with
a slender spine at each anterior corner.
10 NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS
Palpi relatively short, broad, and well armed. Femur armed
dorsally with a row of four spines decreasing in length distally,
and ventrally with three spines which likewise decrease in length
distally ; towards the base ventrally and near the proximal dorsal
spine is a single trichobothrium. Tibia flat, about twice longer
than broad, armed dorsally with five spines of which the penul-
timate is the longest, the one next behind it longer than the one
next behind that, and the latter longer than the distal spine;
armed ventrally with three spines which increase in length dis-
tally, the proximal minute, almost obsolete in paratypes. Hand
(Fig. 3) flat, about one-fifth longer than broad, armed dorsally
with two medial spines of which the distal is approximately twice
the length of the proximal, and ventrally with one subapical spine.
Finger jointed, the basal segment armed only dorsally with two
spines of which the distal is more than twice the length of the
proximal,
Legs armed with longitudinal rows of short slender spines
ventrally and, on the femorae, dorsally. Leg i tactile; tibia com-
posed of 23-27 segments; tarsus with 39-41 segments, of which the
basal is much longer than the next segment, the distal segment
being longer than the penultimate and modified into a tactile
and pulvillus, composed of five segments in the approximate ratio
of, in leg 11—44: 12: 3: 3: 19, leg 11-49: 14: 4: 4: 20, leg iv—52:
15: 5:5: 21; a dorsal spur carrying an apical bristle springs from
the apex of the penultimate tarsal segment and is equally as long
as the distal segment; metatarsi somewhat thicker towards the
apex and provided with numerous trichobothria; tibia ii and iii
unsegmented ; tibia iv composed of four segments in the ratio of
approximately 65: 20: 24: 26.
Abdomen oval, finely granular, tergites i-vi with a pair of
distinct impressions, telson wanting.
Locality. A single female (type) from Barron Falls, Queens-
land, collected by G. F. Hill, probably about 1923; and four
females from Savo Island, Solomon Group, collected by R. R.
Forster, about January 1944, under debris in coastal forest and
coconut plantation.
Holotype in the National Museum of Victoria. Named in
honour of the Director, Mr. R. T. M. Pescott, M.Agr.Se.,
F.R.E.S., to whom I owe the privilege of examination of the
arachnid collection. Paratypes in the Dominion Museum. Wel-
lington, N.Z., and in the author's collection. |
Obs. The Solomon specimens are somewhat duller in colour
and, perhaps because of the varying size and age, show a tendency
NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS 1]
towards a reduction in the number of spines on the femorae and
tibiae of the palpi; however, I cannot find any difference im-
portant enough to warrant their separation from the Australian
example. A much paler immature Specimen with the paratypes
measures about 2-7 mm. in length, and has the normal segmenta-
tion of leg iv, but the palpal spination of the older specimens is
not fully developed; unfortunately both tactile legs are missing,
being broken off at the patellar-tibial joint.
The only other Australian whip-scorpion known at present is
Charon annulipes Lauterer, but is insufficiently described for
determination of its true generic position. If the description is
at all reliable, however, it is quite distinct from the present
species, differing principally in having two large median eyes and
two (?) small eyes on each side, in femur i being double the length
of those of the ambulatory legs, in tibia i being divided into 26
and tarsus i into 47, or 49,' segments, in the proportionally shorter
tactile leg, and in having dark brown rings on the ambulatory
legs.
Genus STYGOPHRYNUS Kraepelin, 1895
A key to the species of this genus has already been given by
Gravely (1915, p. 448), and it is apparent that the species fall
into two distinct sections. The majority form a natural group
around the genotype S. cavernicola (Thorell) ; to those mentioned
by Gravely must be added S. dammermam Roewer (1928, p. 16),
a species since described from Javanese caves.
S. moultoni Gravely is, however, quite distinct from its con-
geners. That this was recognized by Gravely is obvious from
his remark (1915, p. 436) that for this species “а new genus
ought perhaps to be established.” Though in some respects the
species described hereunder falls between S. moultom and the
more typical cavernicolous members of the genus, this second
section seems sufficiently differentiated to warrant subgeneric
rank at least, and consequently the subgenus Neocharon nov. is
proposed for the reception of both species.
Subgenus NEOCHARON nov.
Differs from Stygophrynus Krpln. (sensu stricto) in being
non-cavernicolous species, and having the distal supplementary
spines of the hands, particularly the ventral ones, reduced in
number below what is normal for the genus (at least three both
dorsally and ventrally, sec. Kraepelin).
Type: Stygophrynus (Neocharon) forsteri sp. nov.
1 In his description, Lauterer (1895, p. 414) states that the tarsus has 47 segments,
but a few paragraphs previously refers to 49 segments.
12 NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS
Stygophrynus (Neocharon) forsteri sp. nov.
Figs. 4-6.
Female. mm.
Total Length AN 6:8
Length of Cephalothorax id Ji ae N, X 3:0
Width of Cephalothorax .. - m be ar v 3:6
Length of Abdomen Я 1 4% T 4:2
Width of Abdomen 2:4
Meta-
Femur Patella Tibia tarsus Tarsus Total
eed IE. ees 2 “059 0:5 19259. — 14:8 = 84-09
TE RO A 0-7 3۰8 2:2 Ido — 12:4
TIEN 32-25 0 ТТ 0:8 4:6 2:2 1h45) >= 18:8
iv 4-5 0:8 4-1 241 НЗ — 13:6
Femur Tibia Hand Finger
Palp heathy RAT wees ES 2:4 170 1۰2 = 6:5
Figs. 4-6. Stygophrynus (Neocharon) forsteri subgen. et sp. nov.
Fig. 4. Dorsal view, omitting legs and palp on left side.
Fig. 5. Retrolateral view of right falx-margins.
Fig. 6. Retrolateral view of left hand and finger,
Carapace light brown with darker markings, median eye-
tubercle black; chelicerae light brown; leg i light brown, distal
NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS 13
segment of tibia and proximal segment of tarsus yellowish, almost
whitish, tactile organ yellowish; legs ii, iii, and iv light brown,
femorae with four yellowish annulations, tibiae with subbasal
yellowish annulation and a faint indication of a distal annulation ;
tibia iv also annulated on each segment distally; palpi light
brown, femorae with somewhat darker medial and distal trans-
verse bands, tibiae with medial transverse band; sternum and
coxae yellowish. Abdomen light brown, each tergite with darker
rectangular patches anteriorly in the median line and laterally,
sternites yellowish.
Carapace obcordate, convex, finely granular; grooves moder-
ately distinct; anterior margin straight truncate, armed with six
RANT spines; posterior and lateral margins forming a narrow
ange. :
Eyes small and about equal in size; the two median, placed
obliquely on a moderately high tubercle almost touching the
anterior carapacal margin and. which is surmounted by a pair of
small tubercles each carrying a slender spine, are slightly more
than their diameter apart. The three lateral eyes on each side are
grouped together on a low tubercle which is close to the antero-
lateral carapacal margin.
Chelicerae somewhat cylindrical in shape, projecting past the
anterior margin of the carapace; promargin of falx-furrow (Fig.
5) armed with four teeth of which that nearest the base of the
fang is bifid, and the two intermediate slightly the smallest;
retromargin with a minute tooth near the base of the fang. Fang
moderately long, curved, armed on the inside of the curve with
six small contiguous teeth of which the second from the base of
the fang is the largest, the others decreasing in length distally.
Prosternum long, tapered anteriorly, provided with slender
spines of which two are apical. Mesosternum subround, provided
with two pairs of slender submedial spines. Metasternum also
subround, about equal in size to the mesosternum, placed between
coxae iii, provided with one pair of submedial spines.
Palpi relatively short, moderately broad, and well armed.
Femur armed dorsally with a row of five large spines of which
the proximal is about equal in size to the distal, the others
decreasing in length distally; between the distal spine and the
apical end of the segment is an additional minute spine, and
between the second and the third an additional intermediate spine.
Ventrally the femur is armed with four large spines of which the
proximal is the smallest, the others decreasing in length distally ;
14 NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS
between the distal spine and the apical end of the segment in the
holotype is an additional minute spine. Tibia not very flat, about
three times as long as broad, armed dorsally in the distal half
with three large spines of which the distal is much smaller than
the other subequal two, each of these three spines being separated
in the holotype by a small spine, with another slightly larger than
those latter placed between the distal large spine and the apical
end of the segment; the proximal half of the tibia bears dorsally
two spines of which the proximal is about equal in size to the
supplementary spines of the distal half and is much smaller than
its neighbour. Ventrally the tibia is armed with five spines, the
distal much smaller than the penultimate, the others increasing
in length distally; three minute spines are also present in the
holotype, one placed between the apical end of the segment and
the distal large spine, another between the latter and the penul-
timate, and the other between the penultimate and the medial.
Hand (Fig. 6) not flattened, about one-half longer than broad,
armed dorsally with a large submedial spine which has a small
subsidiary spine inserted at its base, and a moderate distal spine
proximally of which in the holotype is a minute spine. Ventrally
the hand is armed with a large submedial spine and another much
smaller distal spine. Finger jointed, without spines.
Legs armed with longitudinal rows of short slender spines
ventrally and, on the femorae, dorsally. Leg i tactile; tibia com-
posed of 25 segments; tarsus with 44 segments of which the basal
is much longer than the next segment, the distal segment being
much longer than the penultimate and modified into a tactile
and pulvillus, composed of five segments in the approximate ratio
of, in leg ii—26:7:4:4:15, leg 11--27:7:4:4:18, leg iv—28:
7:4:4:19; a dorsal spur carrying an apical bristle springs from
the apex of the penultimate tarsal segment and is equally as long
as the distal segment; metatarsi somewhat thicker towards the
apex and provided with numerous trichobothria; tibia ii and iii
unsegmented; tibia iv composed of four segments in the ratio of
approximately 81:31: 38: 38.
` Abdomen ovate, finely granular, telson wanting.
Locality. Three females from Savo Island, Solomon Group,
collected by R. R. Forster, about January 1944, under debris in
coastal forest and coconut plantation.
Holotype in the Dominion Museum, Wellington, N.Z. Named
in honour of Mr. К. К. Forster, who kindly arranged for my
NEW PEDIPALPI FROM AUSTRALIA AND SOLOMON ISLANDS 15
examination of these and other specimens from the Dominion
Museum. Paratypes in the Dominion Museum, and in the author’s
collection.
Obs. This species comes closest to S. moultoni Gravely, which,
however, differs principally by the hand being armed with two
long spines dorsally and one only ventrally, and by the finger
being armed dorsally with three minute spines.
REFERENCES
1892 Simon, E., Ann. Soc. ent. France, LXI.
1895 Lauterer, J., Rep. Austr. Assoc. Adv. Sci., VI.
1899 Kraepelin, K., Das Tierreich, VIII.
1902 Banks, N., Proc. Wash. Acad. Sei., IV.
1915 Gravely, F. H., Rec. Indian Mus., XI, 6.
1928 Roewer, С. F., Treubia Buitenzorg, X.
1935 Werner, F., Bronn’s Klassen, Bd. 5, Abt. 4, Buch 8.
1939 Fage, L., Bull. Soc. ent. France, XLIV.
577
i
rus
PLATE |
"SFX UOLS
DIMAS jo pepp MOUS 0j “пише Ieou tune nqueesoyur pur WIR nquy
‘adsjojoy “AOU ds 'apipajsup. snanojdoi204g]
16
Mus. Vict.
Хат.
Мем.
Mem. Мат. Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949
AN ECHINOID FROM THE TERTIARY (JANJUKIAN)
OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA
BROCHOPLEURUS AUSTRALIAE sp. nov.
Т? Ву Н. Barraclough Fell,
Victoria University College, Wellington, New Zealand.
Plate I.
(Received for publication October 13, 1948.)
Through the courtesy of the National Museum of Victoria, a
collection of Australian Tertiary Echinoids was lent to me for
comparison with similar material from New Zealand. The results
of this will be published later, but, in the meantime, it is desirable
to record an undescribed species included in the collection of the
Museum which has been confused with Paradoxechinus novus
Laube (1869). The species is referable to Brochopleurus Fourtau
(1920), which genus differs from Paradoxechinus in a number of
respects, the chief being that, in the former, the primary tubercles
are each surrounded by a distinct radiating sculpture, whereas
in the latter there is no such radiating sculpture, the primary
tubercles being joined to their neighbours by straight lines of
raised sculpturing, forming therefore a zig-zag line along each
amb and interamb.
This appears to be the first record of the genus Brochopleurus
from the Southern Hemisphere, Egypt and India being the two
areas where it has hitherto been recognized—in both cases from
strata regarded as Miocene. A very similar species occurs in the
Waitakian stage (Middle Oligocene) of New Zealand, but further
study will be required to determine if it is identical with the
species from Australia. |
As the genus Brochopleurus will be dealt with at greater length
with other Tertiary Temnopleuridae in a later publication, no
more need be given here than the brief diagnosis and a figure.
BROCHOPLEURUS Fourtau, 1920
Small forms of hemispherical shape. Pore-pairs in a nearly
straight line. Primary tubercles non-crenulate, imperforate; a
distinct radiating sculpture round the primary and partly also
the secondary tubercles. Apical system (known in B. sadeki
Fourtau) regularly dieyelie; gill-slits small, indistinct. Spines
unknown. (Mortensen, 1943.)
17
B
18 NEW AUSTRALIAN ECHINOID
Brochoplewrus australiae sp. nov.
Fig. 1.
Height, 4-0 mm. Horizontal diameter, 9-0 mm. Peristome lost
from holotype.
Apical system lost from the Australian specimens, but the New
Zealand species, which is very similar, indicates the type of apical
system normal for the genus, all the plates being exsert, to form
the dieyelie arrangement.
Ambulacral plates, 10 (or 11?) in each series. Interambulacral
plates, 9 (or 10?) in each series.
Interambulaeral sculpture. — Each primary tubercle is sur-
rounded by a radiating system of ca. 10 to 12 raised ridges, some
of which anastomose with ridges from neighbouring primary
tubercles. In general, 2 or 3 of the ridges link each tubercle with
its immediate neighbour above as also below. The laterally placed
ridges branch and end blindly. All the ridges are characterized
by carrying several secondary tubercles, and the blind termina-
tions of the ridges frequently carry secondary tubercles. Along
the mid-zone of the interamb there is an irregular, sinuous ridge,
broader and more flattened than the radiating ridges, and this too
carries scattered secondary tubercles. Between the mesh-work
formed by all these ridges, the intervening surface of the test is
perfectly smooth.
Ambulacral sculpture. — Each pore-pair lies within a de-
pressed oval area, with distinct horizontal ridges separating each
depressed region from its neighbours above and below. The
ambulacral mid-zone is traversed by more or less horizontal
ridges, each carrying several secondary tubercles. Of these ridges,
approximately every alternate one traverses the mid-zone from
side to side, while the intervening ridges run only about half or
two-thirds of the distance in each case. The primary tubercles
form a vertical series on either side of the amb, between the mid-
zone and the poriferous zone, and are situated on a well-marked
sinuous vertical ridge. This ridge communicates on the outer side
with the horizontal ridges separating the pore-pairs, and on the
inner side with the horizontal ridges which cross the mid-zone.
The test between the mesh-work of ridges is quite smooth.
Holotype. Specimen 4687 in the National Museum of Victoria.
Locality. Lower Murray cliffs, South Australia.
Horizon. This is stated to be Janjukian (1.е., Upper Oligocene
or Lower Miocene).
NEW AUSTRALIAN ECHINOID 19
REMARKS
Brochopleurus australiae may be distinguished immediately
from other species of the genus by the transverse sculpturing of
the ambulacral mid-zone, which is absent in the Egyptian and
Indian species. On the other hand, it is very closely related to the
forms from the New Zealand Oligocene already mentioned, which
share this feature.
A second specimen, No. 4688 of the National Museum of Vic-
toria, from the same locality, is evidently referable to this species.
Its dimensions are: height 4-5 mm., horizontal diameter 9-5 mm.,
peristome diameter, 3-3 mm.
REFERENCES
Fourtau, R., 1920. Cat. Invert. foss. de l'Egypte, 2, 25.
Laube, G. C., 1869. Ueber einige fossile Echiniden von den Murray Cliffs in
Sud-Australien. Sitzb. Kais. Akad. Wiss. Wien, 59, 183.
Mortensen, Th., 1943. A Monograph of the Echinoidea, 3 (2), 354.
Mem. Nar. Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949
THE PHYSIOGRAPHY AND PALAEOGEOGRAPHY OF
THE RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
By Edmund D. Gill, B.A., B.D.,
Palaeontologist, National Museum of Victoria.
Figs. 1-8.
(Received for publication August 4, 1947.)
INTRODUCTION
The normal drainage in Victoria is northwards from the Great Dividing
Range to the River Murray, and southwards from the Range to the sea. The
River Yarra flows from east to west, and it was early recognized that this
paradox was due to a complicated history. Gregory (1903) maintained that the
predecessor of the Yarra flowed southwards through the Gembrook Gap to the
sea. Keble (1918) developed Gregory's idea. Edwards (1940) and the present
writer (Gill, 1942) showed that the ancestor of the Yarra (the Wurunjerri
River) flowed northwards on the east side of the Mt. Dandenong igneous complex,
rounded this large monadnock at its northerly limit, then flowed southwards
through Lilydale to the sea.
NOMENCLATURE
It is suggested that the following natural divisions of the course of the Yarra
be adopted:
1. Upper Yarra—from source to the commencement of the Warburton Gorge
(see Fig. 1).
2. Middle Yarra—Warburton Gorge to the commencement of the Warran-
dyte Gorge.
3. Lower Yarra—Warrandyte Gorge to the sea.
These are terms originated by Gregory, but they are now given precise
definition.
UPPER YARRA
The River Yarra has its source in the Great Dividing Range on
the remnants of a 4,000-ft. plateau. The surrounding prominences
are Mt. Matlock 4,140 ft, Mt. Gregory 4,000 ft., Mt. Horsfall
4,000 ft., Mt. Observation 3,800 ft., and Mt. Donna Buang 4,080 ft.
From its source to MeMahon’s Creek, the river flows approxi-
mately in a westerly direction. In this area the Yarra is carving
out an intramontane basin. From the accompanying map (Fig.
1) it can be seen that the river flows through a valley bordered
by more or less parallel mountain ridges (divides). The valley
is almost mountain-locked, the river escaping through what I
suggest be called the MeMahon Gorge, between Reefton and Me-
Mahon's Creek. The flow of the river is at about right angles
21
22 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
to the strike of the basement rocks, which consist of a series
of marine sediments—mudstones, sandstones, and shales. The
physiography of the Upper Yarra is essentially youthful. There
are many rapids, and terraces of torrent gravels are in evidence
in a number of places.
The second part of the Upper Yarra from the McMahon Gorge
to the Warburton Gorge owes its most characteristic features to
control by the latter gorge. As Edwards (1932) has described,
daeitie lavas, a granodiorite intrusion, hornfels, and a group of
acid dykes stand athwart the course of the river, resulting in the
formation of a gorge, and the partial reduction of the country
upstream from it. Big Pats Creek is a tributary which enters
just upstream from the gorge. It is a stream marginal to the
granodiorite intrusion and its metamorphic aureole of hornfels.
MIDDLE YARRA
When the river emerges from the Warburton Gorge at Mill-
grove, it assumes a quite different character, and owes its form to
different causes. It is for this reason that this section of the river
is placed in a different category and called the Middle Yarra. The
river flows through a mature valley with a wide flood plain. It
receives at Yarra Junction the waters of the Little Yarra, at
Launching Place those of the Don River, and at Healesville those
of the Watts River. To the north the valley is walled by the
igneous complex of Ben Cairn, and the Tool-be-wong granodiorite
intrusion. To the south, granite and granodiorite outcrop (Baker,
Gordon, and Rowe 1949). Obviously these rocks have played a
major part in determining the direction of drainage in this
area. In fact, the voleanie rocks of the Dandenong Ranges, and
a series of granite and granodiorite intrusions to the east of it,
are responsible for the westerly flow of the Yarra in its upper
reaches (Fig. 2).
At Woori Yallock, the river changes course to a more or less
northerly direction which is maintained for eight miles (measured
in a direct line) to Healesville. The Woori Yallock Creek, which
has a northerly course, flows more or less parallel with the Yarra
from near Woori Yallock to its junction with the main stream
north of Killara, three miles away. This is to be explained by the
controlling effect of the nature and strike of the bedrock. Indeed,
the country rock is the major factor in determining the course of
the Middle Yarra between Woori Yallock and the Warrandyte
Gorge. In early Tertiary times, when the present Yarra drainage
system in this area was initiated, the extent of the Older Basalt
lava field was the main factor. This, in turn, was determined by
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 23
(a) the igneous suites surrounding much of the Woori Yallock
basin, and
(b) the prominence of bands of quartzitie rocks in the basement
sedimentary series.
FIG. 2
Distribution of outcrops of granitie intrusive rocks and Upper Devonian lavas
relative to the course of the River Yarra. These rocks account for the westerly
flow of the river in its upper reaches.
The course of the Wurunjerri River, and the extent of the
infilling lava flows has been discussed in a previous paper (Gill,
1942). As a direct result of the volcanic activity, the Wurunjerri
River was blotted out, and the Yarra River developed in the north
of this area as a stream marginal to the basalt. However, in the
east it found a course to the east of the quartzitic Warramatte
Hills instead of west of them as did the Wurunjerri River.
EASTERN AND WESTERN QUARTZITES
Reference to the map (Fig. 1) indicates how the course of the
Middle Yarra from Killara to Healesville is closely related to the
strike of the country rock. The hills forming the west bank of
this part of the river are constituted of quartzites and quartzitic
rocks of resistant character. The same beds outcrop on the other
side of the synclinorium and form the west bank of the Yarra
from Yarra Glen to the Warrandyte Gorge. These rocks are a
conspicuous series in the district and give rise to notable physio-
graphic features. I therefore suggest that they be known as the
Eastern Quartzites and the Western Quartzites respectively.
24 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
North of Healesville the Eastern Quartzites have a general
meridional strike, but it is of the order of N. 20° W. for six miles
south of Healesville, and then at Killara it varies considerably.
It is obvious that the direction of the river is closely affected by
the strike of this series of hard beds.
The Western Quartzites have generally a meridional strike
north of Yarra Glen, of about N. 25° E. for some eight miles to
the Warrandyte Gorge, and then of about N. 10° E. along the
Brushy Creek searp. Once again the strike of the quartzites
determines the directions of the streams. The Wurunjerri River
impinged against the Western Quartzites (then the Wurunjerri
Range) which deflected it southwards through Lilydale to the sea.
The country between the Eastern and Western Quartzites has
been considerably reduced by erosion, thus leaving them in
relief by differential erosion. West of Yarra Glen the Western
Quartzites form a large anticline, on each side of which are grey
shales characterized by Plectodonta bipartita.
North of a line connecting Yarra Glen and Healesville, the
Eastern and Western Quartzites are largely meridional in strike,
but south of that line they splay out. This is due to the southerly
pitch of the synelinorium, which thus brings in the younger beds
of the Lilydale area.
PHYSIOGRAPHIC PROBLEM OF THE QUARTZITES
Physiographers have discussed the problem of how the westerly
flowing Yarra could breach the Western Quartzites and so flow on
towards Melbourne. Keble (1918), Hills (1934) and others have
discussed this problem. Actually the same problem applies to the
Eastern Quartzites, for these are breached by the Yarra near
ri Hypotheses to explain these breachings are now
offered.
BREACHING OF HASTERN QUARTZITES
The Middle Yarra follows the Eastern Quartzites fox eight
miles before breaching them near Healesville. That it should
breach them at this particular place calls for explanation.
The early Tertiary Wurunjerri River was confined between
the Wurunjerri Range on the west (formed by the Western
Quartzites) and a range on the east (formed by the Eastern
Quartzites) which might well be called the Anti-Wurunjerri
Range, on the analogy of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon Mountains,
Taurus and Anti-Taurus Mountains, and so on. This valley was
filled with Older Basalt, and a stream developed around the
northern margin of the flow. It appears that this stream cut back
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 25
across the Anti- Wurunjerri Range, and in so doing released the
waters impounded behind it (see below). The first reason, then,
for the position of this water-gap, is that the Older Basalt lava
field extended to that point.
A second reason for the breaching of the Eastern Quartzites at
Healesville is that there is an intrusion of quartz porphyry there.
The river finds its way over the southern extension of this small
boss. The intrusion has been fairly recently uneovered, as is
shown by the fact that parts of it are still capped by country rock.
The eutting on the west side of the railway tunnel (which pierees
the porphyry) shows that there was some disturbance of the sedi-
ments by the intrusion. The broken bedrock would facilitate the
breaching of the barrier at that point.
The Middle Yarra receives the waters of the Don River at
Launching Place and the Watts River at Healesville. This greater
volume of water is restricted in its passage through what may be
called the Healesville Gorge, and so the river at this point is
characterized by rapids. The widespread Healesville flats are
evidence of ponding, and indeed at the present time they are
flooded after heavy rains.
In Wurunjerri times, the ancestors of the Don and Watts
Rivers must have carried their waters to the south of the
Warramatte Hills and so eonnected with the Wurunjerri River.
The infilling of the Wurunjerri Valley with basalt made this
impossible, and the waters there must have ponded deeply to form
a large lake until they were released by the breaching of the Anti-
Wurunjerri Range. This ponding could. be ealled the Healesville
Lake. It is analogous to the Yarra Lake further west (repre-
sented now by the Yarra Flats), although the latter was probably
never of the nature of a permanent deep lake like the former.
The Healesville Lake probably stretched as far south as Woori
Yallock, where residuals suggest this area to have been the margin
of the Older Basalt lava field in this direction.
The alluvial flats from the Healesville and Yarra Lakes and the
gorges which confine them are the most charaeteristie features of
the Middle Yarra.
BREACHING OF WESTERN QUARTZITES
How the Wurunjerri Range (the Western Quartzites) could be
breached to allow the Yarra through has engaged the attention of
physiographers, and the following theories have been adduced:
1. Keble (1918, p. 148) : “The Wurunjerri Range was breached
by a tributary of Watson's Creek, and the basin of the Middle
Yarra was diverted through the breach."
26 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
2. Hills (1934, p. 169) mentions the possibility of ejectamenta
from a volcano at Lilydale blocking the pre-Older Basalt river and
so causing flooding over the Wurunjerri Range to establish the
present course of the Yarra. This theory was later abandoned.
3. New Hypothesis. The Nillumbik Peneplain stretched east-
wards to the Dandenong Mountains, and did not cease at the
Wurunjerri Range as formerly believed (Jutson, 1911). The
break in the Wurunjerri Range owes its genesis to lateral differ-
entiation in the Western Quartzites facilitating reduction, and to
some structural disturbance. In other words, the Wurunjerri
Range did not have to be breached because it already had a very
low saddle in it. The infilling of the Wurunjerri valley with basalt
flows some 300 ft. thick raised the thalweg of the new marginal
stream so that it was higher than the saddle in the Wurunjerri
Range, and flowed over it with ease. Even after erosion through
most of Tertiary time and all of Quaternary time, the residual at
Lilydale stands 674 feet above sea-level, which is roughly 275 feet
above the bed of the Wurunjerri River as exposed in the Cave
Hill quarry. If once southerly drainage had developed again after
the extrusion of the basalts, no factors were operative in this area
sufficient to divert the river.
THE YARRA PLATEAU
Gregory (1903) defined the Yarra Plateau which '*onee ran
from the Strathbogie Ranges, across the present main divide
between Mt. Disappointment and Mt. Arnold. It forms the old
platform under the Dandenongs" (p. 84, fig. 49, p. 109). He
defined it more narrowly when he said that the eastern border of
the Plateau may be drawn through Queenstown, Christmas Hills,
and Mooroolbark. ‘Most of the Yarra Plateau may be regarded
as a shelf on the eastern border of the Melbourne basin"' (p. 86).
Gregory thus presented two definitions of the Yarra Plateau
which in reality refer to two different surfaces:
(a) The first definition refers to a pre-Dandenongs (viz., Upper
Devonian) surface as shown in his fig. 49, i.e., a Palaeozoic
terrain.
(b) The second definition refers to a shelf, the remains of which
are at present clearly visible, i.e., a Cainozoie terrain. The
second definition also limits the Plateau to a small area
near Melbourne while the first refers to a large section of
the State.
Gregory's first definition seems to have been largely disregarded
by later writers. Jutson (1911), obviously taking the second
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 27
n
ul
E
N
к
a
4
ә.
о
PENEPLAIN
aS
Scare
о 1 2 E WAVERLEY
Miles
)
D Edmunt IDE 1947
FIG. 3
e Military Map (Yan Yean and Ringwood Sheets) have
E ious 600 and 050 feet to show the Yarra Plateau terrain on
which the Kangaroo Ground Older Basalt stands (solid black); also between
400 and 450 feet to show the Nillumbik Peneplain on which the Lilydale Older
Basalt stands (cross hatching). There are two monadnocks on this old pene-
lain—that formed by the resistant Western Quartzites, and that formed by
y the Older Basalt (“O.B.” on map).
28 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
definition, suggested that country east of the Queenstown-Christ-
mas Hills-Mooroolbark line be included (p. 474). Hills (1984, p.
163) has shown that Gregory was in error concerning the position
of the ancient Divide. He also took Gregory’s second definition,
describing the Yarra Plateau as ‘‘the country from the Christmas
Hills to the Plenty River, and from the Kinglake Escarpment to
the divide on the Mitcham Axis.”
