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Geological Society of Australia

ABSTRACTS Number 93

Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution Palaeontology and Systenatics Sydney June 20C9

12"' Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics Sydney June 22"'' - 25'" 2009

Programme Abstracts THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Tii'K / J

Society'

ISSN 0729 01IX © Geological Society of Australia Incorporated, 2009

Citation for this volume: Travouillon, K.J., Worthy, T.H., Hand, S J . and Creaser, P. (editors), 2009. Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics 2009, Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 93, 82p.

Example of citations for abstracts in this volume: Cooke, B.N., 2009. The genus Nambaroo (Macropodoidea: Balbaridae): too many species?, in: Travouillon, K.J., Worthy, T.H., Hand, S.J. and Creaser, P. (editors), 2009. Conference on Australasian Vertebrate Evolution, Palaeontology and Systematics 2009, Geological Society of Australia Abstracts 93, p. 22.

Copies of this publication may be obtained from: The Business Manager, Geological Society of Australia Incorporated, Suite 61, 104 Bathurst Street, Sydney NSW 2000, Australia, info@gsa.org.au

CONTENTS Conference Programme

p. 4

Abstracts

p. 11

Royal Society of NSW Symposium: Charles Darwin and Darwinian Evolution (Convenors Michael Archer, Henk Godthelp and Kenny Travouillon)

General Sessions High School Forum (Convenors Henk Godthelp, Jacqueline Nguyen and Kenny Travouillon)

Palaeoecology Human Evolution

(Convenor Kenny Travouillon) (Convenor Darren Cumoe)

Posters

CAVEPS 2009 was supported by: THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

- R THE f>tVERHU:iGH SoCIETV'

CAVEPS 2009 was sponsored by:

CREATE http://www.create.unsw.edu.au/

CAVEPS 2009 COMMITTEE Kenny Travouillon Michael Archer Suzanne Hand Henk Godthelp Karen Black

Trevor Worthy Philip Creaser Jenny Jones Jacqueline Nguyen Hayley Bates

Yamila Gurovich Prem Kumar Darren Curnoe Arthur White Karen White

Conference Programme Thursday IS*** June to Sunday 21'* June Pre-conference Field trip: Jenolan Caves, Canowindra and Wellington Caves (Coordinators Anne Musser, Michael Augee, and Kenny Travouillon)

Monday 22"^ June Registration desk open 8.00- 10.00 am: Foyer inside Central Lecture Block, University of New South Wales. Venue: Central Lecture Block 6 (CLB 6, D19 on UNSVV^ map) 9.00

Introductory remarks: Michael Archer and John Hardie

Royal Society of NSW Symposium: Charles Darwin and Darwinian Evolution *Student presentation Chair: John Long 9.20

Keynote Speaker: Augee, M.L. Charles Darwin and Richard Owen: a complex scientific relationship

10.00 Young, G.C. Charles Darwin, the geologist, formulated his evolutionary theory because recent developments (age of the Earth; new fossil discoveries), provided the deep time necessary for natural selection to operate 10.20 Morning Tea

Chair: Michael Augee 10.50 Douglas, K. Professor Owen and the not elephant: armchair travellers in the empires of the dead 11.10 ^Clement, A. and Long, J. A. Postcranial anatomy of two middle Devonian lungfishes (Osteichthyes, Dipnoi) from Mt Howitt, Victoria

General Sessions 11.30 Warren, A., Damiani, R., Northwood, C. and Sengupta, D. P. The importance of scrap 11.50 Long, J.A. and Trinajstic, K. On the origins of copulatory sexual reproduction in vertebrates: problems with erecting a robust phylogeny 12.10 Trinajstic, K. and Long, J.A. The potential of X-ray and Synchrotron CT scanning in determining soft tissue anatomy in early vertebrates 12.30 Lunch

Chair: Anne Warren 2.00

Berrell, R,W., Kemp, A. and Salisbury, S. W. Lungfish from the early Cretaceous, Griman Creek Formation of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales, Australia

2.20

'^Holland, T. The internal braincase anatomy of Gogonasus revealed through Micro CT-scanning and the spiracular chamber of tetrapodomorph fishes

2.40

Musser, A.M., Luo, Z., Martinelli, A.G., Lamanna, M.C., Weisbecker, V., Wroe, S., and Salisbury, S.W. First Australian non-mammalian cynodont: new evidence for the unusual nature of Australia's Cretaceous vertebrates

3.00

White, A.W., Worthy, T.H., Hawkins, S., Bedford, S., and Spriggs, M. Meiolaniid turtle remains from a 3,200 yr BP archaeological site in Vanuatu

