An additional record of a meiolaniid turtle from the pleistocene of northern Queensland

2 Pages·1999·0.54 MB·English

by  B Mackness

W
Transactionsofthe RoyalSocietyofS.Ausl. (1 ), 123(4), 153-154.
BRIEF COMMUNICATION
AN ADDITIONAL RECORD OFA MEIOLANIID TURTLE
FROM THE PLEISTOCENE OF NORTHERN QUEENSLAND
The extinct mciofaniids are anenigmatic groupofturtles counterpart, the Bluff Downs meiolaniid had a numbero\'
characterised by cranial horns and tail clubs. They are giant reptiles to contend with including several species of
confined to the Southern Hemisphere and their crocodile13, a large varanid and python*. Whether the
phylogenelic relationships have been the subject of much significantarmourthemeiolaniid possessed was enough to
discussion1.Theoldest knownAustralian meiolaniidscome protect it from these potential predators will perhaps never
from Oligocene and Miocene deposits in South Australia, be known. Its development and elaboration during the
New South Wales and Queensland24. Most of the Tertiary perhaps suggests some sort ofdefence strategy.
Australian material collected to date however, comes from TheauthorwishestothankE. Gaffneywhoidentifiedthe
Late PleistocenedepositsofLordHowe Island5''.Thereare specimensand R. Molnarwhofacilitated the identification.
additional Pleistocene occurrences of meiolaniid from The Smith Family of Bluff Downs Station continue to
Walpole Island, New Caledonia, the Darling Downs of provide assistance and support for the ongoing research
Queensland and from the Wyandotte Formation7 This note into the Bluff Downs Local Fauna. The collection of the
.
reports the presence of further meiolaniid fossils from Bluff Downs material was supported in part by an ARC
Pleistocene deposits of Bluff Downs, north-eastern
Queensland.
Bluff Downs is currently only known as a Pliocene site
with a wide range oftaxa alreadyhaving been reported8 u.
During field investigationsfn 1992,furtherfossil exposures
werelocatedupstream from,andon theoppositesideto,the
main Pliocene quarries. The fossils were located in a gully
that cut through a black soil plain and included mammals,
crocodilesand turtles. Adetailed examination ofthe fossils
revealed little softening of features normally associated
with transportation or re-working and it was therefore
assumed that the original site ofdeposition was relatively
close. There were no overlying formations that could give
an age to the fossils.
However, the new collecting locality, named Jaw Site,
contained a diagnostic P? of the diprotodontid marsupial,
/,\gomatitrnstrilohusMacleay,aspecieswithaPleistocene
distribution13 This tooth differed from the P' of a new
.
species ofZyi>omatarus that had been recovered from the
Bluff Downs Pliocene sediments (Lat. 19° 43' S, Long.
143'' 36' L), indicating that Jaw Site was not Pliocene in
age"'. Furthermore,therewasnoevidenceofthecommonly
found Pliocene diprotodontid Euryzyxoma which was a
mnjoi component ofthe BluffDown Local Fauna*.Theage
of the site was therefore either Plio-Pleistocene or
Pleistocene by biocorrelation.
A numberofbonefragments with distinctive sculpturing
was identified as being possible meiolaniid tail club
fragments.This identification wasconfirmed by H.Gaflney
oftheAmerican Museum ofNatural History. One groupof
fragments (QM F25854) contained 12 individual pieces
including one partial tail club spike and the distal ends of
caudal vertebrae (Fig. I A. B). The other group (QM
F25KXS) contained two tail club spike fragments and a
numberofsmallerbone shards(Fig. I C>.Thetailsofthese
land-dwelling turtles were covered with articulated bony
rings armoured with spikes.
The Wyandotte meiolaniid was identified as having
affinities with Met'olamaplatycepsfromLord Howe Island
rather than the mainland species M. oweni from Kings
Greek, Darling Downs3 Unfortunately notenough material
. QM
has been recovered to make any constructive taxonomic Fig. 1. Meiolaniidturtle fragments. F25854.A. Partial
QM
assignment for the Bluff Downs specimens except for tail club spike. B. Distal end ofcaudal vertebra. C.
identification asa meiolaniid. Unlike its Lord Howe Island F25855.Tail club spike fragment. Scalebar=5 mm.
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I
Piugram Grunt to M. Archer. a grant from the Department A. Bartholomat, and grants in aid to the Riversleigh
ofArts, Sport, the Environment Tourism andTerritories to Research Projectfrom the University ofNew South Wales,
M. Archer, S. Hand and H. Godthelp, a grant from the Wang Australia Ply Ltd. ICT Australia and the Australian
National Estate Program Grants Scheme to M. Archer and Geographic Society.
4XG0a.lTney,E.S.(I^83) Bull. Am.Mus. Nat. Hist. 175,361- 1"1TMhaocmksneosns,,S.B.A.S.&(1M0a0c5k)neMsesm,.BQ.i\S.M(u1s0.003)8,Tr6a0n3s-.6R0.0.Soe.
Wooclburne. M. ()., Mad'adden, B. ,|„ Case, J. \„ S. A. 123, 101-105.
SMp.ri&ngSeprr,iMng.erS.,,KF.leBd.ge(,10N0.3)S..J.PVoewrte.r,PaJl.eoDn.t,oWl.oo1c3l.b4u8r3n-e5,15J.. S11oWci.llNi.sS,.PW..M1.16.A.14&3-1M5a1c.kness, B. S. (1006) Proe. Linn,
1(Giaallif'nneeyy,,KE..S.S.(,IOAXrcIh)eArm,.MM.us.&NWovhiitl.e,272A0..(I103082.) The 6140W5r-6o1e2,.S. & Mackness, B. S. (I00X) Mem. Qd. Mus.42.
Beagle. Ree. N. T. Mus. Arts Set. 9, 35-47. "Murray, F. F. (1002) The Beagle. Ree. N.T. Mus. Arts
Gal'fney,E. S. (1985) Am. Mus. Novit. 2805. 1-20. Sci. 9. 80-110.
' Gaffney, F. S. (1006) Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist. 229. I- '"Black, K. & Mackness, B. S. (1000) Diversity and
166. relationships of diprolodontoid marsupials //; Archer. M.,
Gafi'ney, E. S. & MeNamara, G. (1000) Mem. Qd Mus. Arena, R., Bassarova. M.. Black, K.. Bramtnall,J.. Cooke,
28. 107-113. B.. Greaser. P.. Crosby. K.. Gillespie. A.. Godthelp. H..
Archer. M. (1076) Ibid, 17, 370-307. Gr.ii. M„ Hand, S.J., Kear, B., Krikman,A.. Mackness, B..
Boles, W. E. & Mackness, B. S. (1004) Ree. S Aust Muirhead,.1,. Musser,A..Myers,T.. Pledge; N.,Wang, Y,&
Mus. 27, 130-140. Wroe. S. (Eds) The cvolulionary history and diversity of
"Mackness, B. S. (1005) Emu. 95. 265-271. Australian mammals. Aust. Mammal, (in press).
BRIAN MACKNESS, School of Biological Sciences, University of New South Wales Kensington NSW 2052, Present
address: PO Box 560 BeerwahQld4510. E-mail: [email protected]