In this paper Hills’ definition is accepted, with a modification
of the southern boundary of the Plateau. The map (Fig. 3) and
sections (Fig. 4 a-c) show that the tops of the hills forming the
old Yarra Plateau (as defined by Hills) as far south as Kangaroo
Ground and Research are all about 600 feet to 650 feet above
present sea-level. This is significant, because it is the level of
the pre-Older Basalt terrain, as shown by the existing residuals.
Diamond Creek as far as Hurstbridge plus Arthur’s Creek on
the west, and Watson’s Creek on the east, are apparently streams
that developed marginally to the Older Basalt flow. The up-
stream end of Diamond Creek, found north-east of Hurstbridge,
is apparently a cross-cutting lateral. The ridges between these
streams are apparently remnants of the old terrain which have
been but recently stripped of their Older Basalt cover.
The relative positions of the 600 ft. summits suggests that those
N.N.W. of the Kangaroo Ground basalt, and those forming a
ridge between Arthur’s Creek and the upper part of Diamond
Creek, are the course of the pre-Older Basalt river. The ridge
followed by the road from Panton Hill to Queenstown (which
reaches 700 ft. in places) would then be the eastern side of the
valley, and the ridge from Yarrambat to Doreen (which reaches
725 ft. at Doreen) would be the western side of the valley.
Doncaster
Red Bed Outlier
OB Residual
4 Lilydale Rey
Cove Hill
LEVEL OF NILLUMBIA PENEPLAIN 400° TO 459.
SECTION FROM DONCASTER TO LILYDALE.
FIG. 4a
Section drawn from contours of Military Map, Ringwood Sheet, to show how
the Nillumbik Peneplain stretched across as far as the Dandenong Ranges,
and how the Older Basalt of the Wurrunjerri River flowed over it.
The general accordance of summit levels in this area gives indi-
cation of a definite terrain. As the Older Basalt and/or associated
sands and gravels rest on these levels in a number of places, we
know that this terrain is the pre-Older Basalt one, and so previous
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 25
to the present Yarra River system. From Research for ten miles
northwards (measured in a direct line) the hill summits are 600
ft. to 650 ft. For a similar distance in an east-west direction the
same holds. This proves that the pre-Older Basalt terrain was a
peneplain, and the river flowing over it was mature in that part
at least of its course.
Diamend Crean
Kangaroo Ground
OB. Residual
Querfzites
>
y Walsons Crean
Western
RA PLATEAU
SECTION FROM DIAMOND CR. TO YARRA FLATS
FIG. 4b
Section drawn from contours of Military Map, Yan Yean and Ringwood
Sheets, showing the relationships of the Yarra Plateau and Nillumbik Pene-
plain levels at Yering Gorge.
These facts also show that the Kinglake Escarpment is a very
old feature. The cutting back of the escarpment was effectively
retarded by the formation of the Older Basalt lava field. The
rapid back-cutting of the scarp could not be re-initiated until the
lava field had been removed. This has been done and the streams
are now actively cutting back into the escarpment.
The terrain represented by the summits of the hills, and covered
in places by Older Basalt or associated fluviatile deposits, is the
terrain (Gregory’s “shelf””) which is to be known by the term
Yarra Plateau. However, it does not reach as far south as the
Mitcham Axis but terminates at Research.
3 i $ ef . ¡Bu
| : E H P sg
Section drawn from contours of Military Map, Ringwood and Yan Yean Sheets,
showing the relationship of the Nillumbik Peneplain and Yarra Plateau to one
another and the Kinglake Escarpment.
THE NILLUMBIK PENEPLAIN
When Jutson (1911) extended the Yarra Plateau from Greg-
ory’s Queenstown-Christmas Hills-Mooroolbark line to include
the “Croydon Senkungsfeld" (i.e., the Croydon Lowlands and
Yarra Flats) he gave the feature the new name of Nillumbik
Peneplain (p. 477). Hills (1934, pp. 167-168, 173) adopted this
term chiefly for the level of the stripped fossil plain, remnants
30 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
of which are seen along the Mitcham Axis. Modifications in the
definition of the Yarra Plateau require modifications in the
definition of the Nillumbik Peneplain. I suggest that this name
be used for the peneplain standing from 400 ft. to 450 ft. above
present sea-level. The map (Fig. 3) and sections (Fig. 4, a-c)
show the extent of this peneplain. In addition to the Mitcham
Axis there is a ridge running north-west to Doncaster, and another
running south-west to Tally Ho and Mt. Waverley (cf. Hart,
1913).
Very important is the fact that the peneplain caused a gap in
the Wurunjerri Range. Fig. 3 shows a stretch of about three
miles of the Brushy Creek escarpment south of the Yarra River
with summits at the Nillumbik Peneplain level. The east side
of the Yering Gorge (Fig. 4b; also Gill, 1942, fig. 3) and the hills
to the north of Lilydale are likewise Nillumbik levels. Most
significant of all is the fact that the Older Basalt residuals at
Lilydale and north-west of Lilydale stand on the Nillumbik
terrain. This means
(a) that the Nillumbik Peneplain stretched across to the Dan-
denong Mountains;
(b) that this area was not down-faulted in post-Nillumbik times
as claimed by Jutson (1911);
(e) that the Lilydale Older Basalt is not a pre-Nillumbik pene-
plain lava flow, but one extruded after the formation of the
peneplain.
Standing out from the Nillumbik Peneplain was a monadnock
(or, if the plain were covered by sea, an island) which constituted
the southern end of the Wurunjerri Range. This geographic
feature owed its presence to the rocks of which it was composed—
the Western Quartzites. As in the high country north of the
Yarra, the elevated features are due to an anticline in the Western
Quartzites.
On the other hand, the breach in the Western Quartzites where
the Yarra passes through is due to
(a) lateral differentiation of the country rock;
(b) structural disturbance.
(a) Although there are no soft strata, the rocks in general are
not so quartzitie as those, for example, on the Lilydale Highway
where it descends the Brushy Creek escarpment.
(b) In the vicinity of Warrandyte, the Warrandyte Anticline
divides into a number of small folds and then pitches out of
existence. On the Wonga Park Road there are northerly dips for
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 31
over two miles, indicating pitch. It is in this area that the higher
levels give way to Nillumbik Peneplain levels. Also where the
Yarra River crosses the Western Quartzites, they take a major
change in strike, swinging round to the north-east.
GENESIS OF THE NILLUMBIK PENEPLAIN
As re-defined, the Nillumbik terrain is a true peneplain. It is
remarkable that there should be so little disparity of elevation in
the Nillumbik Peneplain in view of the enormous differences in
rock types. Some of the summits are sandstones, some shales,
some highly indurated quartzitie horizons, and some are soft mud-
stones such as under the Older Basalt at Lilydale. In spite of
these great differences in hardness, all the summits are between
400 and 450 feet, except for the monadnock of quartzites north
and west of Croydon. Wicklow Hill, at Croydon, reaches 650 feet,
the height of the Yarra Plateau.
An adequate explanation of the wide and even planation (in
spite of variant rock types) of the Nillumbik Peneplain is called
for, and also of the difference in level (about 200 feet) between it
and the Yarra Plateau. Two possible explanations of the pene-
planation suggest themselves:
1. That the plain is one of marine denudation. This theory is
encouraged by the relationship of this area to the sea (although
it must be remembered that there was no Port Phillip Bay then),
by the fact that the slopes on its seaward sides have Miocene
marine beds on them, and that the Red Beds on the peneplain
itself appear to be fluviatile sands and gravels spread along a
shoreline. On this interpretation the gentle slopes on the seaward
sides (south and west) of the peneplain would be a sloping sea-
floor.
Tn criticism of this interpretation, it may be pointed out that
Richthofen, followed by many eminent geologists, has denied that
marine planation is possible, except on a subsiding land area.
They have claimed that ‘‘waves can cut into a still-standing land
mass only to a very moderate extent before they will exhaust
themselves on the shallow beach which they have carved." More
recently, Wentworth has concluded from studies in Hawaii that
marine erosion cannot be a factor in peneplanation. However, in
the case of the Nillumbik Peneplain, it could be argued that it
was a gradually subsiding land (or rising sea) that caused the
transgression by the sea which resulted in the deposition of
the Miocene beds. Hall (1900, p. 49) envisaged such a process
oceurring.
32 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
2. That the plain is one of subaerial denudation. Alternatively,
the Nillumbik Peneplain could have been formed by reduction to
base-level by subaerial agencies. The slopes on the seaward sides
and their Miocene str ata are consistent with this interpretation
too.
But the cause of the planation of the Nillumbik Peneplain
needs to be considered along with the cause of the planation of
the Yarra Plateau, and the difference i in height between the two.
If the Nillumbik Peneplain were cut by the sea and so covered
by it, then the Yarra Plateau could have been formed by subaerial
denudation. However, the difference in height of 200 feet does not
favour this interpretation. Their relationships would be some-
thing like those of the present Port Campbell plain to the sea.
Such difference in elevation would lead to dissection and not
favour planation. Alternatively, the Nillumbik Peneplain and
Yarra Plateau could have been one continuous peneplain which
was disrupted by faulting. However, direct evidence of such
faulting has not yet been found in the field.
Another possible explanation of the seaward slope to the south
of the Nillumbik Peneplain is that it was originally part of the
peneplain, but was involved in the warping (see Singleton, 1944)
believed to have taken place to form the basin in which the Altona-
Parwan lignites were deposited (Fig. 5).
AGE OF THE NILLUMBIK PENEPLAIN
The evidence for age is as follows:
1. The peneplain is older than the Older Basalt which filled
the Wurunjerri River. The Older Basalts are believed to be
from Oligocene to Lower Miocene in age. On palaeogeographical
grounds (opp. page), it is believed that the Older Basalt at Bal-
combe Bay is part of the Wurunjerri flow or flows. The basalt at
Balcombe Bay is overlain unconformably by Baleombian (Middle
Miocene) marls. This means that the Nillumbik Peneplain is
much older than Jutson thought (1911, pp. 477-478) when he first
deseribed it.
2. The peneplain is younger than the Lower Devonian marine
sediments and the Upper Devonian igneous rocks of the Dan-
denong Ranges, both of which are affected by the planation. Fig.
3 shows how a ledge has been formed on the edge of the Dandenong
lavas.
3. When the physiography of the State is considered, and the
peneplanations which have been effected and then raised to higher
levels, it is clear that the Nillumbik Peneplain must have been
formed i in Tertiary times.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 33
At the close of the Eocene and in Oligocene times, it appears
that the land gradually sank in relation to the sea, and in wide
low-lying areas great quantities of lignite accumulated, especially
in south central Victoria and southern Gippsland (see Fig. 5).
TEN BROWN COAL DEPOSITS II
BACCHUS MARSH
ALTONA BASIN
Scale of Miles
FIG. 5
Map showing extent of lignitic deposits in southern Victoria. The alignment
of the Bacchus Marsh-Altona basin indicates the direction of early Tertiary
drainage in that area.
The sinking was contemporaneous with considerable volcanic
activity, and the two events may be not unconnected. The relative
lowering of the land continued so that there was an extensive
transgression of the former land surface, with deposition of
Eocene, Oligocene, and Miocene marine beds on what is now
the land. A number of the basalt flows were in part covered
with these marine sediments. In this cycle of events the Nillum-
bik Peneplain was formed, and the Wurunjerri flow of basalt
extruded upon its eastern extension.
In Lower Pliocene times the sea began to recede, and the
rejuvenation of streams brought down copious torrent gravels and
sands which were spread over the Nillumbik Peneplain to form
the Red Beds, remains of which are seen as cappings on the hills
to the north of the peneplain, and as a continuous cover further
south. Still later, in an arid period, siliceous sand dunes were
constructed over the Brighton-Sandringham area. They covered
the Miocene marine deposits and Pliocene fluviatile-marine Red
Beds. The recognition of the trend lines in the physiography of
this area as dune lines (Whincup, 1944) explains a number of
features Hart (1913) found it difficult to account for.
с
34 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
THE MITCHAM Axıs
Jutson (1911) gave this name to an east-west ridge running
from north of Camberwell to Croydon. It is the divide between
the Yarra river system and the streams to the south. Jutson
claimed that this ridge is a warp axis, but admits that there is no
evidence of this in the strike of the country rock. He depends on
the difference in the slopes north and south of the axis, but this is
due to the relative strengths of the streams on the two sides of
the divide. If there were any recognizable late Tertiary warping,
it would show in the deformation of the Nillumbik Peneplain.
The Mitcham Axis or Ridge is a feature of the present erosion
cycle, and is due to back-cutting of streams from the rejuvenated
Yarra (Le., rejuvenated relative to the Nillumbik Peneplain) to
the north, and streams entering Port Phillip to the south-west.
THE Mount WAVERLEY RIDGE
An equally large and important ridge or divide runs from
Mitcham to Mount Waverley, with a branch running down
through Glen Waverley to Wheeler’s Hill (Fig. 6). The ridge is
flat-topped, and averages about a mile wide. The flat top is part
of the Nillumbik Peneplain, recently bared by the stripping away
of the Red Beds. Remnants of the Red Beds are still to be seen
in places as a thin veneer of gravel. The Mount Waverley ridge
constitutes the western border of the large Dandenong Creek
physiographic basin, which was carved out of the Nillumbik
Peneplain.
If the main Mount Waverley ridge is projected, the line extends
through Oakleigh to Highett and Black Rock. This is a well-
marked ridge of high country, as is seen by following the 100 ft.
and 150 ft. contours on the military map (Ringwood Sheet). 'The
map also shows how this ridge constitutes a divide. It was called
the Cheltenham Axis by Hart (1913).
EARLY TERTIARY DIVIDES
Since Oligocene times, the Older and Newer Basalts have been
the chief physiographic determinants in south-central Victoria.
Before that time the granites and granodiorites (or rather, as
Mr. R. A. Keble has pointed out to me, the metamorphosed rocks
around them), along with the Upper Devonian volcanic suites,
were the chief physiographic determinants. When these are
plotted on a map they are seen, on the whole, to trace out the
divides. The actual courses of the pre-Older Basalt rivers can be
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 35
largely recognized from the residuals of the lava flows that ran
down them.
All divides, being elevated above the surrounding country, are
subject to strong attack by subaerial erosion. Thus the divides of
Oligocene times, having withstood erosion from then till now, will
be much reduced and not so readily recognizable. Fig. 6 shows
the reconstructed divides, and the river system, ancestral to the
Yarra, which it is believed was in existence in early Tertiary times.
The following are the divides which concern the present paper:
22
ох
SN)
WURUNJERRI R^
СЕСЕ
МУ
NS
SSSR SSSR
ALME
SSS
Hg
ANN
K
N
LEN,
MELBOURNE
SK
2
CAPE SCHANCH
STRAIT
FIG. 6
aeogeography of the river system in early
et ancestral to the Yarra River
hed represent Older Basalt outcrops.
i-di i 1
es Basalt). times
system. The areas eross-hate
Mt. Arthur-Dandenongs Divide. This stretches from Mt.
aS through Mt. Martha, Mt. Eliza, Lysterfield Hills (all of
these are of granitie rocks) to the Dandenong Ranges (Upper
36 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
Devonian lavas and altered tuffs). In Oligocene times this must
have been a prominent and important divide. It separated the
Port Phillip area (then a land area) from the Western Port area
(also a land area at that time). This divide is now very much
reduced and is breached east of Carrum. Being a palaeogeo-
graphic feature of such size and significance, a special name for it
is desirable. I propose that it be known as the Arthur Range,
after Mt. Arthur. |
The limit of this divide to the north is the termination of the
Upper Devonian lavas at Coldstream, round which the Wurun-
jerri River flowed (Gill, 1942). How far the divide continued
south-westerly towards King Island cannot be determined from
our present knowledge, but it is probable, I think, that south-west
of Cape Schanck the Western Port pre-Older Basalt river joined
that of the ancestral Yarra (Melbourne River).
2) Dandenongs-Warburton Divide. A line of granodiorite and
as MUS. : g
granite intrusions stretches from the Dandenong Ranges to the
Baw Baw Plateau (Fig. 2), and this determines the present
westerly course of the Middle and Upper Yarra. In early Ter-
tiary times the Woori Yallock Basin was in existence, and it was
А y 2 5 s ,
from there that the Wurunjerri River flowed (Edwards, 1940
LI . . . y LI 2 ?
Gill, 1942). The granitic intrusions to the east of the Dandenong
? o ә . . LI . . o
Ranges therefore formed a divide in early Tertiar times, but
5 q г
probably only as far as the Warburton Ranges. The Upper Yarra
is very young, comparatively, and one assumes that the Wurun-
jerri River drained only the Woori Yallock Basin.
(3) Wurunjerri Range. Later information shows that this did
not merge into the Arthur Range as described by Keble (1918).
The Wurunjerri River flowed between the two ranges.
(4) Morang Divide. The granite at South Morang was the core
of a small divide between the early Tertiary Kangaroo River and
the Melbourne River (see Fig. 6). It is marginal also to the Newer
Basalt flow in that area.
(5) Mt. Gellibrand Divide. As the Morang Divide bordered
the Melbourne River on the east so the Mt. Gellibrand Divide
bordered it on the west. Once again a granite intrusion marks
the line of the divide. There is some evidence to suggest that
Older Basalt flows passed down each side of this prominence (see
distribution in Fig. 6). Newer Basalt flows surround the Mt.
Gellibrand intrusion, which in early Tertiary times must have
been a prominent landmark exercising an important physio-
graphie control.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 37
, (6) Anakies-You Yangs Divide. This divide separated the
river which flowed from the direction of Bacchus Marsh and the
Maude River (see Fig. 6). The Anakies and You Yangs both
consist of granitic rocks. They must have constituted a prominent
range in early Tertiary times. They are still very prominent
monadnocks, The ?Oligocene lignite in the Bacchus Marsh-Altona
dines (Fig. 5) indicates the alignment of the drainage at that
ime.
Further south-west the palaeogeography has not been studied
sufficiently to indicate the pre-Older Basalt divide or divides.
Since then the Otway Ranges have been uplifted, as is indicated
by their very young physiography. This has naturally greatly
complicated the reconstruction of the early Tertiary terrain.
However, the basalt at Airey’s Inlet indicates the valley of
some stream there. Probably the presence of tuff indicates that
there was a vent at no very great distance.
EARLY TERTIARY RIVERS
(1) Wurunjerri River. This flowed from the Woori Yallock
Basin round the northern end of the Dandenong Ranges igneous
complex, southwards through where Lilydale now stands and,
* following the Arthur Range, through Frankston and Mornington,
and so to the main north-south stream—the Melbourne River.
Older Basalt residuals and associated fluviatile deposits are
found in the Woori Yallock basin (Edwards, 1940) and in the
Gruyere and Lilydale districts (Gill, 1942), Older Basalt is also
preserved in the lower part of the course of this ancient stream
by location below sea-level and by protection from overlying rocks.
The basalt has been found in bores near Mordialloe and near
Frankston in the Carrum Swamp area. It also occurs in Baleombe
Bay where it is covered by the type Baleombian strata.
(2) Kangaroo River. The Yarra Plateau, as defined in this
paper, was traversed by a river whose deposits are to be seen under
the Older Basalt at Kangaroo Ground and in adjacent areas.
When a river valley is filled with basalt, its thalweg naturally has
the thickest covering of lava over it. For this reason the thalweg
is usually the last part to be eroded. Marginal streams are set up
which gradually work in to the centre, and cross laterals divide
the flow into residuals. Applying this idea, we may infer that
the curved string of hill-tops at Yarra Plateau level north of
Kangaroo Ground indicates the course of the pre-Older Basalt
river (Fig. 3). These are uncovered residuals (Keble, 1918) and,
being the last to be uncovered, we may assume that they once
38 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
occupied the thalweg of the pre-Older Basalt valley. I suggest
that this early Tertiary stream be known as the Kangaroo River.
It drained the Kinglake escarpment and the Yarra Plateau.
Instead of continuing directly south, following the strike of the
country rock, it appears that the Kangaroo River was deflected
south-west to join the Melbourne River. The Geological Survey
of Victoria geological map of the Parish of Sutton shows the lead
under the Older Basalt at Kangaroo Ground turning to the south-
west. On just what evidence that was based is not now known.
However, the Warrandyte area directly to the south of Kangaroo
Ground is one of highly indurated country rock, due to numerous
intrusions, many of which have been mined for gold (Whitelaw,
1895). South-west is the general direction of drainage in the
country between the meridians of Melbourne and Ringwood, and
this was probably so in early Tertiary times owing to the strong
influence of the Melbourne River (q.v.). The Melbourne River
was a central stream of which all the others mentioned in this
section were tributaries.
The Older Basalt at Ivanhoe is probably a marker of the main
course of the Kangaroo River, while the residuals at Greens-
borough and north-east of Kangaroo Ground are indications of
the position of branch streams. Both the Greensborough and '
Tvanhoe residuals are at a lower level than the Kangaroo Ground
residual, and from this it is inferred that they were lower down
the course of the river. However, if the Yarra Plateau owes its
higher elevation to the Nillumbik Peneplain to faulting, then this
has to be taken into account.
(3) Melbourne River. On the meridian of Melbourne there is
a fossil valley of early Tertiary age. The Moonee Ponds Creek
has now cut through the covering rocks in a number of places to
this ancient valley, which has been preserved first by a sheet of
Older Basalt, and then by a sheet of Newer Basalt. For instance,
a section in the Moonee Ponds Creek at North Essendon reveals:
Newer Basalt (youngest).
Quartzite, sands, and gravels.
Older Basalt.
Sands and silts.
Silurian bedrock.
The bedrock at this point is about 67 feet above sea-level, and,
like the Silurian inher on which part of Melbourne is built, con-
stitutes a section of the east bank of what I propose to call the
Melbourne River. Skeats’ (1909) figure 2 shows part of this river
bed, mostly below sea-level. Older Basalt still remains in the lower
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 39
parts of the valley. It occurs between 70 feet and 80 feet below
datum (i.e., L.W.M. for Hobson’s Bay) at Spencer Street bridge,
Melbourne.
Keble (1946) has suggested that the Melbourne River flowed
over the Bellarine Peninsula and so down towards Cape Otway.
Further information now obtained indicates that it probably
flowed to the east of the Bellarine Peninsula because—
(a) Judging by the Older Basalt residuals further north, the
thalweg of the Melbourne River was hundreds of feet below sea-
level at Port Phillip Heads, whereas the Older Basalt on the
Bellarine Peninsula (Daintree, 1861; Diamond Drills in Victoria,
1885) is far too high to fit in with this physiographic pattern.
In connection with bridge-building projects, traverses of bores
have been made across the River Yarra at Melbourne as follows:
Depth of bedrock in feet
Location of bores Authority ds tin
i Punt Road Country Roads Board SON
il Swan Street Ditto 62:6
iii Russell Street Ditto 70:33
iv Spencer Street Victorian Railways 82:8
The locations are shown in Fig. 7. The present Yarra, the pre-
Newer Basalt Yarra, and the Kangaroo River (1.е., from early
Tertiary times till now) have all passed over the same course in
the area where the bores were sunk. This was due to constriction
between the hard Silurian outerops represented at present by
Government House Hill and Russell Street Hill (Fig. 7).
i. The Punt Road section shows mostly silt above the bedrock,
but a little sand is intercalated.
ii. The Swan Street section is also mostly silt, but on the south
bank of the river the bores penetrated basalt.
iii. The Russell Street section reveals basalt on the north bank
of the river. A seam of “drift sand” at about the level of the
top of the basalt separates upper and lower silts over the
thalweg of the river bed in the bedrock.
iv. The Spencer Street sections have been published by Chapman
(1929). They show in order from below up bedrock, Older
Basalt, clay, Newer Basalt, lignite, shell marl, drift sand, and
mud. The position of the Older Basalt indicates that the
bedrock is the level of the pre-Older Basalt River (Kangaroo
River) at this point, and so probably also in the other sections
quoted.
40 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
The figures in the above table show an average declivity in the
thalweg over the two miles between Punt Road and Spencer Street
of 12-6 feet per mile. If this average declivity is assumed for the
36 miles from Spencer Street to the Port Phillip Heads, then the
pre-Older Basalt river there must have been 454 feet lower, i.e.,
536 feet below datum. The declivity of a stream is commonly
reduced in its lower reaches, especially as the coast is reached.
Government
HOVSE HILL
Half Mile.
FIG. 7
Map to indicate positions of bore traverses across the River Yarra at Melbourne.
1 is Punt Road, 2 is Swan Street, 3 is Russell Street, and 4 is Spencer Street.
O.B. = Older Basalt. N.B. = Newer Basalt.
However, the coast then was probably in the vicinity of Cape
Otway (as in the Pleistocene), and 12-6 feet per mile is already a
low declivity, i.e., 1 in 420. So the figure arrived at is probably of
the right order.
In a previous paper (Gill, 1942), the declivity of the Wurun-
jerri River was calculated to be 15 feet per mile. Applying this
figure to the 56 miles from Lilydale to Port Phillip Heads gives
840 feet, from which must be subtracted 378 feet which is the
elevation of the thalweg at Lilydale above sea-level, viz., 462 feet
below datum.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 41
Comparing the figures from the Wurunjerri River (462 feet)
and the Kangaroo River (536 feet), we may assume that at the
site of the present Port Phillip Heads, the pre-Older Basalt river
system was of the order of 500 feet below datum. As further
information is obtained about the thalwegs of the above rivers and
the other rivers of the system, it should be possible to determine
fairly accurately the depth below present sea-level of the Mel-
bourne River at that point. When this is done, it will be possible
to determine how much depression is there due to eustatic low
sea-levels and how much due to faulting along Selwyn’s Fault
and others, if any. As the declivities are measured in tectonically
stable areas, the difference between the calculated level of the bed-
rock and its actual depth will be a measure of the faulting that has
occurred. The Sorrento Bore (Chapman, 1928) penetrated 1,680
feet of sediments and aeolian materials without reaching bedrock.
On present knowledge, it may be said that 500 feet of this depth
is due to eustatic emergence resulting in down-cutting of the river
bed to that depth below present sea-level, while 1,180+ feet is due
to faulting.
A further check on the depth to which the pre-Older Basalt
river system eroded below present sea-level may be obtained by
a study of the palaeogeography of the Western Port Older
Basalts. These are also found far below sea-level, although once
again there has been faulting. However, the declivities can be
worked out from the stable areas. The Western Port system
apparently drained into the Melbourne River south-west of Cape
Schanck, and so the depth of the thalweg of its main stream should
fit in with those of the Port Phillip system.
The depth of the pre-Older Basalt river system below present
sea-level has not always been taken into account in the geological
interpretation of some areas. For example, Older Basalt is found
below sea-level between Mornington and Frankston, and this has
been attributed to down-faulting. That some faulting has taken
place is indicated by the dip of Tertiary rocks at Frankston.
However, the depth of the Older Basalt is no doubt due chiefly to
the position of the pre-Older Basalt river bed.
From the foregoing paragraphs it is clear that the Melbourne
River could not have passed over the Bellarine Peninsula, unless
that has been up-faulted to the order of 500 feet. There is no
reason to hypothecate this.
(b) A second reason for considering that the Melbourne River
flowed east of the position of the Bellarine Peninsula is that such
a course follows the middle of the early Tertiary river valley. I
42 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
consider the Older Basalt on the Bellarine Peninsula and at Bal-
combe Bay to be residuals on the flanks of the ancient valley. They
indicate that the Older Basalt had a thickness of the order of
1,000 feet, because the Older Basalt on the Peninsula reaches 470
feet, and the bottom of the valley was something like 500 feet
below present sea-level. Older Basalt over 1,000 feet thick occurs
in Western Port.
(4) The disposition of the Older Basalt residuals north-west of
Melbourne suggests (as one would expect) that a tributary of the
Melbourne River drained the country on the west side of the Mt.
Gellibrand granitic intrusion.
(5) Another stream flowed from the direction of Bacchus
Marsh, called the Bacchus River in Fig. 6. Borings at Altona did
not show any Older Basalt, but probably it was worn away from
that area as from most of the lower part of the river system.
Pleistocene low sea-levels resulting from glacio-eustatic emer-
gence rejuvenated the post-Older Basalt streams so that most of
the Older Basalt was stripped away. The low patch between
Mornington and Frankston remains because the Wurunjerri
River was diverted to form part of the Yarra system. No stream
of any importance was therefore rejuvenated over this part of
the Older Basalt lava field.
(6) Yet another stream flowed from the direction of Maude, as
shown by the Older Basalt residuals there. This is called the
Maude River in Fig. 6. It is the ancestor of the Barwon River.
The relationship of the basalt residuals to the Tertiary rocks
shows (according to Singleton, 1941) that the lava flows at Maude
and Curlewis (on the Bellarine Peninsula) were not contempor-
aneous. Hither the two deposits belong to different valleys, or/and
the lava to different eruptions. The palaeogeography of this area
has not been worked out, and the course of the Maude River shown
in Fig. 6 must be regarded as tentative.
(7) Basalt and tuff at Airey’s Inlet indicate the presence there
in early Tertiary times of a valley, as lava, like water, always
seeks the lowest levels. Ash voleanoes are generally found near
the coast, as they very often originate from hydro-explosions. It
is interesting to note this general rule holding for the ?Oligocene
vuleanism, for apparently all the inland voleanoes were effusive
ones, while those producing tuff are to seaward.