3.20

Afternoon Tea

Chair: Arthur White 3.50

Hocknull, S. and Beime, L. Rebuilding a giant, again

4.10

McHenry, C.R. Cranial anatomy and functional morphology of the Australian pliosaur Kronosaurus queenslandicus

4.30

'^Herne, M.C. and Salisbury, S.W. The status of Leaellynasaura amicagraphica (Dinosauria: Omithischia) from the early Cretaceous of south-eastem Australia

4.50

^Leahey, L.G., Molnar, R.E. and Salisbury, S.W. Minmi and the ankylosauromorphan palate

5.10

Salisbury, S.W., Agnolin, F.L., Ezcurra, M.D. and Pais, D.F. A reassessment of the Cretaceous non-avian dinosaur faunas of Australia and New Zealand

6.00

Welcoming reception at the Roundhouse, Club Bar, University of New South Wales (E6 on UNSW map)

Tuesday

June High School Forum

Venue: Central Lecture Block 6 (CLB 6) Chair: Jenny Jones 9.15

Hocknull, S. "Digging dinosaurs down under"

9.45

Willis, P.M.A. Eating dinosaurs: or how to show that your BBQed chook is a dinosaur

10.15 Archer, M. The biggest, the weirdest and globally most extraordinary Australians 10.45 Morning Tea

Chair: Scott Hocknull 11.30 Jones, J. Species from deep time ride waves of extinction 12.00 Curnoe, D. Once we were not alone 12.30 Lunch

General Sessions

Chair: Steven Salisbury 2.00

'^Glen, C.L. and Bennett, M. Bird claw morphology: locomotor and predatory functions, with inferences for fossil theropods

2.20

Tennyson, A.J.D. When did New Zealand's birds evolve?

2.40

Scofield, R.P. and Ashwell, K.W.S. Rapid somatic expansion causes the brain to lag behind: the case of the brain and behaviour of New Zealand's Haast's eagle {Harpagornis moorei)

3.00

^Nguyen, J.M.T. Comparative morphology of the Australo-Papuan passerine birds: preliminary results

3.20

Worthy, T.H. and Boles, W.E. Phylogenetic reassessment of Gallinula disneyi from Riversleigh and description of a new species

3.40

Afternoon Tea

Chair: Trevor Worthy 4.10

Phillips, M.J. and Lee, M.S.Y. Molecules, morphology and ecology indicate a recent, amphibious ancestry for echidnas

4.30

"^Cernansky, A., Holec, P., Sykora, M. And Fordinal, K. One of the oldest European occurrences of an archaic Hippotherium (Perissodactyla: Equidae) from the West Carpathians (Slovakia)

4.50

Hand, S.J. and Grant-Mackie, J. The bat fauna of Me Aure Cave (WMD007), Moindou, New Caledonia: evidence of human consumption and a new species record from the recent past

5.10

'^Price, E. Geological analysis of the Miocene freshwater limestones of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, NW Queensland, Australia

Wednesday 24*^ June General Sessions Venue: Central Lecture Block 6 (CLB 6) Chair: Liz Reed 9.00

Greaser, P. An aspect of the geological evolution of Riversleigh

9.20

Arena, D.A., Archer, M., Wroe, S. and Hocknull, S. "Marsupial skinks" from Riversleigh

9.40

Beck, R.M.D. Taking the 'thing' out of 'Thingodonta': anatomy, functional morphology and systematics of the enigmatic metatherian Yalkaparidon

10.00 Travouillon, K.J., Muirhead, J., Beck, R.M.D., and Gurovich, Y. Description, phylogeny and palaeoecology of a new short-snouted bandicoot (Marsupialia; Peramelemorphia) from Riversleigh's Oligo-Miocene deposits, northwestern Queensland, Australia 10.20 Morning Tea

Chair: Suzanne Hand 10.50 Black, K., Hand, S.J., Archer, M., and Godthelp, H. A review of the Riversleigh diprotodontoids and an analysis of phylogenetic relationships within the superfamily (Marsupialia: Diprotodontidae, Palorchestidae) 11.10 '^Camens, A.B. Phylogenetic relationships of the Diprotodontidae based postcranial morphology 11.30 *Bates, H.L., Archer, M., Beck, R.M.D, Cooke, B., and Hand, S.J. New Miocene species of musky rat kangaroos (Hypsiprymnodontidae, Macropodoidea): description, phylogenetics and new hypotheses about kangaroo evolution 11.50 Cooke, B.N. The genus Nambaroo (Macropodoidea: Balbaridae): too many species? 12.10 *HadIey, C.B., Milne, N., and Schmitt, L.H. Cranial evolution: selection, drift and founder effect in Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii) populations. 12.30 Lunch