Noetling (1910), Dannevig (1915), and Keble (1946) have
discussed the drainage of the Bass Strait area in "Tertiary and
Quaternary times.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 43
Post-OLDER BASALT RIVER SYSTEM
The extrusion of the Older Basalt lava flows apparently brought
about the following changes : i З à
(1) In the Woori Yallock Basin the Wurunjerri River was
sueceeded chiefly by a stream which flowed along the northern
boundary of the lava field. This stream was diverted over a saddle
in the Wurunjerri Range, and linked with a stream flowing along
the southern margin of the Kangaroo Ground lava field. As no
Newer Basalt lavas were extruded in these areas, this stream is
the same as the present Yarra River. It is thus seen that the
Yarra consists of parts of three early Tertiary rivers (or more
accurately, their post-Older Basalt successors), viz., the Wurun-
jerri, the Kangaroo, and the Melbourne.
(2) The pre-Newer Basalt Plenty River has been traced by
Jutson (1910), i.e., the stream which was established after the
extrusion of the Older Basalt. It was probably on the eastern
margin of the Melbourne River lava field. New streams usually
start along the margins of lava flows, and so the position of the
post-Older Basalt streams may, on the whole, indicate the extent
of the Older Basalt lava field.
(3) The Melbourne River lava field was a broad one, and a new
stream developed down the middle of it—the pre-Newer Basalt
Yarra. Possibly the great thickness of basalt in this field caused
a slight slumping which would cause the water to take this
course.
The River Yarra flowed along the north of the Woori Yal-
lock Basin lava field, over the saddle in the Wurunjerri Range,
along the southern margins of the lava fields represented by the
Kangaroo Ground and Ivanhoe residuals, through the present
suburbs of Fairfield, Collingwood and Burnley, and so to the eity
area, where it flowed along the edge of the Older Basalt past the
Botanical Gardens and across the Albert Park lakes (i.e., skirting
the Older Basalt on which South Melbourne is built), and so down
the middle of the Melbourne River lava field to the sea. This
course, in its lower reaches, was deeply entrenched by low eustatic
sea-levels in the Pleistocene.
(4) The Dandenong Creek no doubt developed as a stream
marginal to the Older Basalt in the valley of the Wurunjerri
River. Pleistocene low sea-levels would make this stream a very
active one, and its work was not interfered with by Newer Basalt
flows as in other parts of the drainage system of Port Phillip.
Dandenong Creek has carved out a more or less circular physio-
graphic basin north of Dandenong, because it is constricted at the
44 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
latter locality between the southerly extension of the Western
Quartzites and a granitic intrusion (part of the old Arthur
Range). The basin is one of differential erosion, and it is to be
noted that a branch of the Dandenong Creek south-east of Ring-
wood has succeeded in breaching the Western Quartzites at a
weak place and in corroding a young valley west of the main
quartzitie horizon.
The headwaters of the Dandenong Creek are very little different
in level from Brushy Creek, which flows into the Yarra. In a
short time, from a geological point of view, the Dandenong Creek
will eapture Brushy Creek and reverse its direction of flow, so
that the Yarra will flow down the Dandenong Creek. Thus the
early Tertiary drainage system of the Wurunjerri River will be
re-established. However, the constriction at Dandenong will no.
doubt cause flooding, and the river will cut a gorge there.
FIG. 8
Map to indicate extent of Miocene marine transgression. Nearly all deposits
are found below the level of the Nillumbik Peneplain.
TERTIARY MARINE TRANSGRESSION
After the Older Basalt had been eroded (a time interval of
unknown duration), a marine transgression of the land on a large
scale took place. Figure 8 shows the approximate extent of this
transgression in Victoria. The whole of the seaward half of the
Port Phillip river system was drowned, the Yarra was betrunked,
eur former branches (like the Barwon) became independent
streams.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 45
The physiographic effect of the transgression was the opposite
of rejuvenation (physiographic senescence, if a term may be
coined), with the result that the products of erosion were rela-
tively small. Widely distributed deposits of limestone, originating
chiefly from the calcareous tests of marine organisms, were laid
down. All in the area concerned in this study are Miocene in age.
The Miocene deposits contrast strongly with the succeeding
Pliocene Red Beds, which consist of sands and gravels resulting
from the rejuvenation of streams following recession of the sea.
At Beaumaris, on Port Phillip Bay south-east of Melbourne,
remains of a Cheltenhamian (Upper Miocene) beach have been
found above the Middle Miocene limestone. This suggests that
regression of the sea was in progress in Upper Miocene times.
The Rep BEDS
Regression of the sea meant rejuvenation. Sands and torrent
gravels were swept down the valleys and spread out on the former
sea-floor left bare by the retreating sea. They thus formed a
coastal plain covering the Nillumbik Peneplain and seaward
slopes.
The regression of the sea also meant the engrafting of the river
system, so that a condition like that figured by Gregory (1903, fig.
50) obtained. This was, of course, before the formation of Port
Phillip.
GLACIO-EUSTATIC CHANGES
During the Pleistocene Period, the eustatic low sea-levels caused
intense rejuvenation which resulted in the reduction of the Older
Basalt lava field. The sections across the Yarra River described
earlier in this paper show that the Older Basalt was practically
stripped from the bed of the Kangaroo River at Melbourne. Hall
(1909, p. 30) records that at Port Melbourne a bore pierced 170
feet of deposits before reaching the bedrock. As already indicated,
the low sea-levels resulted in corrosion to a depth of the order of
500 feet on the site of the present Port Phillip Heads.
Another process at work during low sea-levels was the building
of ealeareous sand dunes now consolidated, and a notable feature
of the coast (Hills 1939, Coulson 1940, Gill 1943, Keble 1946).
These dunes partly filled the estuary cut by the rejuvenated river
system, but the dunes themselves were planated when the sea
advanced again. Later new dunes were built on the planated bases
of the old ones. |
The fact that the Newer Basalt was also stripped away from
the bed of the Yarra at Melbourne during eustatic low sea-level or
46 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
levels indicates that the flow or flows there are of Pleistocene age.
The lignite, shelly marl, and such beds are evidence of alternation
of conditions. The high eustatic levels would bring about the
deposition of estuarine beds. The Sorrento Bore also provides
ample evidence of alternation of conditions (Chapman 1928, Keble
1946).
GENESIS OF Port PHILLIP Bay
The bay owes its origin chiefly to Selwyn’s Fault, which
developed probably in Holocene times and is still active. The
fault runs along the eastern margin of much of the bay (Keble,
1946, fig. 2), and has brought about a block-tilting effect which
allowed encroachment by the sea. The crowding of the submarine
contours on the eastern side of the bay (see Keble’s figure 2) is
probably due to the faulting plus the scouring developed thereby.
However, if the bay originated by faulting alone, the deepest
water would be along the fault line, but this is not so. The deepest
water is in the middle of the bay. This is due to the fact that
a deep and wide valley was carved out during eustatic low sea-
levels, so that when the sea came to its present level a large
estuary had already been formed. The fault has increased the
area of encroachment. Keble (1946) has given the name Bellarine
Fault to the hinge of the tilt-block.
In late Pleistocene times, dune building established a bar across
the present Port Phillip Heads. The mouth of the Yarra migrated
to different places between Mount Arthur and the Bellarine Pen-
insula, for as one exit was blocked by dune-building, another had
to be found. Keble (1946) has described the Bay Bar and the
various debouchements which can be traced in the submarine
contours. The infilling of the Pleistocene valley of the Yarra is
still proceeding in the bay, although negatived to a certain extent
by movement along Selwyn’s Fault.
The formation of Port Phillip Bay by flooding of the Pleis-
tocene valley and movement on Selwyn’s Fault betrunked the
Yarra river system, so that streams which once flowed into the
Yarra now debouch into the bay.
NEWER BASALT CYCLE
The present cycle of erosion was precipitated by the extrusion
of the Newer Basalts. The Upper Yarra and Middle Yarra were
not affected, and thus their courses are much older. The Lower
Yarra was forced against its southern valley wall, and its thal-
weg raised considerably. The gravels and other fluviatile deposits |
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 47
found beneath the Newer Basalt at Burnley and Collingwood
show that the pre-Newer Basalt river bed was well below sea-level
at those points. This suggests that the basalt was extruded in a
glacial low sea-level period.
Ponding of the Yarra River occurred at Fairfield, where the
river was obstructed by the lava flows. Similar ponding occurred
in some tributary streams with resultant deposition of alluvium.
The shell-beds of the Williamstown area, a product of a post-
Da eustatic sea-level, repose on the Newer Basalt. (Hills,
a.
MAIN CONCLUSIONS
1. The Upper Yarra owes its westerly flow to a line of granitic
intrusions, 1.е., to differential erosion.
2. The Middle Yarra breached the Eastern Quartzites at
Healesville because that was the edge of the Woori Yallock
Basin lava field, and the site of a disrupting quartz porphyry
intrusion.
3. The Lower Yarra breached the Western Quartzites through
post-Older Basalt drainage being diverted over a saddle in
the Wurunjerri Range. This was possible because the lava
was some 300 feet thick and lifted the thalweg of the stream
above the level of the saddle.
4. Two pre-Older Basalt peneplain surfaces are described—the
Yarra Plateau (600-650 feet) and the Nillumbik Peneplain
(400-450 feet).
5. The pre-Older Basalt river system and divides are described
in outline.
6. The thalweg of the main stream (Melbourne River) was of
the order of 500 feet below present sea-level on the site of the
present Port Phillip Heads. The remainder of the depression
shown by the Sorrento Bore is due to Selwyn’s Fault.
7. After extrusion of the Older Basalt, marine transgression
over a large part of the State betrunked the ancestral Yarra
River system, and brought about physiographic senescence.
The seaward basalts were covered with Tertiary strata, which
were mostly limestones, because the depressed river system
brought comparatively little material for deposition.
8. Retreat of the sea brought rejuvenation and the deposition
of the Red Beds sands and gravels which resulted therefrom.
48 RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA
9. Pleistocene eustatic low sea-levels caused streams to deeply
erode the Older Basalt. The Newer Basalt at Melbourne lies
in a valley below sea-level, and is itself affected by corrosion
extending far below sea-level. It is therefore Pleistocene in
age. During low sea-levels also, extensive calcareous dunes
were built. High sea-levels have resulted in deposition within
the low sea-level valleys, and in the planation of dunes.
10. The Lower Yarra valley which was carved out by Pleistocene
eustatie low sea-levels was flooded to form an estuary. The
sea encroached still further to form Port Phillip Bay when
(probably in late Holocene times) the development of Sel-
wyn’s Fault caused block-tilting.
11, The extrusion of the Newer Basalts caused ponding at Fair-
field, and the forcing of the Lower Yarra against the southern
wall of its valley as a marginal stream.
12. This study is far from complete. It is but a step along the long
road of research to a complete account of the physiography
and palaeogeography of the River Yarra.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I am indebted to Messrs. I. J. O’Donnell, O.B.E., B.C.E., and
W. Ozanne, M.C.E., of the Country Roads Board, for information
relative to River Yarra bores, to Dr. D. E. Thomas of the Mines
Department for information concerning Survey bores, and to
Mr. M. Teese of M.M.B.W. for drafting Figure I.
REFERENCES
Baker, G., Gordon, A., and Rowe, D. D., 1939. Granite and Granodiorite at Powelltown,
Victoria, and their Relationships. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 51 (1), pp. 31-44.
Chapman, F., 1914, On the Succession and Homotaxial Relationships of the Australian
Cainozoic System. Mem. Nat. Mus. Vic., 5, pp. 5-52.
——, 1928. The Sorrento Bore, Mornington Peninsula. Record Geol, Surv. Vic. (1).
Chapman, W. D., 1929. Spencer Street Bridge—Subaqueous Foundation Work. Journ.
Inst. Engineers Aust., pp. 1-12.
Coates, J., 1860. On a Deposit of Diatomaceae at South Yarra. Trans. Roy. Soc. Vic.,
5, pp. 158-164.
Coulson, A., 1933. Тһе Older Volcanic and Tertiary Marine Beds at Curlewis, near
Geelong. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 45 (2), pp. 140-149,
——, 1940. The Sand Dunes of the Portland District and their Relation to Post-
Pliocene Uplift. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 52 (2), pp. 315-335.
Daintree, R., 1861. Report on the Geology of Bellarine and Paywit, with Special
Reference to the Probable Existence of Workable Coal Seams in those Parishes.
Geol. Surv. Vic. Rept. ;
Dannevig, H. C., 1915. Fisheries: Zoological Results of the Fishing Experiments
carried on by the F.I.S. “Endeavour”, 1909-14. Dept. Trade and Customs, III.
Diamond Drills in Victoria, 1885. Geol. Surv. Vic.
Edwards, A. В., 1932. Тһе Geology and Petrology of the Warburton Area, Victoria.
Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 44 (2), pp. 163-181.
RIVER YARRA, VICTORIA 49
———,1940. A Note on the Physiography of the Woori Yallock Basin. Proc. Roy. Soc.
.. Vie., n.s., 52 (2), рр. 336-341.
Gill, E. D., 1942. The Bearing of the Tertiary Sub-Basaltic Deposits on the Palaeo-
geography of the Lilydale District. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 54 (2), pp. 245-255.
m en The Geology of Warrnambool. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 55 (2), pp.
Grant, F. E., and Thiele, E. O., 1903. On Some Rocks from the Fairway of Port Phillip
Heads. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vie., n.s., 15 (2), pp. 132-133.
Gregory, J. W., 1903. The Geography of Victoria. 8vo, Melbourne.
Hall, T. S., 1900. The Geology of Melbourne. Handbook of Melbourne, Aust. Assoc.
Adv. Sc., pp. 23-43.
, 1909. Victorian Hill and Dale. 8vo, Melbourne.
Hanks, W., 1934. The Tertiary Sands and Older Basalt of Coburg, Pascoe Vale, and
Campbellfield, Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 46 (2), pp. 144-152.
Hart, T. S., 1913. On the Country between Melbourne and the Dandenong Creek.
… Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s, 25 (2), pp. 268-285.
Hills, E. S., 1934. Some Fundamental Concepts in Victorian Physiography. Proc. Roy.
Soc. Vic., n.s., 47 (1), pp. 158-174,
---, 1939. The Age and Physiographic Relationships of the Cainozoie Volcanic Rocks
of Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 51 (1), pp. 112-139.
A 1940a. The Question of the Recent Emergence of the Shores of Port Phillip
ay.
,1940b. The Physiography of Victoria. 8vo, Melbourne.
Jutson, J. T., 1910. A Contribution to the Physical History of the Plenty River, and
aegra Creek, Warrandyte, Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 22 (2), pp.
---- 1911. A Contribution to the Physiography of the Yarra River and Dandenong
Creek Basins, Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., 23 (2), pp. 469-515.
— —, 1931. Erosion and Sedimentation in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, and their Bearing
on the Theory of a Recent Relative Uplift of the Sea Floor. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic.,
n.s., 43 (2), pp. 130-153.
Keble, R. A., 1918. The Significance of Lava Residuals in the Development of the
Western Port and Port Phillip Drainage Systems. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., п.в., 31
(1), pp. 129-164.
----, 1946. The Sunklands of Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait. Mem. Nat. Mus. Vic.,
14, Pt. 2, pp. 69-122.
Keble, R. A., and Macpherson, 7. Н., 1946. Тһе Contemporaneity of the River Terraces
of the Maribyrnong River, Victoria, with those of the Upper Pleistocene in Europe.
Mem. Nat. Mus. Vic., 14, Pt. 2, pp. 52-68.
McCance, D. M., 1932. Weathering of Older Basalt of Royal Park. Proc. Roy. Soc.
Vic., n.s., 44 (2), pp. 143-256.
Noetling, F., 1910. The Antiquity of Man in Tasmania. Pap. and Proc. Roy Soc. Tas.,
. 231-264.
Pritéhard, G. B., 1944. Old Yarra History. 8vo, Melbourne.
Selwyn, À. R. C., 1861. General Report on the Progress and Requirements of the
Geological Survey of Victoria to 31st Dec., 1860.
Singleton, F. A., 1941. The Tertiary Geology of Australia. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s.,
53 (1), pp. 1-125.
Skeats, E. W., 1909. The Volcanic Rocks of Victoria. Aust. Assoc. Adv. Sc., Pres.
Address, pp. 173-235. 4
Special Report, 1863. Report оп the Geology of the District from Bacchus Marsh to
Bass Strait. Spec. Rept., Geol. Surv. Vic.
Thiele, E. O., 1907. An Example of Stream Capture near Melbourne. Vic. Nat., 23,
. 101-104.
Whincup, S., 1944. Superficial Sand Deposits between Brighton and Frankston, Vic-
toria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Уіс., n.s., 56 (1), pp. 53-76.
Whitelaw, O. A. E., 1895. Reports on Rapid Surveys of the Gold-Fields. Parishes of
Warrandyte, Nillumbik, Greensborough, and Queenstown. Dept. of Mines.
Мем. Хат, Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949
SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE
(Récoltes de M. le Professeur O. W. Tiegs)
Par
Paul Remy,
Université de Nancy, France.
Fig. 1.
(Received for publication January 29, 1948.)
D’Australie, nous ne connaissons actuellement que 6 espéces
de Pauropodes: 5 ont été décrites par HARRISON (1914) qui les a
découvertes aux environs de Sydney (Broken Bay) et les a
appelées Pauropus amicus, P. australis, Р. novae-hollandiae, P.
Burrowesi et Eurypauropus speciosus; la бе евресе a été trouvée
a Belgrave (Victoria) par trees (1943) qui Га décrite sous le nom
de Pauropus silvaticus et en a étudié longuement le développe-
ment et l'anatomie (treas 1947).
CHAMBERLIN (1920) a mentionné, sans plus, les captures de
HARRISON, et a placé par erreur l’Eurypauropus dans la famille
des Pauropidae!
BAGNALL (1935) a défini le genre Australopauropus pour y
placer cet Eurypauropus, mais j'ai pensé que ce nouveau genre
est probablement synonyme du genre Samarangopus eréé par
VERHOEFF (1934) pour Eurypauropus Jacobsoni Silvestri le Java,
et c’est dans ce genre établi par VERHOEFF que j'ai placé l’Eury-
pauropus australien (REMY 1937).
VERHOEFF (1934) pense que les 4 formes classées par HARRISON
parmi les Pauropus seront vraisemblablement plaeées dans
d'autres genres quand elles auront été mieux étudiées, mais il
n'indique pas les raisons qui l'ont amené à émettre cette opinion.
Pauropus australis est certainement un Pauropus; sa plaque
anale est construite sur le plan de celle des autres représentants
authentiques du genre: P. Hualeyi Lubbock (génotype) et sa var.
lanceolatus Remy, P. intermedius Hansen, P. robustus Hansen,
P. spectabilis Hansen, P. furcifer Silvestri, P. silvaticus Tiegs, et
mes P. Dawydoffi, P. bostonensis, P. Bagnalli, P. B. var. Lerutha,
P. numidus; la forme du rameau antennaire sternal, la chétotaxie
du pygidium sont également d'un Pauropus vrai.
Par contre, comme je l'ai déjà dit ailleurs (REMY 1935), Pauro-
pus Burrowesi doit étre placé dans le genre Allopauropus: à
son rameau antennaire sternal, en effet, l'angle antero-distal est
51
52 SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE
tronqué obliquement, ce qui fait que le bord antérieur de ce
rameau est plus court que le postérieur, caractére qui a été pré-
cisément retenu par SILVESTRI (1902) pour séparer son nouveau
genre Allopauropus du genre Pauropus, chez les représentants
duquel le bord antérieur et le bord postérieur du rameau anten-
naire sternal sont subégaux; de plus, la plaque anale de Гевресе
australienne est tout à fait différente de celle d'un vrai Pauro pus;
ses caractéres, ainsi d’ailleurs que ceux de la chétotaxie du
pygidium, obligent, au contraire, à placer l'animal au voisinage
immédiat d'un Allopauropus authentique: A. Mortensen Han-
sen, ce qui, d'ailleurs, a déjà été fait par HARRISON.
Il est difficile de mettre Pauropus amicus dans le genre
Pauropus pour les raisons suivantes (caractères observés chez des
individus à 9 рр.) : 1° l'angle antéro-distal du rameau antennaire
sternal est tronqué (particularité présentée par les Allopauropus,
ainsi qu'il vient d'étre rappelé) ; 2? la chétotaxie des 195-25, 85 42
et 6° tergites troncaux est identique à celle qu'on observe chez les
Pauropus et Allopauropus, mais celle du 5° en différe: au lieu de
porter une rangée antérieure de 6 soies et une postérieure de 4
soles comme chez ceux-ci, ce tergite a une rangée antérieure de
6 soies, une rangée postérieure de 4 soies et, entre les 2 rangées,
une paire de soies latérales insérées en avant des trichobothries
IV; pareille disposition n'a été signalée chez aucun autre Pauro-
pode. La chétotaxie du pygidium, si elle est correctement décrite,
ne paraît pas être non plus celle d’un Pauropus, ni d’un Allo-
pauropus. Pour être fixé sur le statut de l'animal, il faudra
étudier à nouveau les types.
Il est difficile aussi de faire entrer Pauropus novae-hollandiae
dans le genre Pauropus ou dans tout autre genre de Pauropodes:
en effet, sur le sternum pygidial de cet animal, qui n'est connu
qu'au stade à 9 pp., HARRISON n'a observé que 2 paires de soies:
les soies postérieures ру et les soies antérieures bs; or, les seuls
Pauropodes qui présentent semblable chétotaxie pygidiale sont les
Polypauropus?; mais Р. novae-hollandiae, dont le rameau anten-
1 Abbréviations: pp. = paire de pattes locomotrices; ad. = adulte (individu á 9
pp.); 1. = larve; sexe?, stade? — sexe, stade non reconnus.
2 Ce genre n’est connu que par 4 formes: P. Dubosegi Remy d'Europe et d’Afrique,
P. D. var. inflatisetus Remy, d'Europe, d'Afrique et d'Australie (voir ci-aprés), P.
Legeri Remy de Corse et sa var. d'Afrique (Cóte-d'Ivoire); sur le sternum pygidial
de ces animaux sont insérées: 1° une paire de soies postérieures b, qui d’ailleurs,
contrairement à ce qui a lieu chez les autres Pauropodes, sont assez en avant du bord pos-
térieur et assez loin des bords latéraux, et non pas tout prés des bords postéro-latéraux
j'ai décrit P. Duboscqi, bien qu'elles solent relativement beaucoup plus loin des bords
latéraux qu'elles ne le sont chez tous les autres Pauropodes; lorsque j'ai signalé la
présence de P. Legeri var. en Cóte-d'Ivoire, j'ai pensé qu'il faut plutôt considérer ces
phanéres comme des soies b..
SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D'AUSTRALIE 53
naire sternal ne porte qu'un seul globule au lieu de deux comme
celui des Polypauropus, ne fait certainement pas partie de ce
dernier genre; d’autre part, les seuls phanéres que HARRISON sig-
nale sur le tergum pygidial sont une paire de styles et_une paire
de longues soies, tandis que chez les autres Pauropodes a 9 pp., on
observe sur le tergum pygidial une paire de styles et 3 paires
de soies (4 paires chez Allopauropus argentinensis Hansen et
aussi, semble-t-il, chez “Pauropus” causeyae Starling) ; 1a encore,
l’espece australienne s’écarterait considérablement des autres
Paurodes. Mais l'étude de HARRISON est-elle complete? Un nouvel
examen du matériel de Broken Bay s'impose.
M. le Professeur O. W. Tiras, de l'Université de Melbourne, а
eu l’obligeance de me faire parvenir une petite collection de
Pauropidae, faite par lui en Australie sud-orientale. Cette col-
lection renferme 18 individus; 15 ont pu étre étudiés; je les al
répartis entre 5 formes dont une nouvelle.
1. Stylopauropus pedunculatus Lubbock f. typ.
Melbourne: jardin, sous des détritus végétaux en décomposition,
11. à 8 pp. sexe? L'animal m'a paru identique aux spécimens
européens dont la plaque anale est du type danois (HANSEN 1902,
PLA Bed.
L’espece a une trés vaste répartition géographique: Europe
(Danemark, Angleterre, Belgique, France y compris Corse, Alle-
magne, Suisse, Italie, Yougoslavie, Roumanie), Algérie (d'Alger
a Philippeville et de la Méditerranée à Batna), Indochine (Sud-
Annam).
2. Stylopauropus brito Remy
Melbourne: sous une pierre, 1 4 ad. long de 0, 40 mm.
Cet animal n'avait encore été rencontré qu'en France: 2 ad. et
11 à 8 pp. en Bretagne (défilé de Poulancre, Cótes-du-Nord) et
1 ad. dans les serres du Jardin des Plantes de Paris.
Jusqu'à présent, je l'avais considéré comme une var. de 5.
pedunculatus, mais j'estime maintenant que ces deux formes dif-
ferent suffisamment l'une de l'autre pour reconnaitre à chaeune
le statut d’espèce.
Le rameau antennaire tergal est 3 fois 1/2 aussi long que large
chez le spécimen de Melbourne, 7 fois chez les S. pedunculatus
typ. Les styles et la plaque anale de l'animal australien sont
identiques à ceux des exemplaires bretons (types).
54 SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE
3. Stylopauropus Tiegsi n.sp.
Belgrave (Victoria): 1 4 ad. long de 0, 70 mm., 11. à 6 pp.
longue de 0, 47 mm.
I. ADULTE.—Thre.—Longueur des organes temporaux à peu
pres égale á leur écartement minimum. A la 4e rangée trans-
versale de poils tergaux, les submédians a4 et les intermédiaires
аә épais, claviformes, velus, les sublatéraux a3 gréles, amincis
vers l'extrémité distale, annelés; les a, égaux à leur écartement,
légèrement plus courts que les az qui sont égaux aux 3/4 des аз et
bien plus courts que la longueur des organes temporaux; les а»
sont insérés plus prés (3/4) des аз que des a, l'intervalle, аа:
étant le double de l’écartement des a4.
ANTENNES.—Au 4e article de la hampe, le poil tergal p égal à
1 fois 4/5 le poil sternal p' et aux 3/4 du rameau tergal 6; celui-ci,
presque 4 fois aussi long que large, est égal aux 2/5 de son flagelle
EXPLICATION DE LA FIGURE 1.
A à E, Stylopauropus Tiegsi n. sp., Belgrave. A et B, à ad.—A, Région
postéro-latérale gauche du tergum pygidial.—B, Région distale d'une corne
de la plaque anale (schéma).—C, D et E 1. à 6 pp.—C, Rameaux de
l'antenne gauche, face tergale.—D, Région postérieure du tergum pygidial.
E, Région postérieure du sternum pygidial.—F, Pauropus silvaticus Tiegs
3 ad. (déterminé par TIEGS). Pénis droit, face antérieure.
SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE 55
et a un peu plus de la 1/2 de la hampe; le rameau sternal s, égal
à 1 fois 2/3 son poil sternal q, est un peu plus court (9/10) que le
rameau tergal; sa région postéro-distale trés peu tronquée; ses 2
flagelles presque égaux (10/11), le plus court égal aux 5/7 du
flagelle du rameau tergal; le pédoncule du globule g, un peu aminci
vers l'extrémité proximale, est égal à la largeur de l'organe, elle-
méme plus petite que celle du rameau tergal.
Твохс.--Ап бе tergite, 2 rangées de 6 poils; les 2 poils de la
rangée postérieure du 6e tergite beaucoup plus eourts que leur
écartement, égaux aux 2/3 des soies pygidiales a». Trichobothries
de la 3e paire à pubescence courte et gréle; leur axe aminci
progressivement à partir de la région moyenne, la région distale
devenant filamenteuse. Au tarse des pattes de la derniére paire,
le poil proximal est égal aux 3/8 de la longueur de l'article.
Pyormrum.—Tergum.—Soies faiblement pubescentes ; les a1 sub-
cylindriques, amincies rapidement vers l'extrémité distale, égales
au 1/4 environ de leur écartement; soies 4 et аз trés effilées ; les
as, égales à 2 fois 1/2 les а et aux 3/4 des аз, sont insérées plus
prés de celles-ci que des 41, l'intervalle 4142 étant les 3/11 de
Vécartement des as. Styles grêles, cylindriques, annelés, trés
légèrement arqués l'un vers l'autre, égaux aux dı, leur écartement
plus petit que celui de ces derniéres.
Sternum.—Soies bı trés effilées, égales à 2 fois les soles 09;
pas de b» ni de bs. Plaque anale velue, divisée par une encoche
médiane pointue, profonde, en 2 lobes divergents, beaucoup plus
longs que larges; la région antérieure de chacun de ces lobes est
subrectangulaire, la région postérieure subovalaire ; l'extrémité
postérieure de chacun est prolongée par 2 tiges minces, trés
eourtes, portant une touffe de longs poils.
II. Larve.—Tére.—Organes temporaux un peu plus courts
(5/6) que leur écartement minimum. Aspect des poils tergaux de
la 4e rangée transversale comme chez l'adulte; mais les a» sont
les 4/5 des йз, et l'intervalle asas n'est que les 3/5 de l'intervalle
аза» qui est le triple de Vécartement des a4.
ANTENNEs.—Poils p et p' comme chez l'adulte; rameaux sub-
égaux; le tergal, З fois 1/3 aussi long que large, est égal à la 1/2
de son flagelle; le sternal, 2 fois 1/2 aussi long que large, est égal
à environ 1 fois 4/9 son poil sternal; sa région postéro-distale
trés peu tronquée; ses 2 flagelles subégaux (10/11), le plus court
56 SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE
égal aux 6/7 du flagelle du rameau tergal; son globule comme chez
Vadulte.
Trowo.—Les 2 poils de la rangée postérieure du dernier (5e)
tergite égaux a presque le 1/3 de leur écartement. Les tricho-
bothries III comme chez l'adulte. Au tarse des pattes de la
derniere paire, le poil proximal est égal au 1/3 de l'article.
PYGDIUM.—T'erqum.—Comme chez l'adulte, sauf que les (lo Sont
3 - 9 ,
égales à 3 fois les a1.
Sternum.—Soies b; trés effilées, égales à 1 fois 2/3 les soies
аә; pas de бә ni de рз. Plaque anale comme chez l'adulte; son
extrémité postérieure porte des corps étrangers et n'a pu étre
étudiée convenablement.
AFFINITÉS.—On ne connait que 5 Stylopauropus authentiques:
S. brito Remy, S. pedunculatus Lubbock, S. p. brevicornis Remy,
tous trois eités plus haut, S. pubescens Hansen d'Europe (des
lles-Britanniques à la Corse et à la Roumanie) et S. Beauchampi
Remy de l'Est de la France (Ain).
On distinguera aisément S. Tiegsi de ces 5 formes en remar-
quant que, chez lui, la région postéro-distale du rameau antennaire
sternal est beaucoup moins échanerée, le rapport longueur des
soles pygidiales «4 sur écartement de ces soies beaucoup plus petit
et la plaque anale beaucoup plus profondément échanerée que chez
les autres; c'est de S. brito que l'animal parait se rapprocher le
plus, mais les caractéres des styles permettent de séparer facile-
ment les 2 espèces: tandis que ees phanéres sont cylindriques et
égaux aux a, chez la forme australienne, ils sont claviformes et
n'atteignent que le 1/5 des a, chez l'autre; en outre, les 2 processus
de la plaque anale sont beaucoup plus larges chez la premiere que
chez la seconde.
4. Pawropus Huxleyi Lubbock var. lanceolatus Remy
Melbourne: jardin, sous des détritus végétaux en décomposition,
lad. 4.
Répandu en Europe (Finlande, Danemark, Angleterre, France,
Allemagne, Suisse). Le spécimen de Melbourne est en mauvais
état, ses antennes mal orientées, la plupart de ses phanéres absents.
J'ai pu cependant constater que les styles et la plaque anale sont
tout à fait semblables à ceux du type.
8 Pour des raisons indiquées ailleurs (REMY, 1941), je ne puis tenir compte des
animaux nord-américains décrits par HILTON sous les noms de S. digitus, locatus,
simplus, oregonensis, dawnsoni, alaskensis, globulus, ni de celui, d'Amérique du Nord
également, que соок a nommé S. atomus.
SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE 57
5. Pauropus silvaticus Tiegs
Sans indication de station, 1 ad. 4 (déterminé par tīras). Bel-
grave (Victoria), 9 ad. (5 3,4 $ ).
Ce Pauropus est trés voisin de P. furcifer Silvestri; on Геп
distinguera immédiatement en examinant les pénis (leur pied non
compris): ehez P. furcifer, chaque pénis présente généralement
une région basilaire à contour trapéziforme, se continuant distale-
ment par une partie subcylindrique terminée en pointe (REMY,
1935, fig. 9, €) ; tout à fait exceptionellement (cas des spécimens
du Vigan; REMY, 1947, fig. 1, d), le contour de Vappendice est
triangulaire; chez P. silvaticus, par contre, les bords latéraux
du pénis sont subparalléles sur leurs 2/8 proximaux, le contour
du 1/3 distal de l'organe devenant subtriangulaire avec sommet
arrondi.
En étudiant le spécimen déterminé par rires, j'ai fait les obser-
vations suivantes:
Le globule distal de l'antenne est presque sessile; son diamétre
est égal à celui du rameau antennaire tergal.
Au tergum pygidial, les soies a1, sont égales aux 5/8 environ de
leur écartement, et aux 5/7 des soies as, qui sont elles-mêmes les
7/10 des soies 43; les ag sont insérées plus près des аз que des 41,
l'intervalle азах dépassant un peu la 1/2 de l’écartement des a4.
Styles pointus, arqués (convexité du cóté sagittal), égaux à la 1/2
environ de leur écartement, qui est les 3/4 de celui des soies a4.
Au sternum pygidial, les sois b» sont égales aux soies pygidiales
ао.
6. ?Allopauropus sp.
Sans indieation de station: 3 individus en trés mauvais état,
stade? sexe?, longs de 0, 30 à 0, 40 mm.
Références
1935 Bagnall, R. S. An extended classification of the Pauropoda to
include two new families. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (10), 16,
1920 Chamberlin, R. V. The Myriopoda of the Australian region. Bull.
Mus. Comp. Zool, Harvard Coll., 64.
1914 Harrison, L. On some Pauropoda from New South Wales. Proc.
Linn. Soc. New South Wales, 39.
1902 Hansen, H. J. On the genera and species of the order Pauropoda.
Vid. Meddel. naturhist. Foren. Kjóbenhavn f. Aaret 1901, paru en
1902.
1935a Remy, P. Myriapoda. Miss. scient. Omo, 2.
1936b Remy, P. Quelques Pauropodes de France et des Balkans. Bull.
Soc. Hist. Nat. Moselle, 34.
58
1937
1941
1947
1902
1934
1943
1947
SUR QUELQUES PAUROPODES D’AUSTRALIE
Remy, P. Die Eurypauropodidae (Myriapoda Pauropoda) des
naturhistorischen Museums zu Wien. Verh. zool. bot. Ges. Wien,
86-87.
Remy, P. Remarques sur quelques Pauropodes américains. Bull.
Mus. Hist. Nat. (2), 18. М
Кету, Р. Additions 4 la faune francaise des Myriapodes. Arch.
Zool. exp. et gén., 85, N. et R. . E
Silvestri, Ph. Ordo Pauropoda. Ac. Myr. et Scorp. huc. in Italia
rep.
Verhoef, K. W. Pauropoda. Bronns КІ. u. Ordn. d. Tier-Reichs,
5. Bd., 2. Abt., 3. Buch.
Tiegs, O. W. A new species of Pauropus from Victoria. Mem.
Nat. Mus. Vict., 13.
Tiegs, O. W. The development and affinities of the Pauropoda,
based on a study of Pauropus silvaticus. Part 1. Quart. Journ. of
Micr. Sc., 88.
Mem. Хат. Mus. Уіст., 16, 1949
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
By R. В. Forster,
Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, N.Z.
Figs. 1-44,
(Received for publication April 7, 1949.)
‚The Australian Opilionid fauna is but poorly known. Fifty-
nine species have now been recorded, including the seven new
Species described in the present paper. Unfortunately, all the
work to date has been done by overseas workers who have relied
on preserved material, accompanied by very little field data.
Hence it is not surprising to find that a considerable amount of
confusion has arisen through the failure to consider numerous
significant factors, especially those pertaining to the pronounced
sexual dimorphism occurring in a large percentage of the
Australian species.
The present paper is based mainly on the collections in the
National Museum of Victoria, kindly forwarded to me for exam-
ination by the Director, Mr. R. T. M. Pescott, and supplemented
by further material collected over the last two years by Mr. R. A.
Dunn, of Melbourne. I am indebted to Professor V. V. Hickman,
of Hobart, Tasmania, for valuable information on the related
Tasmanian fauna, and for supplying the material from which
Paranuncia gigantea has been re-described.
The present collection is probably more comprehensive than
any previously studied, and fortunately a considerable series of
both sexes of a number of species are available. Perhaps the most
important result embodied in this paper is the establishment
of a new subfamily, Megalopsalinae of the Phalangiidae. This
subfamily probably includes all the Palpatores known from Aus-
tralia. It is remarkable that the presence of a distinctly pectinate
pedipalp tarsal claw should have been overlooked in all previous
descriptions, as this character is undoubtedly the most distinctive
one used to separate the subfamilies of the Phalangiidae.
In addition to the species described below, I have examined
male specimens of Megalopsalis serritarsus Sor. from New South
Wales, and a number of immature Phalangiidae from Western
Australia. In all cases, the pedipalp tarsal claw was strongly
pectinate. Professor Hickman informs me that the pedipalp claw
of Pantopsalis tasmanica Hogg is also pectinate. As it is now
59
60 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
necessary to separate the Australian species previously placed in
Pantopsalis from the New Zealand species, I have established
Spinicrus n.gen., into which are placed all the Australian species.
It is certain that in at least the two genera Spinierus n.gen. and
Megalopsalis Roewer, the males ‘ате characterized by extremely
large spiculate chelicerae, while those of females are small and
smooth.
Results obtained from the study of the nunciaeform triaenony-
chids in the collection demonstrate the need for caution in follow-
ing the present tendency to use tarsal segmentation as a diagnostic
generic character. Three instances are recorded below in which
the number of tarsal segments of leg I of the female differs from
that of the male of the same species, namely Paranuncia gigantea
Roewer, P. ingens Roewer and Nunciella tuberculata n.sp. Hick-
man (1939) has previously drawn attention to a similar condition
with Nuncia unifalcata (Enderlein).
Order OPILIONES
Suborder PALPATORES Thorell
Family PHALANGIIDAE Simon
Subfamily Megalopsalinae nov. subfam.
Thoracic tergites clearly defined by transverse grooves. Abdo-
minal tergites usually clearly defined, occasionally fused. Corona
analis absent. Openings of stink-glands clearly visible from above.
Coxae I-IV without marginal rows of granules. Maxillary lobes of
legs 11 directed obliquely across the anterior margin of the geni-
tal operculum. Basal segment of chelicerae normally with an
anteriorly directed spine on the ventral surface; cutting edges of
the fingers armed with both large and small teeth. Pedipalps
slender, unarmed; terminal claw of tarsus well developed and
strongly serrate below. Legs long and slender; femora I-IV with-
out nodules. Secondary sexual characters usually abundant,
strongly developed in chelicera, legs and cephalothoracie cara-
pace.
The three genera recorded from Australia may be separated as
follows:
1. Patella of pedipalp with a prominent apophysis—M egalop-
salis Roew.
- Patella of pedipalp without apophysis—2.
Chelicera of male strongly spieulate, at least twice the length
of the body—Spinicrus n.gen.
— Chelicera of male smooth, not exceeding the length of the
body—N odala n.gen.
bo
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 61
Genus MEGALOPSALIS Roewer, 1923
Megalopsalis hoggi (Pocock) 1902
Figs. 5-8.
1902 Macropsalis hoggi Pocock, Proc. Zool. Soc. London, II, pp. 398-399.
1923 ТҮЙЕНІ hoggi (Pocock) Roewer, Die Weberknechte der Erde, pp.
In his original description of Megalopsalis hoggi, Pocock
appears to have confused two species. The so-called female
Specimens were probably males of the species described below
as Spinicrus camelus n.sp. The male specimen is retained as
Megalopsalis hoggi (Pocock), and a description is now given of
the female. M. hoggiis relatively widely distributed, records listed
below extending the range from Victoria to South Australia.
Female.
Colour. Cephalothoracic carapace greyish-brown marked with
dark-brown as in Fig. 5. Dorsal surface of abdomen with a broad
grey median band margined with dark-brown fading to greyish-
brown along the lateral margins. Body below grading from light
yellowish-brown to silvery-white. Legs light yellow with a num-
ber of dark-brown areas. Basal segment of the chelicerae with a
number of dark-brown spots on the disto-dorsal surface, otherwise
chelicerae light-yellow.
Body. Eyemound spherical, smooth, slightly canaliculate, set
twice its diameter from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Carapace smooth, surface anterior to the eyemound level, but the
extreme anterior margin sloping steeply down to the chelicerae.
Abdominal tergites and sternites clearly defined by shallow trans-
verse grooves. Mouthparts as in Fig. 6. Maxillary lobes of coxae
II broad basally, but more slender distally; directed obliquely
across the anterior margin of the genital operculum. Genital
operculum widening anteriorly, reaching the anterior margin of
coxae III.
Chelicerae. Small and smooth. Basal segment slender, slightly
constricted medially ; proximo-ventral process small and rounded.
Second segment slightly longer than basal segment. Inner mar-
gins of fingers lined with small uneven denticulations.
Pedipalps. As in Figs. 7, 8. Slender, slightly longer than body,
unarmed. Femur sharply curved up from the proximal region,
where the ventral surface is produced down as a sharp elbow.
Disto-dorsal patellar process broadly rounded, almost half the
62
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig,
Fig.
Fig,
Fig
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Figs. 1-4. Spinierus camelus n.sp.
Dorsal view of cephalothoracic carapace of male.
Antero-ventral portion of body of male,
‘Dorsal view of body of female.
. Pedipalp tarsal claw of male.
Figs. 5-8. Megalopsalis hoggi (Pocock)
5. Dorsal view of body of female.
6. Antero-ventral portion of body of female.
7. Pedipalp of female.
. 8. Pedipalp tarsal claw of female.
o و جب
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 63
length of the tibia. Tarsus almost twice the length of the tibia.
Tarsal claw slender, armed below with a single median row of
from 6 to 8 sharp teeth.
Legs. All Segments, including coxae, smooth, without denticu-
lations or spines, but sparsely covered with short black setae.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 4:90, width 2:24
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
beg... 5 09 0:29 2:63 0-68 242 149 2500 13:48
Leg П...... 0:84 0:28 47 067 403 144 14:00 26:03
Leg III .. .. .. 0:83 0:24 2:08 0:63 178 1-48 444 11:48
Kon PAL DAME DES 824 СЕЛ 558 820090 800 19:50
Pedipalp... m i; 0-29 1:88 073 100 — 1-38 4-73
Chelicera: basal 1:29, second 1:46 2:75
Types. Holotype male, damaged specimen in British Museum;
Allotype female, National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
Localities. The original male specimen was collected by H. R.
Hogg at Macedon, Victoria. Further localities are: Golden Square
(south of Bendigo), under stone on mullock heap, coll. F. G.
Elford, September 16, 1947 (allotype) ; Ashbourne, S.A., in leaf
mould, coll. J. Т. Salmon; Myopongs, S.A., under bark, coll. J. Т.
Salmon; Sandy Creek, S.A., coll. A. N. Burns, August 28, 1947.
Genus SPINICRUS nov.
Eyemound normal, slightly canaliculate, set from two to three
times its diameter from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Cephalothoracie carapace of male spiculate, of female smooth.
Abdomen of both male and female smooth, soft, segmentation
defined by shallow transverse grooves. Chelicera of female short
and smooth, not as long as body; chelicera of male long and
spiculate, at least twice the length of body. Pedipalp of both male
and female slender, spicules and apophyses absent; pedipalp
tarsal claw strongly pectinate. Legs long and slender, strongly
denticulate in male.
Genotype Pantopsalis tasmanica Hogg, 1910.
It is highly probable that on re-examination of the type speci-
men of P. continentalis Roewer, this species will also be placed in
Spinicrus.
04 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Spimcrus camelus n.sp.
Male. Figs. 1-4, 9-10.
Colour. Cephalothoracie carapace black, but lateral margins
pinkish-white. Eyemound black with a reddish area along the
median line. Both tergites and sternites with a broad transverse
band of dark chocolate-brown. A median dorsal pair of longi-
tudinal dark-brown bands extend from the anterior margin of
^
Figs. 9-10. Spinicrus camelus n.sp.
Fig. 9. Lateral view of male.
Fig. 10. Inner lateral view of chelicera of female.
(Figs. 9 and 10 drawn to the same scale.)
the abdomen to almost halfway. Genital opereulum and anterior
sternites yellow. Chelicerae blackish-brown, sub-distal area of the
basal segment and fingers pale-yellow. Pedipalp light-yellow but
reddish at the base. Coxae of legs pale-yellow except for dark-
brown distal surface. Legs mainly dark-brown but with a few
yellow bands.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 65
Body. Eyemound rounded apically, but rising directly from the
carapace, smooth, slightly canaliculate, set three times its diameter
from the anterior margin of the carapace. Cephalothoracie сата-
pace sclerotic, uniformly and finely granulate; sloping steeply
down in front of the eyemound and extending up behind the
eyemound to form a pair of large humps, between which there is a
further sharp median ridge (Figs. 1, 9), rising in height but
narrowing in width posteriorly to form a sharp peak jutting over
the first tergite. Openings of the stink-glands clearly visible on
the lateral margins of the carapace above coxae I. Abdomen soft,
segmentation distinguished only by means of transverse rows of
small setae and bands of dark-brown. Genital operculum squat,
extending to posterior margin of coxa II. Mouthparts as in Fig.
2. Maxillary lobes of coxa II relatively broad, sub-triangular,
twice as long as width at base.
Chelicerae. As in Fig. 9. Three times the length of body, both
segments uniformly and strongly denticulate. Basal segment
gradually narrowing from the proximal region but becoming
stouter at the distal extremity. Second segment slender proxi-
mally but becoming uniformly stouter distally until twice as wide
as the base of basal segment. Fingers well developed, crossing at
tips when closed. Fixed finger with one strong tooth on the inner
surface at one third and a further similar tooth at almost three-
quarters, followed by a few smaller teeth. Movable finger with a
strong tooth at halfway, followed by a number of small teeth on
the distal third.
Pedipalps. Slender, almost as long as body, without apophyses.
Tarsal claw small, pectinate below with a single row of 11-12 small
even teeth on the proximal half (Fig. 4). |
Legs. Coxae smooth, without granules. Femur with a prolateral
row of sharp, fine, widely spaced small denticulations and a retro-
lateral row of similar but much smaller denticulations. Femora
II-IV with four rows of small dentieulations. Remaining seg-
ments free from denticulations. Tibia ILI with nine and tibia IV
with two false articulations.
Measurements 4n mms.—
Body: length 7:98, width 3-91
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg D........ 205 054 800 148 5:90 8:48 9-89 36°34
Leg IL. .. .. .. 210 059 13:56 1:58 1442 490 31:67 68-82
Leg III .. .. .. 225 055 5:89 1:27 650 875 11:48 36:69
Leg IV ....., 225 (0-56 898 1:46 9-7 10:46 20:05 53-51
Pedipalp . .. .. 0:52 1:85 0:68 1-10 — 2:46 6:61
Chelicera: basal 9:10, second 11:56 20:66
E
66 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Female.
Colour. Dorsal surface of body patterned with silvery-white
and blackish-brown as in Fig. 3. Ventral surface yellowish-white
but brown along the lateral margins of the abdomen and distal
surfaces of сохае I-IV. Chelicera yellow but with some brown
patches on the dorsal surface. Pedipalps and legs banded with
brown and light-yellow.
Body. The modifications found on the cephalothoracic cara-
pace of the male absent, carapace smooth and only slightly
sclerotic. Eye mound rounded and only slightly canaliculate, with
a single row of small granules above each eye and removed from
the anterior margin of the carapace by almost twice its diameter.
Abdomen soft and smooth, both tergites and sternites faintly
demarcated by transverse grooves. Genital operculum extending
to the posterior margin of coxa II. Maxillary lobe of coxa II as
in male.
Chelicerae. As in Fig. 10. Small and smooth, not quite the
length of the body. Basal segment with a small, sharp, forwardly
directed process on the proximo-ventral surface. A strong black
tooth on the inner surface of the fixed finger at one third is
followed by a single line of small denticulations. Movable finger
with a similar arrangement but the large tooth at almost half-
way. Tips sharply bent and cross when closed. A small comb of
5-6 small setae lines the inner proximal margin of the fixed finger.
Pedipalps. As in male. Tarsal claw with a single row of from
13-14 sharp, even teeth along the proximal half.
Legs. Coxae smooth, without granules. Femora I and II armed
with a few small denticulations but legs otherwise smooth.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 4:28, width, 2:80
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat, Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg Df es 16. (51 2800 ,0:8% 306 2:83 6-459 17:88
Leg IL. o ;. u. 142 (458 7902. 195 T10- 3-69 92:43 44-34
Leg III .. .. .. 158 051 410 105 3:76 445 8:49 23:89
Leg IV ...... 1:82 0:56 4:20 083 4-22 2-73 10-48 24:84
Pedipalp . .. .. 0-48 1:20 053 07 -- 1-64 4-57
Chelicera: basal 1:34, second 1:69 2:03
Types. Male holotype, female allotype, and paratypes in the
collection of National Museum of Victoria.
Locality. Numerous specimens collected at Tubrabucea, N.S.W.
Coll. R. T. M. Pescott and A. N. Burns, January, 1948,
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 67
Figs. 11-16. Spinicrus stewarti n.sp.
Fig. 11. Dorsal view of body of female.
Fig. 12. Outer lateral view of chelicera of female.
i . Pedipalp of female.
Fig. 14. Tarsal claw of pedipalp of female.
Fig. 15. Antero-ventral portion of body of female.
Fig. 16. Latero-dorsal view of anterior portion of the body of male.
68 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
S pinicrus stewarti n.sp.
Figs. 11-16.
Male.
Colour. Cephalothoracie carapace dark-brown but pale-brown
at the bases of the spieules and infused with white at each pos-
terior corner. Abdomen above with a broad median dark-brown
band extending to about two thirds, where the surface is silvery-
white. Ventral surface of the abdomen and coxae dull-white,
relieved by scattered patches of yellow-brown. Basal segment of
the chelicera with a dark-brown patch on the distodorsal surface
but otherwise yellow-brown. Second segment a darker brown but
with a small white patch on the distal surface. Pedipalp banded
with white and brown. Legs dark-brown but with several light-
brown patches,
Body. Eyemound spherical and with a row of from three to
five strong spicules along each side of the median groove; set its
own diameter from the anterior margin of the carapace. Cephalo-
thoracic carapace armed with numerous spicules as in Fig. 16;
sloping steeply down in front of the eyemound to the chelicera,
where the anterior margin is entire. Abdomen smooth and soft;
segmentation indicated by faint transverse grooves. Genital oper-
culum widening distally and extending to the posterior margin
of coxa I. Maxillary lobes of coxae II longer than wide in the
ratio of 4:1, directed obliquely forward anterior to the genital
operculum.
Chelicerae. Finely spiculate (Fig. 16), basal segment not quite
as long as second segment, the length of both segments being two
and a half times that of the body. The inner surface of the fixed
finger is armed with a strong triangular tooth at one third and a
further similar tooth at two thirds; between these a strong
median tooth on the inner surface of the movable finger fits when
the fingers are closed. A comb of small black setae is present
along the inner distal margin of the second segment.
Pedipalps. Slender, apophyses absent, slightly longer than the
length of the body; covered on all segments with short black setae,
but otherwise smooth. Tarsal claw below with a single row of six
sharp teeth restricted to the proximal half.
Legs. Coxae smooth but for a sparse covering of short black
setae. Trochanters I-IV with a bunch of sharp spines on the
anterior surface. Femora I-IV strongly and evenly spined.
Patella I covered with spines, those on the anterior surface being
strongest. Remaining segments without spines.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 69
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 5:52, width 3:24
Cox. Ттосһ. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg I........ 180 048 6:75 14 6:48 7-44 8:50 32-93
Leg IL. ...... 174 048 1050 1-25 10-73 4:32 28-00 51:02
Leg ПІ .. .. .. 190 047 484 100 492 421 14-90 31:54
Leg. IV ...... 2:38 048 873 196 704 553 16:46 41:87
Pedipalp .. .. .. 0:52 0.49 144 076 — 213 5:34
Chelicera: basal 5:94, second 7.25 13-19
Female.
Colour. Dorsal surface of body as in Fig. 11. Ground colour
creamy-white with two black lines in front of the eyemound and
other scattered black patches as in figure. Median hourglass-
shaped band and lateral margins of the abdomen blackish-brown.
Ventral surface of abdomen silvery-white with dark-black inter-
sternal lines. Coxae and trochantera of legs with numerous small
brown patches, remaining segments of legs and pedipalps banded
with yellow and brown. Chelicerae mainly yellow but overlaid
with black reticulations.
Body. Eyemound spherical, slightly canaliculate, smooth, set
almost twice its diameter from the anterior margin of the
carapace. Cephalothoracic carapace poorly sclerotised, smooth,
sloping sharply down to the chelicerae in front of the eyemound.
Abdomen soft, tergites defined by transverse lines of small black
indentations. Genital operculum extending to the posterior mar-
gin of coxae II, widening distally. Mouthparts and maxillary
lobes of coxae Il as in Fig. 15.
Chelicerae. As in Fig. 12. Short, as long as body. Basal seg-
ment with a dorsal notch and a short spinous process on the
proximo-ventral surface. Second segment relatively stout; fixed
finger with a strong tooth on the proximal surface followed by a
row of small even denticulations; movable finger similar, but the
proximal large tooth fits beyond that of the fixed finger when
closed.
Pedipalps. As in Figs. 13, 14; tarsal claw armed below with a
row of from 6 to 8 small sharp teeth.
Legs. All сохае smooth. Trochantera I-III with each a number
of small sharp spines on the prodistal surface. Legs otherwise
smooth.
70 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 7:0, width 3-75
Cox. Troch. Fem. Petts Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg 1........ 148 049 4:15 095 448 3-55 9-00 24-10
Leg IT... .. .. 145 0-48 800 195 77 3:02 23-00 44-95
Leg ПІ ...... 1:75 047 3:98 123 4:00 3:99 10-00 25:42
Leg IV ...... 245 0:49 700 148 600 435 14:50 36:36
Pedipalp as sesu * 0:55 1:50 0:59 0-78 — 1:95 5:87
Chelicera: basal 1:2, second 9-0 3:20
Types. Holotype male and allotype female in National Museum
of Victoria; paratypes in Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, N.Z.
Locality. Mount Buffalo, Victoria, where large numbers have
been collected by Mr. H. C. E. Stewart, of Melbourne, after whom
I have the pleasure of naming this species. The largest series was
collected from the bole of a Snow Gum (Eucalyptus paucifolia)
during December, 1947.
Genus NODALA nov.
Eyemound normal, canaliculate, set its own diameter from
the anterior margin of the carapace. Cephalothoracie carapace
smooth. Body smooth, tergites I-V of male fused into a scute,
otherwise clearly demarcated by transverse grooves. Chelicerae of
both male and female smooth, short, not as long as body. Pedi-
palps relatively stout, but without apophyses, spiculate in male.
segs slender, long and smooth.
Genotype Nelima dunm Forster, 1948.
This species was provisionally placed in the subfamily Lio-
buninae until a more extensive survey of the Australian Palpa-
tores could be made. It is now evident that it should be placed in
the Megalopsalinae.
Suborder LANIATORES Thorell
Family TRIAENONYCHIDAE Sörensen
Subfamily Triaenonychinae (Pocock)
KEY TO THE AUSTRALIAN GENERA
1. Eyemound smooth and rounded. PA
— Eyemound conical. 4.
- Eyemound with a median spine. 5.
- Eyemound with a hook on the anterior margin. 11,
2. Eyemound rising from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Nunciella Roewer.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 71
Eyemound removed from the anterior margin of the carapace. 3.
Seutal Segmentation elearly defined by transverse grooves.
Pedipalp weakly spined; distal region of femur swollen.
Lomanella Pocock.
- Seutal segmentation not defined by transverse grooves.
Pedipalp strongly spined; femur normal. Neonuncia Roewer.
4, Eyemound removed from the anterior margin of the cara-
pace. Scutal areas faintly defined by transverse grooves;
areas I-V each with a median pair of spines. Paranuncia Roewer.
— Eyemound rising from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Seutal areas not defined by transverse grooves but closely
covered with granules. Conoculus n. gen.
Eyemound rising from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Eyemound removed from the anterior margin of the carapace.
Spines present on scutum.
Spines absent from scutum; seutal areas clearly defined by
transverse grooves. Median spine on eyemound directed
anteriorly. Perthacantha Roewer.
7. Areas II and III each with a median pair of spines. Median
spine of eyemound directed forward. Anterior margin
of carapace smooth. Monocanthobunus Roewer.
- Only area III with a median pair of spines. Median spine
of eyemound erect. Anterior margin of carapace armed
гот
Loo
with strong spines. Heteronuncia Roewer.
8. Seutal areas defined by transverse grooves and spined. oF
= Scutal areas not defined by transverse grooves and smooth.
Parattahia Roewer.
9. Seutal spines limited to area III. 10.
— Seutal areas I-IV each with a median pair of spines; those
of area III largest. Jenolanicus Roewer.
10. Tarsus I with five segments. Equitius Simon.
= Tarsus I with six to seven segments. Monoxyomma Pocock.
11. Tarsus II with five segments. Callihamus Roewer.
— 'Tarsus II with six or more segments. Calliuncus Roewer.
Genus NUNCIELLA Roewer, 1928
Nunciella tuberculata n.sp.
Figs, 25-32
Male. 8
Colour. Mainly dark-brown; black reticulations extend from
the anterior margin of the carapace to behind the eyemound.
A median black band extends from immediately behind the
eyemound back to the posterior margin of the abdomen, broad
anteriorly but narrowing posteriorly. Coxae to tibiae of legs,
chelicerae and pedipalps reticulate.
Body. Eyemound set almost half its length from the anterior
margin of the carapace, low and smoothly rounded, A pair of
small sub-marginal spines are placed in line with, and anterior to,
the lateral margins of the eyemound, while the anterior margin
of the carapace is armed with a small median spine and a curved
72
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Figs. 17-20. Paranuncia gigantea Roewer
Fig. 17.
Fig. 18.
Fig. 19.
Fig. 20.
Figs.
Fig. 21.
Fig. 22.
Fig. 23.
Fig. 24.
Antero-ventral portion of body of male.
Lateral view of tergum of male.
Inner view of pedipalp of male.
Outer view of pedipalp of male.
21-24. Paranuncia ingens Roewer
Antero-ventral portion of the body of male.
Lateral view of tergum of male.
Inner view of pedipalp of male.
Outer view of pedipalp of male.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 73
spinous projection at each outer margin of the chelicerae where
they articulate with a round process on the outer proximal surface
of each chelicerae (Fig. 25). Areas I-IV not distinguished by
transverse grooves but each with a transverse row of small
granules, restricted to the median surface on areas I-III, but
extending to the lateral margins of areas IV-V. Free tergites and
the sternites also with a single transverse row of small granules.