Poster Sessions 2.00

Venue: Study area outside Central Lecture Block 6 (CLB 6)

Bourne, S. and Reed, L. Thylacoleo's den Burrow, C.J. and Turner, S. Cartilaginous fish fauna from the Visean (Carboniferous, Mississippian) Ducabrook Formation, central Queensland *Cramb, J. A new species of Conilurus (Muridae) from Pleistocene-Holocene cave sites in Queensland ^Fletcher, T., Berrell, R.W., Geddes, K., and Salisbury, S.W. Acid preparation of vertebrate fossils (Teleosti and Dinosauria) from the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation of Isisford, central-western Queensland, Australia Kiembara, J., Clack, J., and Cerfiansky, A. Morphology of the palate of Chroniosaurus dongusensis (Chroniosuchia) from the upper Permian deposits of Russia Nair, J.P. and Salisbury, S.W. New anatomical information on Rhoetosaurus brownei (Dinosauria: Eusauropoda), from the Jurassic Injune Creek Group, near Roma, Queensland, Australia Price, G.J. and Piper, K.J. Building giants during the Pleistocene: body size evolution of Australian Diprotodon (Marsupialia: Diprotodontoidea) Price, G.J., Feng, Y., and Zhao, J. Systematic U/TH dating of Australia's most northerly Pleistocene megafauna: Palorchestes azael from Tea Tree Cave, northeastern Queensland ^Thomson, V. Reconstruction of past rodent assemblages using sub-fossil DNA in Australasia ^Zammit, M., Kear, B., and Norris, R. Pelvis and hindlimbs of the Australian Cretaceous ichthyosaur Platypterygius longmani: implications for function 3.40

Afternoon Tea

General Sessions Chair: Rod Wells 4.10

Arena, D.A. Riversleigh biostratigraphy: effects of karst processes

4.30

Price, G.J., Sobbe, LH., and Wilkinson, J.E. Determining the significance of Ned's Gully in the Australian Pleistocene megafauna extinction debate

4.50

'^Jankowski, N., Roberts, R.G., Jacobs, Z., Prideaux, G., and Gully, G. Of photons and fauna: optical dating of late Pleistocene faunal deposits in extreme south western Westem Australia.

5.10

^Cramb, J. Pleistocene cave sites in north-east Queensland: looking for lost rainforests

7.00

Conference Dinner and Auction at Beach Palace Hotel, 169 Dolphin St, Coogee

Thursday

June Palaeoecology

Venue: Central Lecture Block 6 (CLB 6) Chair: Kenny Travouillon 9.00

Keynote Speaker: Escarguel, G., Legendre, S., and Sige, B. From fossils to metacommunities: a Northern Hemisphere perspective based on 40 years of palaeontological research in the Quercy and Limagne areas, Massif Central, southwestern France

9.40

Hocknull, S.A. Late Cainozoic rainforest vertebrates, integrating Mt. Etna, Hamilton and Riversleigh

10.00 Price, G.J., Webb, G.E., Zhao, J., Feng, Y., Hocknull, S.A., Sobbe, I.H., and Cooke, B.N. Climatic forcing for late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction: evidence from the Darling Downs, eastern Australia 10.20 Musser, A.M. and Jones, R.K. New perspectives on the palaeoecology of Lightning Ridge, New South Wales 10.40 Morning Tea

Chair: Gilbert Price 11.10 Carey, S.P., *Camens, A.B., Cupper, M.L., Grun, R., Hellstrom, J., and Mclennan, I. Superb megafaunal trackways from the volcanic plains of Victoria: geological context 11.30 '^Camens, A.B., Carey, S.P., Mclennan, L, and Pickering, D. Superb megafaunal trackways from the volcanic plains of Victoria: biomechanical analysis and faunal interactions 11.50 Evans, A.R. Patterns and constraints in carnivoran and rodent dental complexity and relative tooth size 12.10 Hand, S.J., Black, K., Archer, M., and Godthelp, H. Palaeoecological implications of peculiar cranial morphology in Old World leaf-nosed bats (Hipposideridae) from the Australian Miocene 12.30 Travouillon, K.J., Escarguel, G., Legendre, S., Archer, M., and Hand, S.J. The use of MSR: how much data is needed to say something meaningful in palaeoecology

12.50 Lunch

Human Evolution Chair: Darren Curnoe 2.00

Keynote Speaker: Wroe, S., Ferarra, T., Chamoli, U., McHenry, C. and Cumoe, D. 3-D computer simulation of hominoid cranial mechanics

2.40

Herries, A.I.R., Adams, J., Braun, D., Brink, J., Brown, K., Cumoe, D., Fisher, E., Marean, C., Roberts, D., and Warr, G. Palaeomagnetism through space and time in Africa: dating landmarks in hominin and mammalian evolution

3.00

Thompson, J.C. Current approaches to understanding early modem human faunal exploitation strategies

3.20

Ho, S.Y.W. and Endicott, P. Evaluating the mitochondrial timescale of human evolution

3.40

Afternoon Tea

Chair: Andrew Herries 4.10

^Jankowski, N., Roberts, R.G., Jacobs, Z., and Fenwick, J. Optical dating of Australia's earliest occupation sites: a fresh look at an old question.

4.30

Curnoe, D. Evolution of modem humans in east Asia-Australasia

4.50

Garvey, J. The wallaby hunters of late Pleistocene Tasmania

5.10

van Hoist Pellekaan, S. and Wilton, A. What have human genetic studies taught us about human evolution?

6.30

Farewell drinks and dinner: Royal Hotel Randwick, 2 Perouse Road, Randwick

Saturday i f ^ June to Monday 6*'* July Post-conference Field trip: Riversleigh World Heritage Area (Coordinator Henk Godthelp)

Abstracts The Abstracts are listed in alphabetical order. High School Forum and Poster Abstracts are in two following sections in alphabetical order.

RIVERSLEIGH BIOSTRATIGRAPHY: EFFECTS OF KARST PROCESSES D. A. Arena School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales; rick@sitc.net.au

Key words: Riversleigh, biostratigraphy, fauna, reworking

Riversleigh biostratigraphy is informed by the observed differences between fossil faunas. This challenges the hypothesis that the role of karst processes in the formation of Riversleigh deposits (such as cave formation/infill and reworking) has precluded resolution of a biostratigraphic sequence.

'MARSUPIAL SKINKS' FROM RIVERSLEIGH ^ D. A. Arena, ^ M. Archer, ^ S. Wroe, and ^ S. Hocknull (1) School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales (2) Queensland Museum; ^ rick@sitc.net.au

Key words: marsupial, lizard, adaptation, convergence

Newly described fossil taxa from Riversleigh exhibit highly derived dentition that is unique among marsupials and appears convergent with the teeth of specialized lizards. This suggests these marsupials were adapted to occupy a niche in Miocene Australian ecosystems that is occupied today by skinks.

CHARLES DARWIN AND RICHARD OWEN: A COMPLEX SCIENTIFIC RELATIONSHIP Michael L. Augee Wellington Caves Fossil Studies Center 89 Caves Road, Wellington, NSW 2820; fossil@well-com.net.au Key words: Darwin, Evolution, Owen Charles Darwin and Richard Owen were introduced to each other by Charles Lyell on 29 October 1836. As young men they were friends, although not close, and collaborators. Owen wrote the 'Fossil Mammalia' section of T h e Zoology of the Voyage of H.M.S. Beagle' which was edited and superintended by Darwin. This concerned the fossils of South America, which played an important part in Darwin's development of the 'Law of succession of types'. Darwin had studied these fossils with Owen in the Hunterian Collection. Fossils from Wellington Caves, which Darwin notes that William Clift had showed to be allied to the living marsupials of Australia, played only a minor part in development of that law. The friendship turned almost to hatred following the publication of an anonymous review of 'The origin of species' in which Owen mounted a caustic attack on Darwin. It was not actually an attack on evolutionary principles, as both men held quite similar views with the exception of Owen's refusal to accept any role for 'survival of the fittest'. Owen's concept of a vertebrate 'archetype', established by God, as a basis on which all vertebrates were built according to divinely inspired 'secondary laws' clearly involves the building of new species. Owen's 'secondary laws' are vague, and it is highly likely one of the most important would have been 'survival of the fittest' if he had thought of it before Darwin and Wallace. The anonymous Owen review gives a clear picture of the fervour of evolutionary thought in the middle 1800s and Darwin's fundamental role therein. The list of people Owen attacks as those whose "... speculations" preceded 'The origin of species' gives a clear picture of the development of evolutionary thought in which Darwin played such a key, although not sole, role. Those "... naturalists whose minds are not weighted or troubled with more than a discursive and superficial knowledge of nature" included Demaillet, Buffon, Lamarck, Chambers and of course Darwin himself Owen's anonymous review serves to remind us that Darwin's great contribution to the modem synthesis of evolution was to provide an essential mechanism: 'survival of the fittest'. He did not invent evolution, but put into clearer words based on stronger evidence a concept already growing within the scientific community. He saw the conflict with Anglican orthodoxy that so bothered Owen, but Darwin had the courage to take the plunge.