Genital operculum smooth. Sternum as in Fig. 28.
Chelicerae. Relatively long, equal to the length of the body.
Basal segment with a rounded boss on the outer proximal sur-
face (Fig. 25), otherwise smooth. Second segment with a setose
tubercle on the inner proximo-dorsal surface, followed by several
smaller setose tubercles.
Pedipalps. Inner proximo-ventral surface of coxae produced
anteriorly as a pair of long digitate processes (Fig. 28). Remain-
ing segments of pedipalp as in Figs. 29, 30. Trochanter with
a strong medio-dorsal spine, otherwise smooth. Femur with a
ventral row of six spines, the third and fifth being small, the
proximal spine expanded distally and broadly clavate where it fits
into the enlarged spine on the inner proximo-lateral margin of
coxa I. Patella smooth except for a small sub-distal spine on the
inner surface. Tibia rounded, not concave, below; armed with one
small and three strong spines along the outer ventro-lateral mar-
gin and two small proximal and a large distal spine on the inner
ventro-lateral margin. Tarsus rounded below, with three outer
and three inner ventro-lateral spines. Tarsal claw strong.
Legs. Coxae below as in Fig. 28. Coxae I with a large cup-
shaped process on the prodistal margin in which the proximo-
ventral process of the femur of the pedipalp rests; coxa II with
a large, blunt, curved spine on the retrodistal surface, and coxa
IV with a smaller unevenly bifurcate spine on the prodistal
surface. Trochanter to metatarsus of all legs sparsely granulate.
Caleaneus small but distinct, not notched. Tarsal formula 4, 10-11,
4, 4. Distotarsus of leg 1 two-segmented, leg II four-segmented.
Tarsal claw of legs ПІ and IV with small sideclaws.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 5:80, width 3:95
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Legl........ 1:54 058 235 104 198 203 141 10:98
Leg 1D....... 178 068 279 108 242 348 273 14-86
Leg III ...... 145 059 944 104 158 253 183 10:96
Leg IV .. .... 203 050 3:02 1:23 245 844 128 13:99
Pedipalp .. .. .. 0:48 955 196 168 — 171 7568
Chelicera: basal 2:95, second 2:96 5-91
74 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Female.
Colour. As in male.
Body. Eyemound as in male, but set no more than one-third of
its length from the anterior margin of the carapace. Anterior
margin of the carapace with five spines placed as in male but
much smaller, The antero-lateral pair not modified (Fig. 26).
Remaining body characters as in male.
Chelicerae. Shorter than male (Fig. 26), two-thirds the length
of body. Basal segment strongly bent, disto-dorsal surface
swollen. Rounded boss on outer proximal surface wanting.
Second segment with a sharp spine on the inner dorsal surface.
Pedipalps. Much weaker than male (Figs. 31, 32). Spination
differing as follows: Proximo-ventral spine of femur unevenly
bifurcate, third ventral spine of male reduced to a small tubercle;
tibia with one proximal and three distal spines on the inner
ventro-lateral margin, while those on the outer ventro-lateral
margin are greatly reduced in size; tarsus with two median-placed
tubercles on the inner ventro-lateral surface.
Legs. Coxae as in Fig. 27. Only moderate-sized spines present
on the prodistal surface of coxa, retrodistal surface of coxa II and
prodistal surface of coxa IV. Tarsal formula 3, 10-11, 4, 4. Disto-
tarsus of leg I two-segmented, leg ІІ four-segmented.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 5:55, width 3:90
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg І........ 152 048 194 0:89 144 193 1:93 9:43
Leg IL. .. .. .. 168 0:58 2:48 08 204 2:38 2-49 12:43
beg TIL 2.2. 1:42 0:53 1:53 0:88 1:48 2:98. 1,98 9-80
Leg IV ...... 196 065 944 193 2:08 2:94 7298 13:14
Pedipalp .. .. .. 0:43 174 0:78 1:38 -- 1:04 5:87
Chelicera: basal 1:54, second 1:93 3:47
Types. Holotype male, allotype female and paratypes in the
National Museum collection.
Localities. Diamond Creek, Victoria, coll. J. E. Dixon, August,
1925 (Type locality) ; Warburton, Victoria, coll. J. A. Kershaw,
April 11, 1905; Kallista, Victoria, under logs, coll. A. N. Burns,
September 18, 1946.
The spination of the pedipalps of this species differs consider-
ably from both of the previously described Victorian species, N.
cheliplus Roewer and N. parvula Roewer. The numerous strue-
tural characters which show sexual dimorphism in the above
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 75
described Species, some of which have been used for specific
criteria, indicate the need for a revision of previously described
species,
Genus PARANUNCIA Roewer, 1914
1914. Roewer, С. Fr., Arch. Naturg., 80A (12), p. 108.
1923. Roewer, Die Weberknechte der Erde, pp. 605-606.
1931. Roewer, Zeitschr. f. wiss. Zool., 138 (1), p. 155.
Cephalothoracic carapace shorter than scutum. Eyemound
conical, removed from the anterior margin of the carapace by
not more than one-third of its width. Areas I-III of the scutum
each with a median pair of spines. Scutal areas not distinguished
by transverse grooves. Small spines present on the anterior
margin of the carapace. Free tergites I-III each with a single
transverse row of small even tubercles. Legs unarmed except
for granulations. Caleaneus much shorter than astralagus. Cal-
caneus of leg IV of male notched below. Distitarsi of leg I two-
segmented, leg II three-segmented. Tarsal formula of male 4,
9-12, 4, 4; female, 3, 9-12, 4, 4. Median prong of tarsal claws III
and IV much stronger than lateral branches.
Genotype P. gigantea Roewer.
This genus was established by Roewer (1914) for P. gigantea
from Tasmania. Roewer (1931) added a further species, P. ingens
from Victoria. Numerous specimens of P. imgens were available
for study in the present collection, and it is evident that a num-
ber of important characters had not been noted in the original
description, the most important of these being the possession of
four segments to tarsus I of the male, but only three in the female.
Professor V. V. Hickman informed me that this is also the case
with the Tasmanian P. gigantea, and most generously supplied
me material from which the redescription of the species is given
below. |
Paranuncia gigantea Roewer, 1914
Figs. 17-20.
1914. P. gigantea Roewer, Arch. Naturg., 80A (12), p. 108.
1923. P. gigantea Roewer, Zeits. wiss. Zool., 138 (1), pp. 155-156.
Male.
Colour. Body and legs light chocolate-brown. Chelicerae and
pedipalps yellow-brown, but covered with dark-brown reticu-
lations.
Body. Eyemound removed a short distance from the anterior
margin of the carapace, sloping evenly up to form an erect spine
almost immediately above the eyes (Fig. 18). Anterior margin
76 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
of the carapace produced medially and at each outer margin of
the chelicera to form three spines. The anterior margin of the
carapace at each side of the eyemound is armed with a row of four
erect spines. A well-defined ridge extends from each anterior
corner of the cephalothoracie carapace along the lateral margins
to area V. Areas Land II each with a median pair of small erect
spines, area ПІ with a median pair of larger spines, area IV
with a median pair of small widely-spaced tubercles. Areas I-IV
otherwise smooth, Area V and free tergites I-III with each a
single transverse row of small tubercles. Sternites smooth except
for a single transverse row of minute setose tubercles. Genital
operculum smooth, wider at base than length in ratio of 3:2.
Sternum as in Fig. 17. Maxillary lobes of coxae ІІ produced
anteriorly by a strong tubercle.
Chelicerae. Small. Basal segment constricted proximally, distal
portion rounded; with a strong spine on the inner and a small
spine on the median disto-dorsal surfaces. Dorsal surface of the
second segment with a large proximal tubercle and numerous
scattered small tubercles.
Pedipalps. As in Figs. 19, 20. Robust. Coxa below with a
strong spine on the distal surface. Trochanter below with a strong
median spine and two smaller spines on the inner surface, and a
stout spine on the mid-dorsal surface. Femur armed below with a
stout medio-proximal bifid spine, four spines along the lateral
margin, the first and third being short, and a row of small granules
along the inner margin extending to a strong spine rising from
the latero-distal margin; dorsal surface with a line of four rather
small spines. Patella with two large and one small spine on the
inner surface, but otherwise smooth. Femur strongly concave
below and armed along the outer margin with three spines, two
strong and one small; these are preceded by two tubercles on the
proximal surface; inner lateral margin with three strong spines.
Tarsus concave below, armed along the outer margin with three
spines of which the most proximal one is very broad at the base,
inner margin with three uniform strong spines. Tarsal claw
strong.
Legs. Coxae below as in Fig. 17. Coxa I with a strong bifid
spine on the distal region of the proventral surface, followed by a
large single spine at mid-way and smaller spine at three-quarters,
remainder of the ventral surface with scattered tubercles. Coxa IL
with a strong spine on the retroventral surface and three lines of
small tubercles on the ventral surface, and a transverse ridge on
the dorsal surface which extends over the lateral margin of the
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 77
carapace. Coxae III and IV without spines but with numerous
scattered tubercles on the ventral surface. Two flattened lobes
extend from the sub-distal region of the retroventral margin of
coxae IV to overlie the lateral portion of each spiracle. Tro-
chantera, femora, patellae and tibiae granulate. Caleaneus distinct
but much smaller than the astralagus. Calcaneus of leg IV deeply
notched on the ventral surface. Distitarsi of leg I two-segmented,
leg II three-segmented. Tarsal formula 4, 9-11, 4, 4.
Measurements in mms. —
Body: length 7:00, width 6:05
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Domi. 2-4. 176 068 4:08 132 27 318 254 15:29
(Stee ss UE Leni edge 52020 4526 о 20:71
Leg III AU 0:09 Sl 12405 OG le "9-16 15:66
Пен» 16. ОДОВ E ӨЛУ lee SUL DION 9500 926
Feipalp = 22. PbS te 3 3*7 2-82 — 2:00 10:55
Chelicera: basal 2:10, second 2:60 4-70
Female.
Characters as in male except as follows.
Pedipalp less robust, spines smaller but with similar distri-
bution. Maxillary lobes of coxae II without a large tubercle on
anterior surface. Caleaneus of leg I not notched below; tarsal
formula 3, 9-12, 4, 4.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 8:03, width 6:76
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
¡ce Me a 170. Or78 9:02 ГӘ: 2565 98:92 1563 14:35
есе DS E 2-31 0-4 392 1:76 37 542 4-52 22:60
Leg III 1:06 70:087 78:239 71:52:20 2:68 0859205 “2533 16:94
Leg IV 9-34 1:23 406 16 8716 608 2:58 21:63
Pedipalp .. . (00622087 1550091595 -- 1-61 8:31
Chelicera: basal 1:80, second 1:96 3:76
Types. Coll. Roewer, Senckenberg Museum, Frankfurt a Main.
Locality. Tasmania.
Figs. 25-32. Nunciella tuberculata n.sp.
Fig. 25. Antero-dorsal portion of cephalothoracie carapace and chelicerae of
male.
Fig. 26. Antero-dorsal portion of cephalothoracie carapace and chelicerae of
female.
Fig. 27. Antero-ventral portion of the body of female.
Fig. 28. Antero-ventral portion of the body of male,
Fig. 29. Outer view of pedipalp of male.
Fig. 30. Inner view of pedipalp of male.
Fig. 31. Outer view of pedipalp of female.
Fig. 32. Inner view of pedipalp of female.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 79
Paranuncia ingens Roewer, 1931
Figs. 21-24
1931. P. ingens Roewer, Zeitsehr. f. wiss. Zool., 138 (1), p. 155.
Male.
Colour. Body chocolate-brown, but with a light-brown patch
outside the median paired spines of areas I-III. Legs dark-brown.
Pedipalps and chelicerae light-brown but closely covered with
blackish-brown reticulations.
Body. Eyemound set back only slightly from the anterior mar-
gin of the carapace, sloping steeply, almost vertically, up from
immediately just behind the anterior margin of the carapace and
sloping gently back along the posterior surface so that the apex
is slightly anterior to the eyes (Fig. 21). Anterior margin of the
cephalothoracic carapace produced forward between the chelicerae
to form a median spine and at each outer margin to form a further
pair. Three sharp erect spines are present along the anterior
margin of the carapace each side of the eyemound, while a further
rather blunt small spine is placed in from the lateral margin above
leg 11. Cephalothoracic carapace separated from the scutum by a
shallow groove, but scutum itself not divided by grooves. Areas
І-ПІ each with a median pair of relatively large recumbent
spines, those of area III being strongest. Area I with a cluster of
four small tubercles at each lateral margin; area II with a trans-
verse row of tubercles which do not extend to the lateral margins
as is found on areas III-V. Free tergites I-III each with a single
transverse row of similar tubercles. Sternites each with a single
transverse row of granulations. Genital operculum sparsely
granulate, evenly rounded, wider than long in the proportion of
4:3. Maxillary lobe of coxa II produced anteriorly by an elongate
blunt tubercle.
Chelicerae. Relatively weak. Basal segment with a strong
setose spine on the inner disto-dorsal surface, and several smaller
setose tubercles on the dorsal surface. Second segment with a row
of three setose spines on the proximal half of the dorsal surface
and a few small setose tubercles scattered on the disto-distal
surface.
Pedipalps. As in Figs. 23, 24. Robust; coxa below with two
spines on the distal margin, one lateral and the other median in
position; trochanter with a large medio-ventral spine, followed by
two smaller spines on the inner ventral margin; the dorsal surface
unarmed except for a strong spine at two-thirds. Femur armed
below with a strong spine on the proximal surface, followed by a
80 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
further slightly smaller spine on the outer ventral surface; a small
spine at one-fifth with a further pair, one small and one large, at
five-sevenths ; on the inner ventral surface a row of small granules
extends to a strong distal spine which is preceded by two smaller
spines on the inner surface; a line of five spines extends along the
dorsal surface, the proximal two being larger than the remaining
three. Patella smooth except for a pair of strong spines on the
distal half of the inner surface. Tibia strongly concave below;
three strong spines along the inner and one weak and three strong
spines along the outer ventro-lateral margins. Tarsus concave
below, both inner and outer ventro-lateral margins with three
strong spines. Tarsal claw strong.
Legs. Coxa I with a strong bifid spine on the pro-distal surface
and a further strong single spine at almost midway, while a num-
ber of smaller tubercles are arranged as in Fig. 21. Coxa II with
a row of small spines along the distal half of the retrolateral
margin in addition to numerous small tubercles on the ven-
tral surface. Coxa III without spines but covered below with
numerous tubercles, and with a row of granules along the retro-
lateral margin. Coxa IV smooth except for a small spine near the
prodistal surface and a few distoventral tubercles; retrodistal
surface produced posteriorly into one small and a further large
lobe which overhang the outer margin of the spiracle. Trochanter,
femur, patella and tibia of all legs coarsely granulate. Caleaneus
small but distinct; calcaneus of leg I deeply notched on the ventral
surface. Distitarsal segments of leg I, two; leg ІТ, three. Tarsal
formula 4, 9-13, 4, 4.
Measurements in mms. —
Body: length 8:10, width 6:68
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg L.. ....... Г6б 206 505 1-58 2:68 8:62. 1-53 15:06
Leg IL. .. .. .. 245 108 431 184 39 553 4-08 23-22
Leg III .. .. .. 251 100 3:12 1-58 258 39 1-94 16:64
Leg IV ...... 274 1:26 451 164 341 5-52 2:53 21:61
Pedipalp .. 073 3:24 1:58 2-22 -- 1:68 9:45
Chelicera: basal 9:08, second 3-12 5:20
Female.
As in male except as follows. Pedipalp not as robust as that of
the male but spination similar. Granules absent from the retro-
lateral margin of coxa III. Maxillary lobe of coxa II not as well
developed as male and distal tubercle absent. Genital operculum
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 81
smooth, wider than long in proportion of 5:3. Caleaneus of leg IV
not notched below; distotarsal segments of leg I two-segmented
and leg LI three-segmented ; tarsal formula 3, 10-12, 4, 4.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 8:23, width 6:08
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
елге cn 152 0 88. 9:66 149 2:53 9:21 1:52 13:74
Leg TT... .. .. 208 092 406 1-68 392 5-38 4-49 22:46
ТЕЗІ... 248 098 3:42 152 241 894 1580 16:50
ЖЕЛЕ — .— 29Ғ 149 :3:9% (C70 542 5-04 163 20:09
Pedipalp .. .. .. 61 9-52 126 1°72 -- 1:50 7-61
Chelicera: basal 2:10, second 2:76 4-86
Type locality. Cockatoo, Victoria. Type in British Museum
(Natural History), London.
Further localities. Dandenong Ranges (Roewer, 1931); War-
burton, Vic., coll. J. A. Kershaw, April 11, 1905; Gippsland, Vie.
coll. S. Butler; Diamond Creek, Vie., coll. J. E. Dixon, August,
1925; Ferntree Gully, Vie., coll. G. F. Hill, March 22, 1924;
Kallista, Vic., coll. A. N. Burns, September 18, 1946.
Genus LOMANELLA Pocock, 1903
Lomanella kallista n.sp.
Figs. 33-35.
Male.
Colour. Dorsal surface of the body blackish-brown with a
symmetrical pattern marked out in orange as in Fig. 34. Anterior
surface of the eyemound and the antero-median area of the cara-
pace covered by blackish-brown reticulations. Body below mainly
orange-yellow but the posterior margins of the sternites and the
distal surface of сохае I-IV blackish-brown. Pedipalp, chelicerae
and legs dark-yellow, but covered with dark-brown reticulations.
Body. Eyemound bluntly conical, with a slight sub-apical con-
cavity on the anterior surface; higher than wide in the ratio of
10:7; set its own width from the anterior margin of the carapace
(Fig. 33). Cephalothoracic carapace smooth, anterior margin
evenly rounded and produced out at each anterior corner to form
a small lobe. Areas I-IV defined by broad transverse grooves,
which do not reach the lateral margin. All areas with a single line
of small setose granules which, except in area V, are restricted to
the medial surface. Free tergites I-III as area V with a single
transverse row of similar setose granules which extend to the
F
82 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Figs. 33-35. Lomanella kallista n.sp.
Fig. 33. Lateral view of tergum of male.
Fig. 34. Dorsal view of the body of male.
Fig. 35. Outer view of pedipalp of male.
Figs. 36-39. Conoculus asperus n.gen., n.sp
Fig. 36. Dorsal view of body of male.
Fig. 37. Inner view of pedipalp of male.
Fig. 38. Outer view of chelicera of male.
Fig. 39. Retrolateral view of trochanter and part of the femur of leg I of male.
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 83
lateral margins. Sternites smooth except for a single transverse
row of minute setose granules. Genital operculum of triangular
shape, wider at base than length in proportion of 7:9. Sternum
very narrow.
Chelicerae. Small. Basal segment constricted proximally, disto-
dorsal surface smooth but for a few small granules. Second seg-
ment with a line of small setose granules on the dorsal surface but
otherwise smooth.
Pedipalps. As in Fig. 35. Trochanter small, almost twice as
wide as long, with a small setose tubercle on the ventral surface.
Femur swollen and smooth except for a small setose tubercle on
the proximo-ventral surface and a small median spine on the inner
surface. Patella smooth, relatively slender, slightly more than
twice as long as the width at the widest portion. Tibia evenly
ovoid, not concave on the ventral surface; armed with a pair of
setose tubercles on the ventral surface at five-sixths of the distance
from the proximal margin. Tarsus slender, concave below, and
armed along the outer margin with three and along the inner
margin with two setose tubercles. Tarsal claw strong.
Legs. All segments except metatarsi and tarsi granulate, ven-
tral surface of femur IV strongly so. Calcaneus of all legs very
small, much shorter than astralagus. Calcaneus of leg IV not
notched below. Distitarsi of leg I of two segments, leg II of three
segments. Tarsal formula 3, 5, 4, 4. Median prong of claws 111
and IV much stronger than side branches.
Measurements in mms —
Body: length 4:59, width 2:29
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
tees ea ole Osh OF UO. CT ENTE 0216 5:35
EAT *. ee "Osh “5980 027002 dd 4954 8-71
Leg III .. .. .. 0:86 036 122 0:56 1:02 1:47 0:82 6:31
Leg IV ...... 122 041 158 07 1:58 153 09 8:05
Резрар = : (еме TOn EOL ІЗІ — 097 4:18
Chelicera: basal 0:51, second 0:61 1:12
Type. Male holotype in the collection of the National Museum
of Victoria, Melbourne.
Locality. A single specimen, collected by Mr. A. N. Burns at
Kallista, Vie.
Remarks. This species is closely related to L. raniceps Roewer
from Tasmania, but can be separated from the Tasmanian species
by its much higher eyemound and the presence of strong granu-
lations on the femur of leg IV.
84 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
Genus CONOCULUS nov.
Dorsal scute coarsely granulate, but without spines; areas
I-V not defined by transverse grooves. Eyemound only slightly
removed from the anterior margin of the carapace, evenly conical
and directed slightly forward. Pedipalps robust, strongly spined.
Coxae I and II strongly granulate, III and IV with both pro- and
retrolateral rows of granules. Trochanter and femur of leg I
with a prolateral row of strong setose tubercles. Caleaneus much
smaller than astralagus. Tarsal formula 3, 6-7, 4, 4. Distotarsus
of leg I two-segmented, leg II three-segmented. Side claws much
smaller than median claw. Spiracles hidden. Sexual dimorphism
only slight.
Genotype C. asperus n.sp.
Conoculus asperus n.sp.
Figs. 36-39.
Male.
Colour. Body and appendages dark blackish-green.
Body. Eyemound set back from the anterior margin of the
cephalothoracic carapace by no more than one-third of its width
at the base, narrowing evenly to the apex and slightly directed
forward ; covered with strong granules (Fig. 36). Cephalothoracic
carapace and areas I-V not separable by transverse grooves, but
scutal area more coarsely granulated than cephalic area and
position of the fused tergites defined by transverse rows of more
large granulations. Four median pairs of large granules extend
back immediately behind the eyemound, while a further large
granule is present on the antero-lateral margin of the cephalo-
thoracic carapace. Free tergites I-III each with a single trans-
verse row of large granules. Sternites smooth except for a single
row of small granules. Genital operculum covered with minute
granules. Sternum narrow, rodlike.
Chelicerae. As in Fig. 38. Small; basal segment indented
dorsally; smooth except for a small tubercle on the mid-ventral
surface. Second segment squat, with a row of from three to four
small tubercles along the dorsal surface.
Pedipalps. As in Figs. 37, 38. Trochanter with two ventral and
one dorsal tubercles. Femur with a large obliquely clavate spine
on the proximo-ventral surface followed by a further row of five
spines, of which the second and fourth are large; inner surface
smooth except for a single spine on the distal surface; median
dorsal surface armed with a row of seven strong spines; inner
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 85
Figs. 40-42. Euwintonius continentalis Roewer
Fig. 40. Dorsal view of body.
Fig. 41. Outer view of pedipalp.
Fig. 42. Inner view of chelicera.
Figs. 48-44. Dampetrus gracilis n.sp.
Fig. 43. Dorsal view of body.
Fig. 44. Outer view of pedipalp.
86 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
dorsal surface with a row of three small spines at three-quarters.
Patella with numerous tubercles on the dorsal surface and a single
tubercle on the ventro-distal surface. Tibia deeply concave below
and strongly tuberculate on the dorsal surface, with a row of four
spines along both the inner and outer ventro-lateral surfaces.
Tarsus concave below; smooth except for three strong spines
along each of the ventrolateral margins. Tarsal claw strong.
Legs. Coxae I and II covered with small pustulate granules,
but coxae III and IV with a row of similar granules at both the
anterior and posterior margins, otherwise smooth. Ventral sur-
face of trochanter of leg I with one large conical setose tubercle ;
femur with a proximal ventral row of four similar tubercles;
tibia with a ventral row of three more slender tubercles (Fig.
39); legs otherwise sparsely granulate. Tarsal formula 3, 6-7,
4, 4. Distotarsus of leg I two-segmented, leg II three-segmented.
Caleaneus minute.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 2:33, width 2:13
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
hee Tte 040 05449 .0:68 038 да” 00, O9 3:05
Leg IK m... 0988 022 0:06 0331 (ӨС 089 5073 5:17
Leg III .. .. .. 068 03 07 04 07 078 0:43 3:98
Leg IV ...... 074 024 104 04 088 118 0°64 5:15
Pedipalp .. .. .. 014 076 0:39 0:53 — 043 2:63
Chelicera: basal 0:53, second 0:68 1-21
Types. Holotype male and paratypes, Dominion Museum, Wel-
lington, New Zealand.
Locality. Glen Osmond, South Australia, under stones, coll.
J. Т. Salmon.
Family ASSAMIIDAE Sorensen
Subfamily Dampetrinae Roewer
Genus DAMPETRUS Karsch, 1880
Dampetrus gracilis, n.sp.
Figs. 43-44.
Colour. Entire body and appendages of a uniform yellow-
brown, but the bases of granules on the dorsal surface of body
blackish-brown.
Body. Dorsal scute longer than wide in ratio of 3:2. Еуе-
mound strongly granulate, wider than long in proportion of 11: 7,
set almost its longitudinal depth from the anterior margin of the
carapace (Fig. 43). Cephalothoracie carapace strongly granulate,
with a strong ridge running across immediately before the anterior
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 87
margin and separated behind the eyemound from area I by a deep
curved transverse groove. Areas I-IV clearly distinguished by
straight transverse grooves which only extend to a pronounced
lateral longitudinal ridge which merges posteriorly with area V.
Lateral ridge with a double row of granules. Areas I-IV closely
and coarsely granulate, but each with a well separated median
pair of small spines. Area V and free tergites I-III each with a
single transverse row of small spines. Posterior sternites with a
single transverse row of small granules; anterior sternites fused
with eoxae IV. Spiracle concealed beneath the postero-distal mar-
gin of coxa IV. Genital operculum very small, provided with a
small emarginate lip. Sternum narrowly triangular.
Pedipalps. Slender, spination as in Fig. 44.
Chelicerae. Small. Disto-dorsal surface of basal segment
swollen and strongly granulate. Second segment smooth.
Legs. Coxa IV large, more than twice the size of coxae I-IV.
Coxa I with a smooth oblique notch on the antero-lateral margin,
lined at each side with a row of granules, into which the trochanter
of the pedipalp fits when at rest. Coxae II-IV closely granulate
below and with a row of granules along the antero-lateral margin.
Legs faintly granulate. Caleaneus very small. Tarsal formula 6,
6, 6, 7. Distotarsi of legs I and II both three-segmented. Tarsal
elaws smooth, apophyses absent.
Measurements in mms.—
Body: length 4:23, width 2:11
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Lex: 12€ 205 0:20. 2-06 0554. 1:34 2:900. 1706 8:74
Leg IL. .. .... 119 028 814 079 255 3:29 1-24 12-48
Leg III .. .. .. 110 031 254 058 175 270 1-39 10:37
Leg IV ...... 245 049 34 098 2:50 3:94 1-70 15:45
Pedipalpz co. 0:44 1:07 074 0:60 — 0:62 3:47
Chelicera: basal 0:55, second 0°65 1:20
Type. Holotype male and paratypes in collection of National
Museum of Victoria, Melbourne.
Locality. Redcliffs, Victoria, collected by A. S. Cudmore, April
25.
ae Genus EUWINTONIUS Roewer, 1923
Euwintonius continentalis Roewer
Figs. 40-42.
1923. E. continentalis Roewer, Die Weberknechte der Erde, pp. 234-235.
Colour. General body colour yellow-brown, but dorsal surface
lightly overlaid with blackish brown, which forms a reticulate pat-
tern on the eephalothoracie carapace. Chelicerae yellow but the
88 AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES
granulations on the dorsal surface of the basal segment dark-
brown. Pedipalps yellow but with dark-brown reticulations above.
Coxae IV with black reticulations on the dorsal surface, legs
otherwise pale-yellow.
Body. Dorsal scute longer than wide in the ratio of 9:7. Еуе-
mound low, wider than long in proportion of 12:7, with a line of
three small spines above each eye; set slightly less than its length
from the anterior margin of the carapace (Fig. 40). Cephalo-
thoracic carapace sparsely covered with large granules behind the
eyemound where it is separated from area I by a deep, curved,
transverse groove. Areas I-V separated by wide, shallow, trans-
verse grooves which are terminated at each side by the strong
lateral ridge which extends forward almost to the anterior margin
of the cephalothoracic carapace and divided medially by a shallow
longitudinal groove. A single row of small granules is present
on the lateral ridges, while areas I-IV are sparsely covered with
small spines, but with a median larger pair on each area. Free
tergites I and IT fused laterally with the dorsal scute and each
armed with a single transverse row of small spines. Free tergite
III with an anterior row of similar spines and also a more
posterior row of small granules. Sternites each with a single
transverse row of very small granules. Spiracle hidden beneath
the postero-distal margin of coxa IV. Genital operculum smooth,
anterior margin smoothly rounded. Sternum small, rodlike.
Pedipalp. Slender, spined as in Figs. 41, 42.
Chelicerae. Small. Basal segment with a strongly granulate
disto-dorsal swelling, chelicerae otherwise smooth.
Legs. All coxae closely granulate, with a row of granules along
the anterior margin. Remaining segments faintly granulate. Cal-
caneus small; tarsal formula 6-8, 12-16, 6, 7. Distotarsi of leg I
with three segments, leg II with four segments.
Measurements in MMS. —
Body: length 4:59, width 2:45
Cox. Troch. Fem. Pat. Tib. Met. Tars. Total
Leg I.,.,...... 1:04 03 >08 063 159 2976 1:25 9-56
Leg IL. .. .. .. 123 0:44 3:74 094 3:03 314 2-75 15:27
Leg III .. .. .. 1:32 049 259 082 198 3-42 1-44 12-06
Leg IV ...... 245 0:53 404 103 29 4:83 1:48 17:29
Pedipalp .. .. .. 0-32 0:83 0:82 0:48 — 0:45 2:91
Chelicera: basal 0-73, second 0-78 1:51
This species was originally established by Roewer for a single
male specimen collected at Winton, Queensland. A large col-
AUSTRALIAN OPILIONES 89
lection of both males and females was examined in the present
collection from King River, Northern Territory, collected by W.
McLennan about 1916. As Roewer’s original description was brief
and not accompanied by figures, I have amplified the description
and added figures, which will assist in future identification.
REFERENCES
Forster, R. R., 1947. A New Harvestman of the Subfamily Liobuninae from
Australia. Mem. Nat. Mus., Vict., 15, pp. 174-177.
Hickman, V. V., 1939. Opiliones and Araneae. B.A.N.Z.A.R.E. Reports, Series
B, 4 (5), pp. 157-188.
Hogg, H. R. Some New Zealand and Tasmanian Arachnidae. Trans. N.Z. Inst.,
42, pp. 273-283.
Pocock, R. I., 1902. On Some New Harvest-Spiders of the Order Opiliones from
the Southern Continents. Proc. Zool. Soc. Lond., 1902, pp. 392-413.
Roewer, С. Fr., 1914. Funfzehn neue Opilioniden. Arch. Naturg., 80 (9), pp.
106-132.
———, 1923. Die Weberknechte der Erde, Jena.
— 1931. Zeits. f. wiss. Zool., 138 (1), pp. 137-185.
Mem. Nat. Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949
DEVONIAN FOSSILS FROM SANDY’S CREEK,
GIPPSLAND, VICTORIA
By Edmund D. Gill, B.A., B.D.,
Palaeontologist, National Museum of Victoria
Plates II and ITI, Fig. 1.
(Received for publication May 18, 1949.)
Fossils from Sandy’s Creek, a branch of the Mitchell River, in
the Parish of Nungatta, Gippsland, Victoria, were handed to the
writer for description by Mr. W. Baragwanath of the Victorian
Mines Department. The specimens were collected by Mr. J. G.
Easton, Field Geologist, in 1927, and Fig. 1 is taken from a map
prepared by him. The fossils herein described came from the
localities he marked G 22 - 26, and the types have been lodged in
the Victorian Mines Department Museum.
Y 625
D INE
O 624%
2623
FIG. 1
lity plan of part of Parish of Nungatta drawn from Mines Department
Locality dion. a haie prepared by J. G. Easton, Field Geologist.
91
92 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
MATRIX AND FACIES
The fossils consist mostly of casts and moulds in a sandstone
so fine-grained that it looks like a mudstone, but is nevertheless
arenaceous; the fracture is shaley. The colour is light brown, but
patches of grey suggest that originally the rock was of a grey
colour and has turned light brown through oxidation of ferru-
ginous matter. Some of the rock is not quite decalcified, certain
specimens retaining part of the original ealeie matter of the
shells; a number of the latter were treated with hydrochloric acid
to clear them for study. Thus, originally, the bedrock was a grey
calcareous arenaceous shale.
Specimens 27,188 and 27,190' are of coarser sandstone, and
are characterized by the presence of great numbers of erinoid
stem joints. They represent a change in facies, no doubt towards
shallower waters. A couple of pieces of rock are crowded with a
branching polyzoan, and other small facies differences have been
noted.
The fossils from Sandy’s Creek are of Bohemian (Konieprusy )
type facies, i.e., inner off-shore, or waters of moderate depth. The
Lower Devonian beds of the Lilydale and Killara districts are of
this facies (Gill, 1939, 1942, 1945a, 1945b, 1949a, 1949b, 1949c).
As is often the case with this type of facies, calcareous beds are
developed. Etheridge described corals (1899) and determined
shelly fossils (1902) from Sandy’s Creek.
The rocks from Sandy’s Creek have been affected by shearing
movements as is shown by the distortion of the fossils. Skeats
(1929, pp. 108-111) has discussed the tectonics of the area.
FAUNA
In the palaeontological collection studied, the following forms
have been recognized:
PLANTAE
Frag. indet. of simple land plant of the Hostimella type.
ANTHOZOA
Casts of “ Lindstroemia”’ type of solitary corals.
CRINOIDEA
Numerous stem joints and some pieces of stem.
POLYZOA
Acanthoclema flecuosa Chapman.
1 Specimen numbers in this paper, unless stated otherwise, are registered numbers in
the museum of the Victorian Mines Department.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 93
BRACHIOPODA
Cariniferella alpha sp. nov.
C. beta sp. nov.
Conchidium polymitum sp. nov.
Hospirifer eastoni sp. nov.
Spirifer (?Quadrifarius) sp.
Protoleptostrophia affinalata sp. nov.
Hipparionyx major sp. nov.
Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov.
LAMELLIBRANCHIATA
Tancrediopsis raricostae (Chapman).
Cosmogoniophora sp.
Pterineid fragment.
GASTEROPODA
Loxonema australis (Chapman).
PHYLLOCARIDA
? Ceratiocarid telson.
DISTRIBUTION
Taking the specific determinations only, the distribution of the
forms described is found to be as follows:
Faunule of Locality G 22.—Acanthoclema flexuosa, Cariniferella
alpha, C. beta, Eospirifer eastoni, Chonetes baragwanathi.
Faunule of Locality G23.—Cariniferella alpha, C. beta Pro-
toleptostrophia affinalata, Hipparionyx major, Chonetes
baragwanathi, Loxonema australis.
Faunule of Locality G 24.—Cariniferella alpha, Conchidium ef.
polymitum, Protoleptostrophia affinalata, Tancrediopsis
raricostae.
From locality G25 Hipparionyx major is the only specific
determination, and from locality G 26 there were none.
AGE OF STRATA
Hill (1939, p. 220) stated that the beds at Sandy’s Creek had
previously been considered Upper Silurian, but in her opinion
were Devonian; then, in a stratigraphical review in 1943 (table
opposite p. 64), placed the Sandy’s Creek beds on the boundary
between Siegenian and Coblenzian, but indicating by arrows that
94 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
the age could be between basal Lower Devonian and basal Middle
Devonian, as determined from the coral evidence.
In the present study, it is noted that the Loronema australis
from Sandy’s Creek cannot be distinguished from the type speci-
men which came from the Lilydale limestone, nor Tancrediopsis
raricostae from the type specimen collected from beds of Yer-
ingian age at Killara. Protoleptostrophia affinalata cannot be
specifically distinguished from specimens which occur in beds
among the highest in the Lilydale sequence, viz., at Hull Rd.,
Mooroolbark. The Eospirifer, Protoleptostrophia, Hipparionyz,
and Chonetes from Sandy’s Creek are comparable with forms
found in the Upper Yeringian shales and sandstones at Lilydale
(vide Gill, 1945a), but are more advanced, and therefore probably
slightly younger. Immediately above and slightly younger than
the shales and sandstones at Lilydale is the Lilydale limestone,
which is generally regarded as belonging to the upper end of the
Lower Devonian, although Hill (1939, 1943) considers a Middle
Devonian age possible. The Sandy’s Creek beds containing the
fossils deseribed in this paper are probably comparable in age
with the Lilydale limestone, but cannot be placed in the Middle
Devonian because of the presence of the genera Hospirifer and
Hipparionyx, which do not extend beyond the Lower Devonian.
On present knowledge, therefore, the age of the Sandy’s Creek
beds referred to in this paper is considered to be the top of the
Lower Devonian, i.e., Coblenzian.
A curious element in the fauna is Carimiferella, a genus of
Upper Devonian age in North America and Europe. However,
this genus has been erected comparatively recently, so that its
range and relationships are not well known. It is herein recorded
from Australia for the first time.
SYSTEMATIC DESCRIPTIONS
POLYZOA
Genus ACANTHOCLEMA Hall
Acanthoclema flecuosa Chapman
Acanthoclema flexuosa Chapman, Ree. Geol. Surv. Vic., Vol. IV, Pt. 2, 1920, p.
189. Pl. XXIV, Fig. 20; Pl. XXXII, Figs. 38-40.
A branching polyzoan from locality G22 (specimens 27,207,
27,208 and 27,211) apparently belongs to Chapman’s Acantho-
clema flexuosa, described from the Gibbo River, N.E. Gippsland,
and regarded as Yeringian in age. The holotype of this species is
housed in the National Museum, and is Reg. No. 15,964.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 95
BRACHIOPODA
Genus CARINIFERELLA Schuchert and Cooper
Cariniferella alpha sp. nov.
EL IIT, Біра, 24. 7.
Type Material. Holotype consisting of the steinkern of a
ventral valve, specimen 27,202 from locality G 22. Paratype con-
sisting of the steinkern of a dorsal valve, specimen 27,219 from
locality G 23. Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov. oceurs on the same
face of the specimen.
Description of Holotype. Ventral valve sub-orbicular in out-
line, moderately convex. Hingeline straight, less than greatest
width of shell; cardinal angles obtuse; rounded anterior border.
Narrow low fold down midline. Length 2-1 em., width 1-6 em., the
measurements being taken in one plane, i.e., not following the
convexity of the shell surface. Interarea smooth, comparatively
high (2-5 mm.), apsacline. Beak comparatively prominent, in-
curved.
Interior with deep delthyrial cavity; teeth strong. Well-defined
dental plates, which in the holotype are continued as faint ridges
which recurve round the anterior ends of the diductor sears.
These ridges are not seen in all specimens. Diductor scars elon-
gate, reaching a point 1 em. from the umbo, i.e., nearly half way
down the length of the valve; elevated adduetor traek, adjustor
scars narrow, short, posterior to diductor impressions.
External ornament shown on margin of internal surface of
valve, and is multieostellate, frequency of costellae being 25-30
per em.
Description of Paratype. Dorsal valve of similar outline to
ventral valve. Convex, but less so than ventral valve. Strongly
developed carina or sinus down midline of shell; anterior com-
missure suleate. Ornamentation multicostellate as shown round
edge of steinkern; increase by bifurcation. Interarea smooth,
anacline. Sockets deep, oblique; brachiophore plates widely
divergent, high, merged with median callus ridge which fades
into the carina down the midline. Cardinal process small, shaft
narrow, serrated with almost vertical striae at the posterior end.
The cardinalia are all close to the posterior margin of the shell.
Muscle field of dalmanellid type, ovate, divided mesially by
the deep sulcus characteristic of the genus; almost surrounded
laterally and posteriorly by ridges, which are crossed obliquely
in two places on each side by faint furrows, 1.е., ridges іп the
steinkern.
90 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Comment. Specimen 27,213 from locality G 22 contains a par-
tially decorticated dorsal valve of C. alpha which shows very
clearly the punctate nature of the shell substance of this species;
the nature of the median callus, brachiophores, and cardinal
process can also be seen. The part of the external mould in view
shows the presence of fine growth lines over the costellae, and
two fine concentric rugosities. It shows also that there are inter-
calations among the costellae as well as bifurcations, although the
latter are more common. The costellae are rounded in cross-
section.
The genus Cariniferella is Upper Devonian in U.S.A. and
Europe (Schuchert and Cooper 1932, Shimer and Shrock 1944),
and has not been recorded from Australia before.
Cariniferella beta sp. nov.
Pl, ПІ, Figs. 2-4, 9.
Type Material. Holotype consisting of the steinkern of a
ventral valve, specimen 27,182 from locality G 22. Paratype con-
sisting of the steinkern of a dorsal valve, specimen 27,210 from
locality G 22. Conchidium polymitum occurs on the same face of
the specimen.
Description of Holotype. General structure of shell similar to
that of C. alpha, but—
(1) The proportions are noticeably different. The shell is trans-
versely sub-elliptical, and measures 2:4 em. wide and 1-4 em. long,
1.е., the proportions are the reverse of those found in C. alpha. C.
ae is much wider than long, while C. alpha is much longer than
wide.
(2) The muscle field assumes approximately the proportions of
the general outline, and is more squat than in С. alpha. The muscle
field is 8-5 mm. long down the midline, and 7 mm. wide across the
middle of the field.
Description of Paratype. The general structure of the shell is
very much like that in C. alpha, and the better development of the
muscle field is probably just an expression of greater maturity in
the paratype specimen of С. beta. However, the chief differences
noted between the two species are:
(1) The differences in proportion noted in the ventral valve
apply to the dorsal valve as well. The paratype dorsal valve is
2-2 em. wide and 1:3 em. long.
(2) The muscle field is more squat than in the compared species,
measuring 6-5 mm. long (1.е., from the umbo) and 8-5 mm. wide.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 97
(3) The median sulcus or carina is not so well developed as in
C. alpha. This suleus is deep in C. alpha in both young shells (e.g.,
on specimen 27,220) and old shells, but at no time in the life history
is the sulcus deep in C. beta.
Comment. Study of the growth lines on these shells shows that
the sub-orbicular outline of С. alpha and the sub-elliptical outline
of C. beta are approximately the same throughout life, i.e., their
outlines do not change in proportions during growth. The two
species are readily distinguished by their outlines.
Genus CONCHIDIUM Hisinger, 1799
Conchidium polymitum sp. nov.
PLILIETBLRII, Bios, 012.18:
Type Material. Holotype consisting of steinkern of ventral
valve, specimen 27,181 from locality G 22.
Etymology. The trivial name is derived from the Greek word
polymitos (= with many threads). It refers to the multistriate
ornamentation of this species.
Description of Holotype. Ventral valve very convex. Umbo
high but not overhanging that of the dorsal valve. Shell thick;
ornamentation of very numerous striae. Part of the original ealeie
material of the shell is preserved and shows the shell substance
to be impunctate.
Interior with strong spondylium supported by a median septum
about 1 cm. long. Measured posteriorly the spondylium is 6-5 mm.
wide and 8 mm. high on the outside measurement, and 5-5 mm.
wide and 6-5 mm. high on the inside measurement. The septum is
high; it is thick where it joins the spondylium on the floor of the
shell, then gradually thins both dorsally and anteriorly. A fine
furrow continues the line of the septum for some distance; this is
flanked on one side by a fine ridge which may be the result of
crushing. As with the other fossils of this fauna, the holotype
has suffered shearing. Genital markings are very distinct in the
umbonal area of the valve.
Comment. In the collection from Sandy’s Creek there are two
dorsal valves of Conchidium (specimens 27,205 and 27,228), but
these vary from one another, and at present there is no way of
telling whether one or neither of these is the dorsal valve of C.
polymitum. However, in both specimens the septal plates are
long (half the length of the valve or more) and slightly divergent.
From the series of specimens present, it is clear that C. poly-
mitum was biconvex, subtriangular, and rectimarginate; also the
G
98 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
surface costellae had a frequency of about 24 per em. However,
the ornamentation was finer at the umbo (specimen 27,195B). The
beaks of some specimens are more recurved than others, but none
are as rostrate as the genotype.
The nearest relatives of C. polymitum are found in beds of
similar facies and age at Killara and Lilydale, but these forms
have not yet been described. Somewhat similar shells have been
described by Shirley (1938, pp. 474-475) from the Baton River
Beds of Lower Devonian age in New Zealand, but the coarse
ornamentation on Shirley’s specimens is very different from that
on C. polymitum.
Genus HOSPIRIFER Schuchert, 1913
Eospirifer easton sp. nov.
PL ПІ, Figs. 20, 21, 23.
Type Material. Holotype consisting of the steinkern of a dorsal
valve on specimen 27,180, and part of the external mould of the
same shell on specimen 27,183, the two specimens being counter-
parts. Both are from locality G22, and Chonetes baragwanathi
occurs on the same slab.
Description of Holotype. Valve convex, non-plicate, large, being
about 5-5 em. wide and the same long, the measurements being
taken in one plane, 1.е., not following the contours of the shell.
When the profiles are followed, the width is about 7-8 cm. and the
length 8-8 em. Precise measurements are not possible as there is
slight lateral crushing and all the margin is not preserved. Fold
down middle of shell rises anterior to the umbo, rapidly gaining
height and then gradually widening towards the anterior margin.
The fold is about 7 mm. wide in the middle of the shell, and about
1 em. wide at the anterior end. The fold varies from 4 to 5 mm.
high. A narrow and low median fold is superimposed on the main
fold from where the latter commences to a point more than half
way down the midline of the shell.
Palintrope well developed; interarea covered with fine trans-
verse striae, and 2-3 to 3 mm. high. Shell considerably thickened
about the umbo; beak small. Hingeplate strong, divided, with
laterally elongate sockets in which to accommodate the teeth of
the ventral valve. Hingeplate supported by strong crural bases,
which are in the form of lamellae, slightly divergent, which reach
a point about 8 mm. from the umbo. They lose height rapidly just
in front of the anterior edge of the hingeplate, but rise a little and
thicken before terminating. Between them is a broad low ridge (a
depression in the steinkern).
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 99
Ornamentation of fine costellae shows faintly on the steinkern,
being clearer at the anterior end of the shell. The external mould
shows the ornamentation to consist of fine costellae or striae,
rounded in cross-section, which average 34 per em., variation
occurring according to the frequency of new intercalations. As
increase is by intercalation, the new fine ribs alongside the full-
sized ones sometimes give an appearance of pairing or alternation
of costellar size. Fine growth lines cross the costellae, with a
frequency of the order of 17 per mm. In places there are stronger
growth lines, generally discontinuous. In the piece of external
mould preserved, there are also a couple of growth lines so strong
and continuous as to form fine ridges which interrupt the
ornament.
Comment. The thickened shell and heavy growth lines are
considered to be evidence of phylogerontism. Eospirifer ranges
from Middle Silurian to Lower Devonian. Other specimens of
Eospirifer have been figured from Victorian strata (Gill, 1942),
and other undescribed forms are held, but the new species is
nearest that figured in the 1942 paper on Plate VI, Fig. 8 (Nat.
Mus. Vic., reg. no. 14,105), from Lilydale. Both have the super-
imposed secondary folds which are well known also in E. secans
(Barrande) whieh Shirley (1938) has figured from the Baton
River Beds of New Zealand. However, although alike, they differ
in the structure of the cardinalia, and the Sandy's Creek fossil
is notably bigger. The two forms are closely related but not
identical.
The species is named after Mr. J. G. Easton, who collected the
Sandy's Creek fossils.
Genus SPIRIFER Sowerby, 1814
Subgenus Quadrifarius Fuchs, 1923
Spirifer (1Quadrifarius) sp.
From locality G22 on Sandy’s Creek, there is preserved the
steinkern of a spiriferid (specimen 27,195B). It is a ventral valve
with a well-defined non-costate sinus on each side of which there
are ten costae. The shell is broader than long, and the beak
well-defined. The valve is 2-5 em. wide and 1-8 em. long, these
measurements being taken in one plane. Dental plates 7-8 mm.
long and about half a millimetre wide, which follow down the
outer flanks of the costae on each side of the central sinus of the
shell. There is also a weakly-defined median septum about 12 mm.
long, i.e., about two-thirds the length of the shell. No external
mould was among the fossils received, and thus it was impossible
100 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
to determine the nature of the external ornament, which is impor-
tant in this case. For this reason the fossil is referred with some
reserve to Quadrifarius, but it has the long ventral median septum
and dental plates found in that subgenus (Fuchs 1923, Asselbergh
1930, 1931, Dahmer 1942). The long median septum and dental
plates are seen also in smaller ventral steinkerns on specimens
27,216 (from G 23) and 27,232 (from G 25).
Genus PROTOLEPTOSTROPHIA Caster, 1939
Protoleptostrophia affinalata sp. nov.
Pl. IT, Fig. 6; Pl. III, Figs. 19, 22.
Type Material. Holotype consisting of the steinkern of a ven-
tral valve, specimen 27,214. There are more than twenty shells of
this species on the slab or rock containing the holotype, along with
a dorsal valve of Chonetes baragwanatht. The holotype is marked
with an “А” on the specimen. Paratype consisting of a steinkern
of a dorsal valve on the same slab of rock as the holotype. The
paratype is marked with a “В” on the specimen.
Description of Holotype. Ventral valve slightly convex, sub-
semicircular. Width as preserved 2-7 cm., probably З em. when
complete; length 2 cm. Shell has a few weakly-developed, discon-
tinuous, concentric wrinkles. Hingeline greatest width of shell;
cardinal angles alate. Interarea makes an angle of the order of
120° (measured with the eye only) with the plane of the shell.
Teeth file occupies only about one-quarter of the height of the
area, which is about 1 mm. Teeth vertical (i.e., at right angles
to the hingeline), fine, and even, there being approximately 3
per mm.
Muscle field well defined by dental ridges which form an angle
of about 40° (though in other specimens it ranges as high as 707);
about 12 mm. long, i.e., more than half the length of the shell. At
the posterior end, the muscle field is very narrow, then spreads out
anteriorly. At the fine posterior apices of the diductor scars, on
each side of the median septum, there are pronounced knobs on
the steinkern which represent cavities on the original shell. The
muscle scars are striate, and on each side of the median septum
the diductors are divided by ridges into three more or less equal
areas. The median septum is broad and low. At the posterior end
the septum is characterized by a superimposed median furrow
(ridge in steinkern) about 3 mm. long.
Outside the muscle field, the whole inner surface of the shell is
very finely and closely papillose, the papillae extending right to
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 101
the margin of the shell, so that the costellae of the external surface
are not shown as is so often the case with strophomenids. The
papillae cover much of the median septum between the muscle
scars, and also run up the ridges effecting the tripartite division
of the muscle areas on each side of the septum.
Description of Paratype. Dorsal valve more or less flat with
holocrenulate hingeline ; there is no interarea apart from the teeth
file. Small quadrifid sessile cardinal process, scarcely if at all
extending beyond the hingeline. The two central prongs of the
process are elongate, being about 1-5 mm. long and 0-5 mm. wide.
They are but slightly splayed apart. On each side of these larger
prongs, almost at the hingeline, are much smaller ones. Crural
bases obselete. Adductor scars small, posteriorly situated, the
rims forming a pair of inverted U-shapes. Stronger papillae
occur on each side of these scars than occur on the rest of the
inner surface of the valve.
Comment. Other specimens on the same slab as the types indi-
cate that the ornamentation of the external surface is costellate.
The new species varies in proportions, but it is difficult to make
satisfactory measurements owing to the crushing which the matrix
has suffered. There are variations also in the length and width of
the ventral median septum, although the specimens available hint
that there may be two distinct varieties. More material is needed
to determine this with certainty. The extension of the papillae to
the edge of the inner surface of the ventral valve indicates that
secondary deposition occurred over the whole of the interior of the
valve, a condition which contrasts with that usually observed in
strophomenids.
The large muscle field with its strongly developed ridges in the
ventral valve is a mark of an advanced form in a genetic sequence,
and may be compared with similar structures in Hipparionyz.
The early protoleptostrophids show no division of the ventral
muscle into bundles (e.g., P. plateia from Tasmania—Gill, 1948).
Then follow forms in which a tripartite division is present, as
in the new species described above. Finally, there is the group
covered by the genus Leptostrophia in which a further division
has taken place, giving six muscle bundles. Since Prolepto-
strophia is found in both Lower and Middle Devonian, while
Leptostrophra, although a specialized form, existed only in the
Lower Devonian, it is to be inferred that Leptostrophia was an
offshoot from the main line of development. It appears to have
ended in a cul-de-sac, while the less specialized Proleptostrophia
gave rise to other forms. i
102 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Generic Position. This form is tentatively referred to Pro-
leptostrophia (Caster, 1939), which has been defined in brief by
Cooper (in Shimer and Shrock, 1944, p. 341) as ‘‘Smaller than
Leptostrophia with nearly flat dorsal valve; ventral musculature
like Leptostrophia; dorsal interior with small bilobed cardinal
process and small posteriorly located adductor field." P. affinalata
agrees with this diagnosis except for the two minute knobs outside
the main prongs of the cardinal process, making it into a quadrifid
one. However, P. affinalata closely approaches Leptostrophia, and
without a bigger range of specimens one cannot be sure that fully
mature forms are present.
The holotype of the new species possesses a few weakly-
developed discontinuous wrinkles, but these are not the “strong
concentric wrinkles as in Leptaena” to which Caster refers as
distinguishing Rhytistrophia. There seems to be a gradation from
shells without wrinkles into the strongly wrinkled ones accom-
modated in Rhytistrophia.
Affinities. The trivial name of the new species is intended to
indicate its affinity with P. alata (Chapman, 1903) from north of
Lilydale (for precise locality see Gill, 1940), which is Upper
Yeringian. The two species have a similar crenulation, standing
in eontrast with another group of protoleptostrophids which has
the whole height of the ventral interarea occupied by the teeth file
as in the genotype of Leptostrophia. The two species also have
similar alate eardinal angles, and both possess a quadrilobate
eardinal process. However, P. affinalata differs from P. alata
chiefly in the following points:
(1) The ventral muscle field of the new species is much more
developed than in the compared species. P. affinalata has a large
exeavated muscle field with a long median septum, strong dental
ridges, and ridges dividing the diductor muscles into bundles. P.
alata has a smaller, unexcavated muscle field with but moderate
dental ridges, and the diductor muscles not divided into bundles
by ridges.
(2) The interior of the ventral valve is much more strongly
papillose in P. affinalata than in P. alata, and the latter is char-
acterized by a row of larger papillae ranged along the dental
ridges. The second feature is seen in a number of protolepto-
strophids including P. plateia, and undescribed forms from Kil-
lara and Heathcote districts in Victoria. No such row of papillae
oceurs in P. affinalata.
Distribution. Brachiopods not specifically separable from P.
affinalata have been collected from Hull Road, Mooroolbark.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 103
These specimens have the same long and well-defined ventral
muscle field, although not quite so prominent as in P. affinalata.
The ridges dividing the diductors into three bundles are present,
but again not quite so prominently. Also, the whole interior of the
valve is covered with fine papillae, but this secondary deposition
is not sufficiently thick to completely mask the external ornament
as is the case with the Sandy’s Creek fossils. In short, the same
structures are present in the specimens from the two localities,
but their development is less pronounced in the Mooroolbark form.
One is presented with the problem as to whether these differences
are genotypic or phenotypic, due to inherent constitution or
merely to facies effects or differences in degree of maturity. An
attempt was made to solve this by studying the young forms of
P. affinalata preserved on the same slab as the holotype. It was
noted that in specimens half the size of the holotype that the same
strong papillosity is present and extends right to the edge of the
shell. It is thus clear that the extent of the internal ornament is
not affected by degree of maturity. The same applies to the
general definition of the muscle field. However, the median sep-
tum and ridges dividing the ventral diductors into bundles are
very indistinct in the young specimens; these therefore are
features that vary with degree of maturity. As there are no
major facies differences between the Sandy’s Creek beds and the
Mooroolbark ones in which the fossils under discussion were
found, it may be inferred that the difference in degree of internal
ornament is a genotypic and not a phenotypic one. The most
developed of the specimens from Mooroolbark is not nearly as
advanced as the well-developed specimens from Sandy’s Creek.
Variant Form. Specimen 27,229A from locality G 24 preserves
a ventral valve of Protoleptostrophia which varies from P. affina-
lata in that the teeth occupy the whole of the ventral interarea,
and not just the anterior part of it. This is the only specimen
noted in the collection with this variation.
Genus HIPPARIONYX Vanuxem, 1842
Hipparionyx major sp. Nov.
РІ. II, Figs. 1-3, 8.
Type Material. H olotype consisting of the steinkern of a ven-
tral and a dorsal valve lying with hingelines together, flat open
(specimens 27,177 and 97,179 glued together) and the external
mould of same (specimens 27,178 and 27,201 glued together) from
locality G22. As the steinkern and external mould are impres-
104 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
sions of different parts of the same biological-specimen, they are
collectively regarded as the holotype. Paratype consisting of the
steinkern of a dorsal valve (specimen 27,235) from locality G 25.
It is to be noted that the paratype comes from a different locality
from that of the holotype, but the two localities are close to one
another both geographically and stratigraphically. A large part
of a dorsal valve is also present in the material from G 22 (speci-
men 27,179).
Description of Holotype. Ventral valve outline subcircular.
Valve flexed so as to be a little convex near the umbo and a
little concave for most of the remainder of the shell, Hingeline
shorter than greatest width. The broken margin precludes precise
measurement, but the shell was 6-5-7 em. long and 7-5-8 em. wide.
Ornamentation of costellae radially disposed except that those
near the hingeline are bent back to meet it. On the umbonal half
of the shell the ornament looks comparatively disperse, while in
the marginal area it looks closely packed. On the umbonal half the
costellae appear to alternate in size, while in the marginal half
they appear to be of equal size. This general appearance is due,
first of all, to the presence of primary costellae which alternate
in the umbonal half of the shell with secondary costellae. The
primary costellae can be traced right to the umbo, where the
secondary costellae are so fine that they cannot be traced without
doubt. The secondary costellae increase in size until they equal
the primary ones. About a third of the way to the anterior margin,
tertiary costellae are intercalated, and by half way down the shell
they become a noticeable part of the ornament through increase in
size.
Thus in the marginal half of the shell, primary, secondary and
tertiary costellae, having reached equal size, impart a regular and
fine appearance to the ornament. Towards the margin, further
intercalations and some bifurcations cause the regularity of the
ornament to be maintained. Concentric ornamentation is also
present in the form of fine lines which in the centre were counted
as 28 per cm., but on the sides of the shell are still finer, because
the shell has to grow faster anteriorly than laterally in order to
maintain its proportions. Yet a third type of ornamentation is
present in the form of concentric rugae, or rather furrows. The
' most marked and continuous of these are where the more disperse
ornament of the posterior end of the shell is replaced by the more
regular ornament of the anterior end. The ornament of the dorsal
valve is similar to that of the ventral valve. This description has
been made from a plasticine impression of the external mould of
the holotype.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 105
Interarea 4-5 mm. high in the middle; forms a somewhat acute
angle with the plane of the exterior shell surface. Teeth supported
by strong dental plates which continue anteriorly into thick ridges
which completely enclose the muscle field. The dental lamellae and
ridges are not vertical, but rise from the floor of the shell inwards
at an angle. Muscle field inverted heart-shape, 2-5 em. long down
the midline and with greatest width of 2-8 em. Adductor impres-
sions of oval outline, about 1 em. long and 0-5 em. wide, divided
by a broad low median septum which becomes higher and sharper
on the anterior side of the impressions. Adductor scars nearly
smooth, and surrounded by diductor scars radially strongly
furrowed, and with concentric fine lines and rugae. Anterior
margin somewhat crenulate. The remainder of the interior of
the ventral valve is marked with costellae (especially near the
margin), with concentric ridges, and with very numerous fine
papillae irregularly disposed. The papillae tend to be bluntly
conical in shape, but a great number are irregular.
Interior of dorsal valve shows massive cardinalia. Strong blade-
like septum 1-5 mm. high at the posterior end, but decreasing in
height and width anteriorly. Septum reaches about 2-8 em. from
the hingeline. Large crural bases about 1-5 mm. wide, disposed
more or less parallel with the hingeline.
Description of Paratype. The dorsal valve of the holotype,
being in situ, is naturally partly hidden at the posterior end by
the big umbo of the ventral valve. A paratype consisting of a
steinkern of a dorsal valve is therefore presented in order to
elucidate the umbonal structures. This steinkern shows a very
large cardinal process with two large discrete prongs, each divided
posteriorly into two small knobs or processes. The prongs are
splayed apart (Pl. IL, Fig. 2), are 3-5 mm. wide, and merged
anteriorly into the median septum, which in this specimen is
prominent for 2 сіп. but continues less conspicuously to a point
3 em. from the umbo. At the umbonal end, the septum is 1 mm.
wide and 1-5 mm. high. The size of the cardinal process means it
would project some distanee into the umbonal cavity of the ventral
valve, but the holotype steinkern shows that this was capacious.
'l'he erural bases are strong, 2 mm. wide, and stand parallel to the
hingeline. The cardinal and brachial processes are fused into one
massive plate. Palintrope obsolete.
Comment. Points of ecological interest are:
(1) The presence of the two valves together in the holotype is
evidence of comparatively quiet waters, an inference already
made from the composition of the fauna as a whole.
106 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
(2) The difference in ornamentation on the different parts of
the mature shell means that the young forms have quite a
different appearance from the older ones.
(3) Specimens 27,231 and 27,216 show corals growing on Hip-
parionyx shells.
(4) Hipparionyx major is the biggest Lower Devonian brachio-
pod known in Australasia, and perhaps in the world.
(5) The costellae of the outer surface show clearly on the margin
of the inner surface of the shell. Inside that margin is the
papillate area. There are no papillae on the costellate margin
of the inner surface. So apparently the shell was thickened
by secondary deposition on the inside of the shell, and the
papillae were part of the secondary growth.
Points of evolutionary and palaeogeographic interest are:
(1) Hipparionyx minor and Н. proximus form an evolutionary
sequence in the Lower Devonian rocks of North America, the
former being characteristic of the Chapman sandstone and
the latter of the succeeding Oriskany sandstone. H. proximus
is essentially a more developed H. minor. Such a sequence
appears to be present in the Lower Devonian rocks of
Victoria. Brachiopods from the Lilydale district have been
referred to H. minor (Gill, 1942), and H. major sp. nov. is
essentially a more developed H. minor, hence the trivial name.
Although H. major is distinct from H. proximus, it is never-
theless comparable with it in degree of development and in
size. In view of this evolutionary trend, it is likely that the
beds containing H. major are a little younger than those
containing H. minor. A similar conclusion is reached from
the study of Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov. and Protolepto-
strophia affinalata sp. nov.
(2) The massive character of the cardinalia, and the development
of adventitious growth lines and rugae, may be interpreted
as evidences of phylogerontism. Such evidences are present
also in Chonetes baragwanathi. Hipparionyx is an offshore
facies shell, but ponderous forms like H. major are not char-
acteristic of that environment.
(3) Hippariony« is widespread in Victoria, occurring in many
localities in the Lilydale area, at Mooroolbark (Hull Road),
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 107
at Kilsyth (for locality see Chapman, 1907), at Killara
(Syme’s Homestead—for locality see Gill, 1945b), and now
in Gippsland. It appears to be strictly limited to beds of
offshore facies. This is true also of New Zealand, where it
occurs in the Lower Devonian beds of Bohemian (offshore)
facies on the Baton River, but is not recorded from the con-
temporaneous beds of Rhenish (inshore) facies near Reefton.
Genus CHONETES Fischer, 1837
Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov.
Pl. III, Figs. 10, 14, 16, 20, 23.
Type Material. Holotype consisting of the steinkern of a
ventral valve on specimen 27,219 from locality G23. Paratype
consisting of the steinkern (specimen 27,214B) and an external
mould (27,214A) of a dorsal valve from locality G 23.
Description of Holotype. Ventral valve sub-semicircular,
strongly convex but also crushed a little anterior-posteriorly, thus
shortening its natural length and exaggerating its natural con-
vexity. Greatest width of shell 3 em., greatest length (measured
in one plane) 1-2 em., and length following profile 2-1 cm. Shal-
low median fold as in Chonetes robusta. Hingeline straight and
slightly less than greatest width of shell. Interarea smooth,
narrow—about 0-5 mm. Along the cardinal margin are the
stumps of strong spines set at right angles to the hingeline. There
are indubitably three on each side of the umbo, and their positions
suggest that there were five on each side. Beak inconspicuous.
Thin and relatively high median septum extending to a point 3-5
mm. from the umbo, after which there is a continuation in the
form of a very slight rise on the floor of the shell as far as 6 mm.
from the umbo. The septum is merged with the palintrope pos-
teriorly and ends abruptly anteriorly except for the linear in-
cipient septum already mentioned. During cleaning, the steinkern
broke away a little on the right side of the septum, but there is
still clearly shown on the other side a small narrow platform, i.e.,
an excavation in the original shell, widening anteriorly and merg-
ing into the general floor of the shell where the main septum ends.
Outside this platform on each side is a marked depression in the
steinkern (raised, portion in the original shell), outside of which
again is a corresponding raised portion (depression in shell).
108 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
These structures are minute, occurring within 3 mm. radius of the
umbo; they are interpreted as organs belonging to the muscular
system.
When counted in the middle of the shell, there are 32 slightly
sinuous costellae, some of which bifurcate so that they number 42
on the anterior margin. The costellae are moderately sharp in
cross-section where well preserved, and each intercostellar space
is approximately equal in width to the adjoining costella. The
interior of the shell is closely and finely papillose, but the papillae
tend to be limited to the intercostellar spaces of the steinkern (1.е.,
the inside surface of the costellae of the external surface), the
possible significance of which has been discussed elsewhere (Gill,
1949a). The papillae are elongate and orientated to the direction
of the costellae; they are generally less than 0:25 mm. long. Very
fine growth lines appear on the holotype steinkern and have been
noted on other steinkerns and external moulds (e.g., specimens
27,180 and 27,183, which are counterparts), so much so that they
are regarded as characteristic of this species.
On specimen 27,200 is to be seen part of each of the two valves
of this species in situ. The dorsal valve is strongly concave, and
the space between the two valves small, as it is in Chonetes
robusta (vide Chapman 1903, Pl. XII, Fig. 8).
Description of Paratype. Shell strongly concave, and of outline
and ornament similar to those of the holotype ventral valve. From
the small part of the hingeline preserved on the steinkern, it is
inferred that the dorsal interarea was linear. On the interior, at
the umbo, are two sub-rectangular plates or low flattened nodes
between which (on the midline) there is a furrow shown by a
raised platform on the steinkern. From the lower outer edges of
the plates project fine plate-like septa 2-2-5 mm. long. Between
the plates is a muscle area characterized by absence of costellae,
due no doubt to secondary calcification. A median septum is
present, about 6-5 mm. long, which is low and somewhat indistinet
in the muscle field, but high and plate-like anterior to the field.
The same long median septum and accessory septa are seen in
specimen 27,183 from locality G22. This is the steinkern of a
dorsal valve, the external mould of which is seen on its counter-
part, specimen 27,180 associated with Eospirifer eastoni sp. nov.
(PL ILI, Figs. 20, 23).
Comment. Chonetes baragwanathi is closely related to C.
robusta of the Upper Yeringian (Chapman 1903, Gill 1942, 19453,
1949a, 1949b). It possesses similar general proportions and varia-
tions in proportions, similar convexity, similar small body space
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 109
between the valves, similar costellation, and similar short ventral
median septum. On the other hand, the new Species contrasts with
C. robusta in—
(1) The presence of growth lines and papillae. Neither of these
structures is seen in the holotype, which is re-figured in РІ. ІП,
Fig. 17, nor have they been seen by the writer in any other speci-
men belonging to the species.
(2) The small structures on each side of the ventral median
septum are quite different from those in C. robusta. The holotype
of the latter does not preserve this area of the valve, and so there
is figured herewith (Pl. III, Fig. 15) a specimen of С. robusta
glued to the same plaque as the holotype by the author of the
species as being a further typical example of the form; it is also
a topotype.
(3) The costellae in C. baragwanathi occupy more space than
those in С. robusta. The former is much bigger than the latter,
but the two have approximately the same number of ribs.
(4) The holotype of C. robusta is larger than is usual for that
Species, and indeed I have seen none larger. But C. baragwanathi
is half as big again as the holotype of C. robusta, and the other
specimens present in the Sandy’s Creek collection show that the
holotype of the new species is a typical specimen.
(5) Of considerable interest and importance are the plates and
long median septum in the interior of the dorsal valve. The
umbonal plates are interpreted as crural bases because they occupy
the position usual to those structures and could well fulfil their
function. However, they are not as divergent as the crural bases
usually are in Chonetes.
C. baragwanathi is the most advanced of the C. robusta group
of species, viz., C. robusta, C. kWlarensis, C. productoida, and
Chonetes sp. from Jerusalem Creek (Gill 1945e, p. 123).
Genus TANCREDIOPSIS Beushausen
Tancrediopsis raricostae ( Chapman)
Pl. II, Fig. 4; Pl. ITI, Figs. 5, 8, 11.
Palaeoneilo raricostae Chapman 1908, Mem. Nat. Mus., Vic., No. 2, pp. 34-35,
Pl. III, Fig. 50.
Material for Description. A single specimen (No. 27,229A)
from locality G 24. It is a steinkern of a right valve, and a small
piece of the external mould (No. 27,2298, now mounted in plaster
of paris) was obtained when clearing the fossil; this shows the
nature of the ornamentation.
110 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Description. Length 2 em., height 8 mm., and thickness (of
single valve) 3 mm. Shell rostrate, the umbo being half way
between the anterior and posterior ends of the valve. Shell convex,
especially in the umbonal region, but somewhat depressed towards
the outer margins. Anteriorly broad and well rounded; the mar-
gin meets the cardinal line at an angle of the order of 160°.
Posteriorly the height of the shell is much reduced. There is a
shallow but definite depression down the umbonal slope. At the
posterior end of the shell, near the cardinal margin, is a sub-
circular sear about 3 mm. in diameter. Cardinal line arcuate;
dentition taxodont, teeth large. The beak is depressed so as to
hide the central part of the cardinal line, but nine teeth can be
counted on the anterior side of the umbo and ten on the posterior
side (although the innermost one is small). The steinkern shows
that the sockets are quadrate on the anterior side of the umbo, but
on the posterior side they are more elongate and possess a median
ridge (furrow in the steinkern).
As shown by the space between the steinkern and external
mould, the shell was 0-5 mm. thick at the umbo. The fragment of
external mould shows the ornament to consist of well-marked
lamellae nearly a millimetre apart; the areas between the lamellae
have numerous fine striae parallel with the lamellae.
Comment. The holotype specimen of this species (National
Museum reg. no. 7,918) had only about one-eighth of an inch of
the hingeline showing, the original figure being in the nature of a
reconstruction to a certain extent. The steinkern has now been
cleared and is re-figured (РІ, III, Fig. 11), but the hingeline
characters are poorly preserved. The Sandy’s Creek fossil is not
considered to vary specifically from this type.
MeLearn (1924, p. 100) referred Chapman’s species to the
genus T'ancrediopsis.
Genus COSMOGONIOPHORA MeLearn, 1918
Cosmogoniophora sp.
Part of a valve is preserved on specimen 27,226 from locality
G 24. MeLearn established the genus to include Goniophora
Species possessing radiating striae. Cosmogoniophora was noted
to be very common in the Devonian, but in the Silurian confined
to the Arisaig Stonehouse Formation. Shells with ornament
similar to the one from Sandy’s Creek occur at Hull Road,
Mooroolbark.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 111
Genus LOXONEMA Phillips, 1841
Loxonema australis (Chapman)
Pl. II, Fig. 5.
Loxonema sinuosa Sowerby, var. australis Chapman 1916, p. 96, Pl. V, Fig. 39.
Chapman's new variety was based on a fragment of a shell from
Cave Hill, Lilydale, consisting of most of one whorl and a little of
the one above it. For reasons set out below the variety is raised
to species status.
Re-description of Holotype. This is National Museum reg. no.
12,851. The whorl profile is rounded, and the sutures moderately
deep. The whorl is about 2 em. in diameter and the part visible
in the complete shell about 1 cm. high, The ornamentation is
costellate, the costellae being of rounded cross-section, and the
interspaces the width of a costella or less. There are eight to nine
costellae per cm. The costellae begin at the upper suture at almost
a right angle to the suture, then curve round so as to make an
angle of about 50° with the lower suture. One small area of stein-
kern shows that the interior was smooth.
Comment on Holotype. It is very difficult to make out the
“tendency to form a faint nodose shelf near the basal part of the
whorl" on which Chapman based his variety. However, the form
contrasts with L. sinuosa in that the ornament is much coarser,
and the costellae follow a much straighter course. In L. sinuosa
the costellae are sigmoid, but this term can scarcely apply to the
form from Lilydale. In view of these marked differences, I sug-
gest the variety be established as a species.
Description of Sandy’s Creek Form. Specimen 27,217 from
locality G 23 is a steinkern of the two lower whorls, above which
appears the external mould of five further whorls, but the nucleus
is missing. The steinkern of the lowest whorl is not quite com-
plete, but the one above it is 1 em. in diameter. Тһе whorls
decrease evenly in size, and the highest is 2 mm. in diameter.
The whorl profile is rounded and the sutures moderately deep.
The ornamentation is costellate, and the course of the costellae
across the face of the whorl is as described for L. australis. The
steinkern shows that the interior was smooth, except that the
ornamentation shows faintly on part of the lowest whorl.
Comment on Sandy’s Creek Form. The only difference I can
see between the type of L. australis and the form just described is
that the form is larger and the ornamentation proportionately
coarser. As the whorls get bigger, the costellae become fewer per
em. of whorl face. On present knowledge it would appear that the
112 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Sandy's Creek form belongs to L. australis. The holotype is rather
an inadequate specimen, but better topotype material has not yet
been found to enable a fuller description of the species.
In the National Museum collection (reg. no. 1569) there is a
similar form of Loxonema from “‘Griffith’s Kiln, 7 miles south
of Mansfield,” i.e., Loyola. The specimen was presented by Mr.
E. O. Thiele. The Loyola locality is also a Yeringian one (Lower
Devonian). The North American forms L. hamiltoniae Hall and
L. delphicola Hall, both of Hamilton age, are of similar type to
L. australis.
2Ceratiocarid telson
РІ. III, Fig. 13.
On specimen 27,226 from locality G 24 is a fossil of uncertain
affinities. It may well be the telson of a large ceratiocarid. Its
length is 8-8 em. and its width 6-5 mm. at one end and 1-5 mm. at
the other. The fossil is a smooth steinkern, not quite complete.
The line down the length of the spine is a fracture such as would
be expected with the crushing of a hollow structure of this shape.
The flattening exaggerates the natural width at the wide end. The
fossil appears to have been originally of oval cross-section, and in
this it differs from any eurypterid spine I have seen. The broken
wide end suggests a broken-off spine. However, the possibility of
the fossil being a particularly large Coleolus type of shell, for
instance, cannot be dismissed, but no sign of the ornamentation
common with such forms is in evidence. Shells of the Coleolus
type are common in Lower Devonian beds in Victoria, but are
always comparatively small.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The author is indebted to Dr. D. E. Thomas, Chief Geologist,
and Mr. W. Baragwanath, Geological Consultant of the Mines
Department of Victoria, for the opportunity to study the Sandy’s
Creek fossils, and for the map which appears herein as Fig. 1.
Likewise my thanks to Mr. L. A. Baillót, of the Melbourne Tech-
nical College, who took the photographs appearing in Plates 11
and III.
LITERATURE REFERENCES
Asselberghs, E., 1930. Description des Faunes Marines du Gedinnien de
l’Ardenne. Mém. Mus. Hist. Nat. Belg., 41.
1931. Sur 1'identité de Spirifer dwmontianus de Koninck et de Quadrifarius
loculatus Fuchs. Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Belg., 7, No. 20.
Caster, K. E., 1939. A Devonian Fauna from Columbia. Bull. Amer. Paleont.,
Vol, 24, No. 83.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 113
Chapman, F., 1903. New or Little-known Victorian Fossils in the National
Museum, Melbourne. Pt. II, Some Silurian Molluscoidea. Proc. Roy.
۴ Soe. Vic., n.s., Vol. XVI (1), pp. 60-82.
1907. On the Occurrence of Yeringian Fossiliferous Mudstone at Croydon.
Vict. Nat., Vol. XXIII (11), pp. 237-239.
1908. A Monograph of the Silurian Bivalved Mollusea of Victoria. These
Memoirs, No. 2.
1916. New or Little-known Victorian Fossils in the National Museum. Pt.
XIX, The Yeringian Gasteropod Fauna. Proc. Roy. бос. Vie., n.s., Vol.
XXIX (1), pp. 75-103.
1920. Palaeozoic Fossils of Eastern Victoria, Pt. IV. Бес. Geol. Surv. Vie.,
Vol. IV (2), pp. 175-194.
Dahmer, G., 1942. Die Fauna der ‘‘Gedinne’’-Schichten von Wiesmes іп der
Nordwest-Eifel. Senckenbergiana, Bd. 25 (1-3), pp. 111-156.
Etheridge, J., 1899. Descriptions of New or Little-known Victorian Palaeozoic
and Mesozoic Fossils, No. 1. Prog. Rept. Geol. Surv. Vic., No. 11, pp.
30-36.
1902. Determinations of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic Fossils. Ree. Geol. Surv.
Vie., Vol. 1 (1), pp. 10-12.
Fuchs, A., 1923. Über die Beziehungen des sauerlandischen Faciesgebietes zur
belgischen Nord—und Siidfacies und ihre Bedeutung für das Alter der
Verseschichten. Jb. preuss. geol. Landesanst. f., 1921, 42, pp. 839-859.
Gill, E. D., 1940. The Silurian Roeks of Melbourne and Lilydale: A Diseussion
of the Melbournian-Yeringian Boundary and Associated Problems.
Proc. Roy. Soc. Vie., n.s., Vol. LII (2), pp. 249-261.
1942. The Thickness and Age of the Type Yeringian Strata, Lilydale, Vie.
Ibid., LIV (1), pp. 21-52.
1945a. Chonetidae from the Palaeozoie Rocks of Vietoria, and their Strati-
graphical Significance. 1bid., LVII (1-2), рр. 125-150.
1945b. Trilobita of the Family Calymenidae from the Palaeozoie Rocks of
Victoria. Ibid., LVI (2), рр. 171-186.
1945c. Fossils from Jerusalem Creek, Eildon District, Victoria. Vict. Nat.,
Vol. 62 (7), pp. 122-124.
1948. Eldon Group Fossils from the Lyell Highway, Western Tasmania. Rec.
Queen Victoria Mus., Launceston, Vol. II (2), pp. 57-74.
1949a. The Biological Significance of Exoskeletal Structures in the Palaeozoic
Brachiopod Genus Chonetes. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vie. (in press).
1949b. Palaeogeography of the Australia-New Zealand Area in Lower Dev-
onian Time. Trans. Roy. Soc. N.Z. (in press).
19492. A Study of the Palaeozoic Genus Hercynella, with Description of
Three Species from the Yeringian (Lower Devonian) of Victoria. Proc.
Roy. Soc. Vic. (in press). |
Hill, Dorothy, 1939: The Devonian Rugose Corals of Lilydale and Loyola. Ibid.,
LI (2), pp. 219-256. ң қ
1943, А Re-Interpretation of the Australian Palaeozoic Record, based оп а
Study of the Rugose Corals. Proc. Roy. Soc. Qld., Vol. LIV (6), pp.
53-66.
McLearn, F. H., 1918. The Silurian Arisaig Series of Arisaig, Nova Scotia.
Amer. J. Se., XLV, pp. 126-140.
1924. Palaeontology of the Silurian Rocks of Arisaig, Nova Scotia. Mem.
Geol. Surv. Canada, 27.
H1
114 DEVONIAN FOSSILS
Shimer, H. W., and Shrock, R. R., 1944. Index Fossils of North America. 4to.
New York and London.
Shirley, J., 1938. The Fauna of the Baton River Beds (Devonian), New Zea-
land. Quart. J. Geol. Soc., Lond., XCIV (4), pp. 459-506.
Schuchert, C., and Cooper, G. А., 1932. Brachiopod Genera of the Suborders
Orthoidea and Pentameroidea. 4to. New Haven, Conn.
Skeats, E. W., 1929. The Devonian and Older Palaeozoic Rocks of the Tab-
berabba District, North Gippsland, Victoria. Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s.,
XLI, pp. 97-120.
DESCRIPTION OF PLATES
PLATE II
Fig. 1. Hipparionyz major sp.nov. External mould of HOLOTYPE.
Fig. 9, Hipparionyx major sp.nov. Steinkern of PARATYPE. The posterior
margin has been partly inked in to assist recognition of structures.
3. Hipparionyx major sp. nov. Steinkern of HOLOTYPE dorsal valve.
Fig. 4. Tancrediopsis raricostae (Chapman). Steinkern X2 to show hingeline
features. HYPOTYPE.
Fig. 5. Loxonema australis (Chapman), showing part of steinkern and part of
external mould. HYPOTYPE.
Fig. 6. Protoleptostrophia affinalata sp.nov. Posterior margin of HOLO-
TYPE steinkern enlarged to show hingeline features. X2.
Fig. 7. Conchidium polymitum sp.nov. Part of steinkern of HOLOTYPE
enlarged to show character of interior plates of ventral valve. X2.
Fig. 8. Hipparionyx major sp.nov. Steinkern of HOLOTYPE photographed
to show especially the ventral valve interior.
Note. Figures are natural size except 4-7, which are enlarged to twice natural
size in order to show certain structures more clearly.
PLATE III |
Fig. 1. Cariniferella alpha sp. nov. HOLOTYPE steinkern, ventral valve.
Fig. 2. Cariniferella beta sp. nov. External mould of ventral valve preserved
on specimen 27,202. HOLOTYPE.
Fig. 3. Cariniferella beta sp. nov. HOLOTYPE steinkern, ventral valve.
Fig. 4. Carimiferella beta sp. nov. External mould of ventral valve preserved
on specimen 27,182. HYPOTYPE.
Fig. 5. Tancrediopsis raricostae (Chapman). Fragment of external mould of
Sandy’s Creek specimen. HYPOTYPE. X2.
Fig. 6. Cariniferella alpha sp.nov. External mould of dorsal valve preserved
on specimen 27,182. HYPOTYPH.
Fig. 7. Cariniferella alpha sp.nov. PARATYPE steinkern of dorsal valve.
Fig. 8. Tancrediopsis raricostae (Chapman). Specimen from Sandy’s Creek.
НҮРОТҮРЕ.
Fig. 9. Cariniferella beta sp.nov. PARATYPE steinkern of dorsal valve.
Beside it is a specimen of Conchidium polymitum sp. nov. to show
the nature of the ornament (HYPOTYPE).
Fig. 10. Chonetes baragwanathi sp.nov. PARATYPE steinkern of dorsal valve
showing internal structures.
Fig.11. Tancrediopsis raricostae (Chapman). HOLOTYPE. The hingeline
was cleared before this photograph was taken.
Fig. 12. Conchidium polymitum sp. nov. HOLOTYPE steinkern.
Мем. Хат. Mus, Vict, 16 PLATE II
Victorian Devonian Fossils.
DEVONIAN FOSSILS 115
Steinkern of ?eeratiocarid spine.
Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov. HOLOTYPE steinkern showing um-
bonal features. The median septum looks thick due to a slight
breaking away of the steinkern, but it is actually linear.
Chonetes robusta Chapman. HYPOTYPE figured to show umbonal
structures,
Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov. General view of obese ventral valve,
the HOLOTYPE steinkern. See Fig. 14 for another view of the
same shell.
Chonetes robusta Chapman. HOLOTYPE.
Conchidium polymitum sp. nov. General view of steinkern of ventral
valve (HOLOTYPE). See Fig. 12 for umbonal view.
. Protoleptostrophia affinalata sp.nov. Steinkern of dorsal valve (PARA-
TYPE).
Eospirifer eastoni sp. nov. Steinkern of dorsal valve. HOLOTYPE.
On the same slab are two valves of Chonetes baragwanathi sp. nov.
(HYPOTYPES.) :
о. 21. Eospirifer eastoni sp. nov. Umbonal view of HOLOTYPE.
22. Protoleptostrophia affinalata sp.nov. The HOLOTYPE is the ventral
valve steinkern nearest the figure number. Two young specimens
are below it.
Eospirifer castoni sp.nov. Piece of external mould of HOLOTYPE
to show costellation. Also opposites of valves of Chonetes barag-
wanathı seen in Fig. 20.
Note. All figures are natural size except No. 5, which is X2 to show nature
of surface ornamentation.
H2
Mem. Nat. Mus. Vicr., 16, 1949
YERINGIAN (LOWER DEVONIAN) PLANT REMAINS
FROM LILYDALE, VICTORIA, WITH NOTES ON A
COLLECTION FROM A NEW LOCALITY IN THE
SILURO-DEVONIAN SEQUENCE
By Isabel Cookson, D.Sc.,
Botany Department, University of Melbourne
Plates IV-VI, Fig. 1.
(Received for publication June 21, 1949.)
The main object of the present paper is to give a description
of plant remains from type localities in Yeringian beds at Lily-
dale, Victoria. The principal locality (Hull Road, Lilydale) was
referred to in a previous paper (Cookson 1935, p. 146) and
subsequently a list of the main types collected there was recorded
(Cookson 1945). This collection now includes remains referable
to or at least comparable with Sporogonites, Zosterophyllum,
Yarravia and Hedeia. It will be supplemented by reference to
specimens from two additional outcrops, one near Lilydale and
the other at Killara, about 74 miles further east.
The occurrence of plants in this area is of special stratigraphieal
interest. For many years, the Yeringian series was believed to
belong to the Silurian period, but the position assigned to it within
that range of time varied according to the author (see Gill
1942, Table 1). Chapman and Thomas (1935), when defining the
Victorian Silurian succession, correlated the Yeringian with the
Upper Ludlow of Britain. Beneath it they placed the Melbournian
division (Lower Ludlow), whilst the basal series, the Keilorian
or Lower Silurian, was correlated with the Llandoverian of the
British suecession. Later Thomas (1937), in dealing with Silurian
rocks of the Heathcote area, pointed out that detailed work was
necessary to determine ‘how much of the Devonian is included in
the Yeringian.”’
In 1938 Shirley noted that “the Yeringian contains at least one
fauna similar to that of the Baton River series?” (Lower Devonian
of New Zealand). During the same year, in a discussion of the
stromatoporoid fauna of the Yeringian limestone at Cave Hill,
Lilydale, Ripper (1938) made the suggestion that this deposit
«should probably be placed in the Devonian." Hill (1939), on the
evidence of the rugose corals of the same limestone, concluded that
its age is either Lower or Middle Devonian. Shirley’s contention
117
118 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
regarding the Yeringian shales and sandstones has been supported
by the work of Gill (1942) on fossils in the shaley beds of the
type Yeringian area. In his conclusion Gill wrote: “The age of
the shales and sandstones is shown to be Devonian. In part at
least these beds can be correlated with the Baton River (Lower
Devonian) beds of New Zealand described by Shirley. The fauna
reveals definite affinities with the European and North American
Lower Devonian faunas.”
It seems clear, therefore, that the small Yeringian flora from
the Lilydale district which will now be considered can be definitely
regarded as Lower Devonian.
Most of the Yeringian plant remains were collected from a small
cutting on Hull Road about 14 chains south of its junction with
the main highway from Melbourne to Lilydale. The name that
Gill (1940, p. 357) suggested should be used for this particular
locality is “Hull Road, Lilydale.” Here the plant fossils occur
together with well preserved animal remains in soft pink or white
shales which underlie and are conformable with the Yeringian
limestone (Lower Devonian) of Cave Hill. The specimens are
either casts or flattened incrustations in which the original tissues
are represented by small flakes of carbon or a brownish mineral
substance. Such preservation, while quite adequate for sound
general comparisons, limits the possibility of specific indenti-
fication. The remains from this deposit are cf. Sporogonites,
Zosterophyllum australianum, Yarravia cf. oblonga and Hedeia
ef. corymbosa, and will be considered in that order.
1. ef. Sporogonites
Plate IV, Figs. 1 and 2.
Several specimens were found at Hull Road which compare
closely with Sporogonites (Halle 1916). Each consists of a slender
stalk and a terminal capsule-like body. The appearance of the
latter suggests that it was a spore-containing structure, but no
trace of spores has been preserved on the flattened incrustations.
The largest example, shown enlarged 10 diameters in Plate IV,
Fig. 1, illustrates the general appearance of such specimens. The
axis is unbranched, about 0-5 mm, wide, and broadens gradually
into a club-shaped terminal capsule. This, including the widened
part of the stalk, is 4 mm. long and 2 mm. broad, and narrows
slightly towards the apex. A narrow peripheral zone represented
by a solid cast of a brown mineral substance is marked off from
the uniform central region of the capsule.
A second specimen and its counterpart are represented at a
magnification of 10 diameters in Plate IV, Figs. 2 and 3. The
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 119
Stalk is about 0-75 mm. wide, and approximately 6 mm. long. The
capsule measures 3-6 mm. in length and 2 mm. in breadth, and is
slightly tapered towards the rounded apex. The margin is not
preserved in the solid as in the previous example, but a curved
ridge which follows the outline of the capsule a short distance
within the margin appears to mark off a central dome-shaped area
from a peripheral zone. The central portion occupies an area
within the capsule of 3 mm. by 1-75 mm. It is lighter in colour
than the rest of the specimen because of the partial removal from
it of the reddish mineral substance that has replaced the plant
tissues. The significance of these two areas is not clear.
The remaining specimens, apart from providing a range in size,
do not help in the more exact determination of the fossils. The
nur of the smallest specimen is 2-5 mm. long and 1-5 mm.
road.
These specimens must be considered in relation to two simple
Lower Devonian plants. They are Sporogonites and Cooksoma.
In both, slender leafless axes terminate in large sporangia. In
Sporogonites the axes, as far as is known, were unbranched. This
feature has been remarked upon by Halle (1936) and Lang
(1937). In Cooksonia, on the other hand, dichotomous branching
of the axes which bear the sporangia is of usual occurrence and
frequently takes place only a short distance behind the sporangia.
For this reason and in spite of a rather close similarity as regards
size and shape of their sporangia to those of Cooksoma sp. from
Llanover, Wales (Croft and Lang 1942), it seems inadvisable to
identify the present specimens with this genus.
Comparison with Sporogomtes appears closer. Two species are
known, S. exuberans from Norway, Belgium and Wales, and S.
chapmani from Victoria. The capsules of the Lilydale specimens
are distinctly smaller than typical examples of either species. A
considerable variation in size, however, has been noticed in S.
exuberans forma belgica by both Lang (1937) and Stockmans
(1940), and a small form of S. chapmam has been described as
forma minor. The grooving of the basal region of the sporo-
gonium, evident in both S. exuberans and S. chapmani, is also not
a constant feature and its absence from the Hull Road fossils
acquires less significance when the unsatisfactory nature of the
preservation in this soft shaley deposit is taken into account. To
the nature of fossilization may perhaps also be attributed the
apparent absence from the Lilydale specimens of the clearly
defined sterile basal zone which is such an interesting morpho-
logical feature of the capsules of Sporogonites. In view of these
considerations a modification of the earlier record of these speci-
120 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
mens (Cookson 1945) as S. chapmani is desirable. For the present
it seems preferable that they should be considered as remains of
a simple plant of the same general type as Sporogonites but not
necessarily identical with that form.
The Australian species S. chapmam is only known from two
localities in the Centennial beds at Walhalla.
2. Zosterophyllum australianum
Plate IV, Figs. 7-8.
A few specimens have been recognized as detached sporangia of
Zosterophyllum australianwm. In size and form these agree with
sporangia of this plant from the Centennial beds and from Mount
Pleasant. The most clearly defined specimen is shown magnified
4 diameters in Plate I, Fig. 7. The sporangium, which has a width
of approximately 5 mm., is tangentially expanded, and the stalk
and marginal rim are clearly defined. In this example the spor-
angium is flattened considerably so that the line of dehiscence is
directed towards the observer and a portion of the other side of
the sporangium is visible.
Another sporangium (Plate IV, Fig. 8) viewed laterally shows
the line of dehiscence near the summit of the sporangium.
3. Yarravia cf. oblonga
Plate IV, Figs. 4-6.
A few specimens demonstrate the presence in the deposit at Hull
Road of Yarravia, a synangial fructification originally described
from the Monograptus beds of the Yarra Track (Lang and
Cookson 1935). The specimens are flattened incrustations or
imperfectly preserved casts. In size and general form they agree
essentially with one of the specimens compared with Yarravia
from Mount Pleasant (Cookson 1935, Fig. 34). No evidence of
spores has been seen.
The example shown at a magnification of 4 diameters in Plate
IV, Fig. 4, is the best of a small number of specimens collected.
Its counterpart is represented in Plate TV, Fig. 5. The stem is
approximately 1 mm. wide and broadens towards the terminal
fructification which is 3 mm. wide and about 8 mm. long. Three
linear sporangia are shown on the exposed plane and two of these
end in tips that are free from one another. The tip of the third
sporangium on the left-hand side is partly obscured by the matrix,
but, as far as can be ascertained, this sporangium is identical with
the other two. For a short distance behind the tips, the brown
mineral that has replaced the plant tissues is continuous between
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT. REMAINS 121
the sporangia ; in other places it appears to have been broken away
during the splitting of the stone. It seems probable that here,
as in the specimens from the Monograptus beds, the elongated
sporangia were completely coherent in the fructification, only
their tips having been free.
The appearance of the specimen illustrated in Plate IV, Fig. 6,
strongly supports this conclusion. The fructification in this case
is broader than that of the preceding example and has convex
rather than straight sides. It is 6 mm. broad and 8 mm. long.
Three sporangia of equal dimensions can be seen in the exposed
view of the fructification. Two of these terminate in pointed tips
identical with the free apices of the previous specimen, the apex
of the third being hidden by the matrix.
The specimens from Lilydale agree, both in size and form, more
closely with Yarravia oblonga than with Y. subsphaerica. There
are deviations from this type which may possibly be accounted for
by the different mode of preservation in the two cases. In the
present state of our knowledge, however, Yarravia cf. oblonga
seems the best name for the Hull Road specimens.
4. Hedeia corymbosa
Plate IV, Figs. 9-11; Plate V, Figs. 12-17.
The name Hedeia was originally applied to some fertile branch-
systems, believed to have been radially constructed, from Mount
Pleasant, Alexandra (Cookson 1935). These were characterized
by the successive equal or unequal dichotomy of several daughter
axes which, themselves, arose terminally from the parent axis, and
by the termination of the ultimate members of the branch-system
in large elongate-oval sporangia. The tips of the sporangia all
reached the same level, giving the fructification a corymbose
appearance. Although some differences in the details of the
branching were evident in the various examples, all were kept in
the one species, H. corymbosa. Nothing is known of the plant to
which such fructifications belonged.
Several small branch-systems from Hull Road exhibit the
peculiar type of branching associated with Hedeia, but in none
of them can the ultimate terminations be clearly recognized as
sporangia. While uncertainty remains regarding such an impor-
tant character, specific identification with H. corymbosa cannot be
established. "ы
One of the best specimens of this kind, which as regards its mode
of branching can be closely compared with one of the examples of
H. corymbosa from Mount Pleasant (loc. cit., Figs. 25, 26), is
122 | LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
shown in Plate IV, Fig. 9. In it three secondary axes which arose
terminally from the parent axis are exposed. Of these the one on
the left-hand side appears to have been unbranched; the other
two show two successive dichotomies at identical levels and their
ultimate terminations attain to the same level above.
The corymbose branch-system shown enlarged 4 diameters in
Plate 5, Fig. 13, has a special interest, since it clearly demonstrates
a radial construction. It is preserved as a solid cast in which
minute carbonaceous fragments distinguish the branches them-
selves from the light grey matrix which during fossilization filled
the spaces between them. By an oblique splitting of the rock this
Specimen was exposed in such a way that, in addition to the usual
lateral view, its distal end could be observed from above. At the
same time the counterpart of the distal portion (Plate 5, Fig. 14)
became available for examination,
When viewed laterally (Plate V, Figs. 12, 13) the origin at
one level from the main axis of four secondary branches is clearly
shown. Of these branches the one on the extreme left (text fig.
1, a") is almost completely covered by the stone, but the three small
casts (a?) which project distally beyond the matrix are in a
position which suggests that they represent the terminations of
its daughter-axes. The two centrally placed secondary branches
(b’, е") each show two successive dichotomies at similar levels, but
on account of the fracture which resulted in the exposure of the
distal portion of the branch-system only short lengths of their
terminations (b’, e?) can be traced in the specimen. These appear
also in the counterpart but without providing the evidence re-
quired to establish their identity as sporangia. The ramifications
of the fourth secondary branch (d*) on the right-hand side of the
Specimen are obscure and need no further consideration.
When the distal region of the fossil is examined the conical tips
of three flattened casts (e*) can be seen lying on the rock behind
the specimen. They have a brown colour and, since small carbon-
aceous fragments have been retained on their surfaces, clearly
belong to the branch-system. Their position at the back of the
specimen suggests that they are the ultimate terminations of a
fifth secondary branch that lies behind the matrix now occupying
the centre of the fossil. Their position is indicated in the counter-
part by small compressed cavities (е?).
Although the preservation of this interesting fossil precludes
detailed interpretation and specific indentification, certain con-
clusions can be drawn from its study. By it the presence of
Hedeia in Hull Road is confirmed and the radial symmetry of
such branch-systems fully established. As far as the preservation
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 123
of this specimen will allow us to judge, five daughter-axes, at least,
must have been terminally arranged around a central space and
further subdivisions of these axes occurred by successive dicho-
tomies at identical levels in one plane only. The corymbose nature
of this branch system is particularly obvious and, in the absence
of positive evidence to the contrary, strengthens the possibility
that the fossil represents a fructification closely similar to that of
H. corymbosa.
| 3
FIG. 1
Hedeia cf. corymbosa. Tracings made from photographs of
specimen С. 102 and the counterpart of its distal region, <5.
Recently, branch-systems of the Hedeia type were discovered
by Mr. E. D. Gill, Palaeontologist of the National Museum, Vie-
toria, at a Yeringian locality situated at the right-angled turn
in Albert Hill Road, Lilydale. I am indebted to Mr. Gill for
permission to record this occurrence.
As was the ease with the Hull Road material, both the nature
and form of the ultimate ramifications of the individual branch-
systems from this locality is uncertain and again the only suitable
124 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
designation for them is Hedeia cf. corymbosa. The corroborative
evidence regarding the radial construction of such branch-systems
provided by one of the specimens (Nat. Mus. Vict., Nos. 14661,
14662) is, however, of some interest. In this instance the rock
split in such a way that a practically complete cross-section of the
distal region of a partially carbonized branch-system was exposed.
This portion of the specimen is illustrated at a magnification of
three diameters in Plate IV, Fig. 11. In it can be counted some
fourteen tube-like cavities, more or less completely filled with
cores of matrix, the appearance and arrangement of which suggest
a derivation from a radially arranged series of terminal branches.
A portion of the proximal region of the same branch-system is
illustrated in Plate IV, Fig. 10, where the main stem shows the
origin of two short branches which in turn appear to undergo
further subdivision at identical levels.
A second specimen from the same locality is shown enlarged
two diameters in Plate V, Fig. 15, It is an impression of a rather
large branch system in which three short secondary branches arise
from the main axis (not preserved) at one level. Each of these
branches shows three successive dichotomies at one level. The
final ramifications can be traced for some distance in the right-
hand branch without sign of sporangial enlargements.
A single specimen collected by Mr. Gill at a third Yeringian
locality—Syme’s Homestead, Killara—is shown in Plate V, Fig.
17
On the whole, the branch-systems from the Lilydale outcrops
are smaller and more compact and ‘‘bud’’-like than those from
Mount Pleasant. They indicate that this type must have been
relatively abundant in Lower Devonian times and raise the ques-
tion as to whether this peculiar type of branching may have been
associated with vegetative as well as fertile axes.
5. Smooth branched axes. Incertae Sedis
Plate V, Figs. 18-20.
As is frequently the case in early Palaeozoic rocks, the most
numerous plant-fossils at the Hull Road outcrop are pieces of
smooth, rigid stems. These are from 1 to 8 mm. in width and some
are branched by what appears to have been equal or slightly
unequal dichotomy.
It is possible that specimens similar to those in Plate V, Figs.
18, 19 and 20, are portions of plants which have been identified
from these beds by their fructifications, but as disconnected frag-
ments can only be recorded as Incertae Sedis.
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 125
DISCUSSION
The various types of plants known from early Palaeozoic rocks
of Victoria have been described and figured in three papers. Those
from a number of exposures in the Monograptus beds (Lower
Ludlow) include Baragwanathia and Yarravia (Lang and Cook-
son 1935). The chief types from the Centennial beds of the
Walhalla series are Sporogonites and Zosterophyllum. When
these were first described (Lang and Cookson 1930) their age
was believed to be Upper Silurian or possibly Lower Devonian
(Skeats 1928), but now it is definitely regarded as Lower Dev-
onian (Thomas 1937, Gill 1942). The collection of plants from
Mount Pleasant, Alexandra (Cookson 1935) is not as yet definitely
dated by animal remains. The interest is that it combines in one
flora types known from the Lower Ludlow horizon (Yarravia)
with others known from the Lower Devonian horizon of the
Centennial beds (Zosterophyllum and Pachytheca).
The flora from Lilydale described in the present paper also
combines plants from the lower horizon (Yarravia) with others
from the upper horizon (Sporogonites, Zosterophyllum) but has
the advantage of being stratigraphically dated. It is this rather
than the descriptive details of the plant remains themselves that
constitutes the importance of the Lilydale flora as at present
known, for in the case of each type better preserved examples are
known from other localities.
The small Lilydale flora taken along with the Mount Pleasant
assemblage provides evidence of the essential similarity of the
vegetation of Victoria from the Lower Ludlow to the Lower
Devonian. The composition of this Siluro-Devonian flora in
Australia of definite land plants with a vascular system and a
considerable morphological complexity is a fully established piece
of knowledge concerning early plants. The grade of organization
of the plants from the Monograptus beds onwards is at least as
high as that first met with in the Lower Devonian of the Northern
Hemisphere. It is interesting that there are detailed points of
agreement in the occurrence of the same generic types (Zostero-
phyllum, Sporogonites, Pachytheca) or of closely agreeing types
(Baragwanathia in the Australian flora representing Drepano-
phycus).
In the Northern Hemisphere the representation of early vas-
cular land plants is best and clearest in the upper beds of the
Lower Devonian or Lower Old Red Sandstone where Psilophyton,
Drepanophycus, and Zosterophyllum are met with, together with
other vascular plants and with more anomalous types such as
Prototaxites, Nematothallus, and Pachytheca. At lower horizons
126 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
of the freshwater Lower Devonian a somewhat simpler assem-
blage of plants is met with and this is even more marked in the
Downtonian where brackish water held (Lang 1937). The simpli-
fication of type by the absence of the more definite land plants is
probably an ecological rather than an evolutionary feature. There
are, indeed, indications that plants of the Lower Devonian and
Downtonian will be traced back to the Silurian of the northern
area. At present, however, there is no demonstration of a Siluro-
Devonian land flora in the Northern Hemisphere, though it may
have existed, as is afforded by the Lower Devonian of Lilydale
and Walhalla and the Lower Ludlow of the Monograptus beds of
Victoria.
Говвп, PLANTS FROM SANDSTONE BEDS ON THE WARBURTON-
Woonp’s POINT ROAD NEAR YANKEE JIM CREEK
If an adequate knowledge of early vascular plants is to be
obtained, a large number of outcrops, where plant-remains are
preserved, must be carefully worked. The discovery by Dr. W. J.
Harris and Dr. D. E. Thomas of another plant-containing locality
in the Victorian Siluro-Devonian is, therefore, of interest. These
plant beds are situated in a roadside quarry on the Warburton-
Wood’s Point Road about 22 miles from Warburton and adjacent
to Yankee Jim Creek. In the absence of animal fossils, they
cannot be palaeontologically dated. Dr. Thomas, however, has
kindly expressed to me his personal opinion that they are strati-
graphically higher than the Monograptus beds and are probably
Lower Devonian. The plant-fragments are preserved as flattened
incrustations in a dark grey sandstone, the plant tissues being
represented by a brown mineral substance. The majority are
small pieces of stems, but a few more connected specimens are
sufficiently distinctive for classification. The identifiable types
include Pachytheca and Zosterophyllum.
1. Pachytheca sp.
Plate VI, Fig. 22.
The alga Pachytheca was first recognized in Victoria from two
specimens obtained at Mount Pleasant, Alexandra. Their identi-
fication enabled some more doubtful objects, from the Centennial
Beds, to be associated with them as additional though more
imperfectly preserved examples of the same organism.
A single carbonized specimen from the beds near Yankee Jim
Creek can also be identified as Pachytheca sp. It is shown mag-
nified three diameters in Plate VI, Fig. 22. The specimen is split
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 127
across so that the characteristic differentiation into medullary and
cortical regions is revealed. The example is a slightly compressed
spherical body, 6-5 mm. in diameter, the medulla being about 4
mm. in diameter and the cortex about 2 mm. broad. The fine
radial striations which were clearly visible in the better preserved
specimen from Mount Pleasant cannot be distinguished in this
example, but the way in which the carbonaceous material has split
and broken away is quite consistent with a radial construction.
Pachytheca is a rare fossil in the Southern Hemisphere. It has
been found only in small numbers in the Mount Pleasant and Cen-
tennial beds; its occurrence at a third, widely separated locality
is therefore of interest.
2. Zosterophyllum australianum
Plate VI, Fig. 21.
2. australianum is represented in this deposit by fertile spikes
and detached sporangia.
The unusually large and almost complete spike shown of natural
size in Plate VI, Fig. 21, was found by a member of Dr. Harris’s
party and presented to the Geological Museum, Melbourne. I am
indebted to the Chief Geologist of the Mines Department, Dr.
D. E. Thomas, for permission to examine and figure this very fine
specimen. It consists of a smooth axis, 9 mm. broad and 2 em. long,
and a terminal spike of a uniform width of 8 mm. and a length
of 4.5 em. The tip of the spike is broken off. The sporangia are
very numerous in the spike, some 35 being counted on the exposed
surface. They are arranged in a close spiral and appear to be the
same size throughout the spike. Those viewed abaxially show the
typical reniform shape and the tangentially extended line of
dehiscence.
In general characters the specimen agrees with the type material
from the Centennial beds (Lang and Cookson 1930). It differs in
the greater length of the spike and the more numerous sporangia
in it. In spite of the fact that the distal portion is missing, the
fertile region is at least 2 cm. longer than any specimen known
from either Walhalla or Mount Pleasant. The sporangia them-
selves, though small (about 4 mm. across the widest part), are
well within the limit for the species. The present specimen is
distinctive for the unusually large number of sporangia that are
crowded on the axis of the spike. Although the fertile spikes
of Zosterophyllum australianum exhibit considerable variations,
both in size of spike and the proportions and number of the indi-
vidual sporangia comprising them, many more specimens will be
necessary for comparison before specific distinctions are made.
128 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
3. Incertae Sedis
(a) Axes with H-shaped Branching
Plate VI, Fig. 23.
Several examples showing H-shaped branching have been found
in the deposit near Yankee Jim Creek. The finest of these has
been selected for illustration at a magnification of four diameters
in Plate VI, Fig. 23. Its relatively main axis, about 1-5 mm.
wide, shows two lateral branches which lie closely parallel to one
another. The “upper” branch need not be considered further as
only a short length of it is exposed. The **lower"' appears to have
divided by two successive dichotomies into two descending axes
and one that was directed obliquely upwards. The descending limb
(to the right in the photograph) shows further bifurcation into
two more slender axes.
H-shaped branching was first observed in Zosterophyllum
myretonianum where direct continuity with fertile axes clearly
demonstrated it to be a feature of the rhizomatous regions of that
plant. When similarly branched disconnected axes of between 1-5
and 2-5 mm. wide were found along with spikes and sporangia of
Z. australianum at Mount Pleasant they were tentatively accepted
and reeorded as belonging to that species. The question of the
future identification of disconnected branch systems of this type
has been discussed by Croft and Lang (1942, p. 155). These
authors remark that “evidence is, however, steadily accumulating
that this type of branching was widespread among early plants."
This being so, considerable caution should now be exercised before
axes with H-shaped branching are accepted as evidence of the
presence of Zosterophyllum in a deposit. Following the example
set in this respect by Croft and Lang, the specimens from Yankee
Jim Creek are recorded as Incertae Sedis rather than as vegetative
branches of Zosterophyllum australianum.
(b) Pinnately-branched Axis
Plate VI, Fig. 24.
A few specimens from Mount Pleasant were grouped together
under the heading ‘‘pinnately-branched axes." They are small
portions of a new Siluro-Devonian plant, the nature of which has
still to be discovered.
A single specimen of this rare type has been found near Yankee
Jim Creek. The specimen, shown enlarged ten diameters in Fig.
24, though not as clearly defined nor as much branched as those
from Mount Pleasant, is essentially of the same type of con-
struction. It is a small curved axis about 1 em. long and 0-75 mm.
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 129
broad. From the concave side of the axis three short branches
arise, and it appears to terminate in a flattened, irregular expan-
sion. The recurrence of this type links the beds under discussion
with the sandstones of Mount Pleasant and encourages the hope
that more connected specimens will ultimately be found.
(c) Stems with Small Spirally-arranged Elevations
Plate VI, Fig. 25.
A few short axes with small elevations on the surface or
depressions (Plate VI, Fig. 25) on the corresponding counter-
parts have been found at this locality. These are suggestive of
remains of small leaved stems, but no evidence of leaves or
spines either at the margins or on the flattened surfaces has been
seen. The specimens agree in every respect with similar remains
described and figured from Mount Pleasant but like them can only
be mentioned as a type of plant-remains and not as evidence of a
small leaved plant in the Siluro-Devonian rocks of Victoria.
(а) Smooth Branched Axes
Plate VI, Fig. 26.
Small branched leafless axes are abundant in this deposit. АП
are indeterminate. The one shown in Plate VI, Fig. 26, however,
has some comparative interest. It is a slender stem which just
behind the point of bifurcation shows the base of an additional
branch. Similar specimens were met with at the Centennial beds
(Lang and Cookson 1930, Fig. 8) and at Mount Pleasant (Cook-
son 1935, Figs. 17, 18). They were recorded as Hostimella sp. and
cf. Hostimella sp. respectively. At that time the resemblance to
Goslingia (Heard 1927) was pointed out. Croft and Lang (1942,
p. 143), in writing about similar axillary bodies in G'oslingia
from Llanover Quarry, Wales, stated that ‘‘it is useless at present
to enter further into the general question of the nature of the
axilary bodies which are now known to have been present in
various early plants without being satisfactorily understood in
any of them." The occurrence of this feature in several types of
plant greatly reduces its usefulness as a diagnostie feature. It is
therefore now suggested that the use of the name Hostimella sp.
for branched leafless stems with axillary bodies be discontinued.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This paper was prepared in consultation with Professor W. H.
Lang, F.R.S., at the Manchester Museum during the tenure of a
Leverhulme Research Grant. I am indebted to Professor Ward-
130 LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS
law for allowing his assistant, Mr. E. Ashby, to help with the
photographie illustrations. To Dr. D. E. Thomas and Mr. E. D.
Gill I am grateful for information regarding the geology of the
two areas concerned.
REFERENCES
Baragwanath, W. (1925). Geol. Surv. Vic. Mem., 15.
Chapman, F., and Thomas, D. E. (1933). Handbook for Victoria, Aust. and
New Zealand Assoe. Adv. of Sci., p. 106.
Cookson, I. C. (1935). Phil. Trans., B, Vol. 225, p. 127.
(1945). Proe. Roy. Soc. Vie., n.s., Vol. 56, Pt. 2, p. 119.
Croft, W. N., and Lang, W. H. (1942). Phil. Trans., B, Vol. 231, p. 131.
Gill, E. D. (1940). Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., Vol. 52, Pt. 2, p. 249.
(1942). Proc. Roy. Soc. Vie., n.s., Vol. 54, Pt. 1, p. 21.
Harris, W. J., and Thomas, D. E. (1947). Mining and Geol. Journ., Vol. 3, No.
1, p. 44.
Halle, T. G. (1916). K. Svenska. Vetensk. Akad. Handl., Bd. 57, No. 1, p. 1.
(1933). Ibid., Bd. 12, No. 6, p. 1.
(1936). Svensk. Bot. Tidsk., Bd. 30, No. 3, p. 618.
Heard, A. (1927). Quart. J. Geol. Soc., Vol. 83, p. 195.
Hill D. (1939). Proc. Roy. Soc. Vic., n.s., Vol. 51, Pt. 2, p. 219.
Lang, W. H. (1937). Bull. Mus. Hist. Nat. Belg., Vol. 18, No. 29, p. 1
Lang, W. H., and Cookson, I. C. (1930), Phil. Trans., B, Vol. 219, p. 133.
; (1935). Phil. Trans., B, Vol. 224, p. 421.
Ripper, E. A. (1938). Proc. Roy. Soe. Vie., n.s., Vol. 50, p. 251.
Shirley, J. (1938). Quart. J. Geol. Soc., Vol. 94, Pt. 4, p. 459.
Skeats, E. W. (1928). Rep. Aust. Assoc. Ad. Sci., p. 219.
Stoekmans, F. (1940). Mem. Mus. Hist. Nat. Belg., No. 93.
Thomas, D. E. (1937). Min. and Geol. Journ., Vol. 1, Pt. 1, p. 64.
(1939). Min. and Geol. Journ., Vol. 1, No. 4, p. 59.
Thomas, D. E., and Keble, R. A. (1933). Proc. Roy. Soe. Vie., n.s., Vol. 45, p.
33,
EXPLANATION OF PLATES
All the figures are from untouched negatives. ‘‘C’’ before a specimen number
refers to the Cookson collection.
Рглте IV
Fig. 1. Cf. Sporogonites. Specimen showing general characters. Hull Road.
<I (6282)
Figs. 2, 3. Cf. Sporogonites. Specimen and its counterpart. Hull Road. x10.
(C. 72, 72a.)
Figs. 4,5. Yarravia ef. oblonga. Specimen and counterpart of a fructification.
Hull Road. X4. (C. 84, 84a.)
Fig. 6. Y. cf. oblonga. Another fructifieation. Hull Road. X4. (C. 85.)
Fig. 7. Zosterophyllum australianum. A detached sporangium showing mar-
ginal rim and stalk. Hull Road. X4. (C. 75.)
Fig. 8. Z. australianum. Another specimen. Hull Road. X4. (C. 127.)
EON. as paces ue A corymbose branch-system. Hull Road. X4.
Мем. Nar. Mus. Уіст., 16 Prate ПІ
Victorian Devonian Fossils.
Мем. Хат. Mus. Vicr., 16 PLATE IV
ARS
Asie:
w.
Мем. Хат, Mus. Vier., 16 Pate VI
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
10.
11,
LOWER DEVONIAN PLANT REMAINS 131
H. ef. corymbosa. Lateral view of part of a branch-system showing
two successive bifurcations at identical levels. Albert Hill Road,
Lilydale. X3. (Nat. Mus. Vic., No. 14661.)
H. ef. corymbosa. Cross-sectional view of distal region of the same
specimen. X3. Nat. Mus. Vic., No. 14662.)
PLATE V
Hedeia ef. corymbosa. Lateral view of a branch-system preserved in
the solid. Hull Road. Natural size. (C. 102.) To be deposited in
the Geological collection of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.).
. ef. corymbosa. The same specimen. X4.
. ef. corymbosa. Counterpart of the distal region of the above speci-
men. X4. (C. 102a.)
. ef. corymbosa. A branch-system from Albert Hill Road, Lilydale.
x2. (C. 106.)
. ef. corymbosa, А specimen showing the branching of two second-
ary axes. X3. Albert Hill Road, Lilydale. (Nat. Mus. Vic., No.
14663.)
H. ef. corymbosa. A corymbose branch-system. X3. Syme’s Home-
stead, Killara. (Nat. Mus. Уіс., No. 14659.)
A smooth branched axis. Hull Road. X4. (С. 107.)
A small branched specimen. Hull Road. X54. (C. 121.)
A smooth axis with a smaller lateral branch. Hull Road. X4. (С.
120.)
H E шш
PLATE VI
All specimens are from Warburton-Wood’s Point Road, near Yankee Jim Creek.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
Fig.
21.
Zosterophyllum australianum. A fertile spike. Natural size. (Geol.
Surv. Vie., No. 47387.)
Pachytheca sp. Specimen showing differentiation into medulla and
cortex. 3. (С. 128.)
Specimen showing H-shaped branching. X4. (C. 129.)
A pinnately branched axis. X10. (C. 145.)
Stem showing small concavities. X2. (C. 59.)
A branched axis showing the base of a third branch. X2. (С. 148.)
Brown, Prior, Anderson Pty. Ltd., Melbourne
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