Direct quotations are from: ANON., 1860. Darwin on the Origin of Species. Edinburgh Review 111, 487-532, which was recognized immediately as being written by Richard Owen.

NEW MIOCENE SPECIES OF MUSKY RAT KANGAROOS (HYPSIPRYMNODONTIDEA, MACROPODOIDEA): DESCRIPTION, PHYLOGENETICS AND NEW HYPOTHESES ABOUT KANGAROO EVOLUTION Hay ley L. Bates\ Michael Archer, Robin M. D. Beck, Bernard Cooke and Suzanne Hand School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia. ^ h.bates@student.unsw.edu.au Key words: Hypsiprymnodon, phylogenetics, rat kangaroos, kangaroo evolution

Three new species of the macropodoid genus Hypsiprymnodon are described from Oligo-Miocene deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Property, northwestern Queensland. These species, which span the Middle to early Late Miocene, are distinguished prunarily by differences in qualitative dental morphology and size. The three new Hypsiprymnodon species described here, as well as H. bartholomaii, were included in a phylogenetic analysis of Cooke's (1997) matrix. Our preliminary results show strong support for monophyly of Macropodoidea, and indicate that bulungamyines are a paraphyletic group nested within Macropodidae. Fossil taxa previously regarded as potoroines (Wakiewakie lawsoni, Purtia mosaicus and Bettongia moyesi) appear to be more closely related to macropodines and sthenurines. The extant potoroines are the sister group of all other macropodids. In most of our analyses Hypsiprymnodontidae, not Balbaridae, is found to be the sister group to all other macropodoids. Relationships within the genus Hypsiprymnodon are poorly resolved. However, the three new Hypsiprymnodon species from Riversleigh are shown to be distantly related to the extant H. moschatus, suggesting that the Riversleigh taxa may not belong to this genus. Our phylogenetic results suggest that the earliest macropodoids were omnivorous (and possibly at least partially carnivorous). Morphological adaptations for herbivory are suggested to have evolved in response to the concomitant spread of sclerophyllous plant taxa and increase in aridity of the Australian continent during the Cainozoic. CoOKE, B. N., 1997. Researches into fossil kangaroos and kangaroo evolution. Unpublished PhD Thesis, University of New South Wales, Sydney.

TAKING THE 'THING' OUT OF 'THINGODONTA': ANATOMY, FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY AND SYSTEMATICS OF THE ENIGMATIC METATHERIAN YALKAPARIDON Robin M. D. Beck Department of Mammalogy, American Museum of Natural History, New York, New York 10024, USA; rbeckl @amnh.org

Key words: Yalkaparidon, Metatheria, Australidelphia, woodpecker

Yalkaparidon, informally known as 'Thingodonta' because of its bizarre dentition, is one of the most enigmatic fossil metatherians to have been discovered in Australia. Known only from the Oligo-Miocene limestone deposits at Riversleigh World Heritage Area, it is currently represented by multiple isolated teeth and dental fragments and a single partial skull. Postcranial material has also been tentatively referred to the genus. In their original description of the craniodental material, Archer et al. (1988) identified two species (J. coheni and Y. jonesi) and referred the taxon to its own order, Yalkaparidontia. I have undertaken a detailed anatomical study of all known Yalkaparidon specimens. Amongst other features of interest, the postcanine dentition appears to comprise one premolar and four molars, not three premolars and three molars as originally reported, and the alisphenoid and parietal were probably in contact on the lateral wall of the braincase, contra Wroe et al (1998). Based on its dentition (namely its diprotodont lower incisors, hypseledont first incisors and extremely zalambdodont molars) and a number of unusual cranial features, I have hypothesised that Yalkaparidon was probably a 'mammalian woodpecker', similar to the primate Daubentonia, the marsupial Dactylopsila and the extinct eutherian apatemyids (Beck 2009). Phylogenetic analyses of a 242 morphological character dataset and a total evidence dataset that also includes 20.1 kb of sequence data and 124 nuclear indels indicate that Yalkaparidon is a marsupial (i.e. a crown-group metatherian) and a member of Australidelphia, but not closely related to any known australidelphian order. ARCHER, M., HAND, S. & GODTHELP, H., 1988. A new order of Tertiary zalambdodont marsupials. Science 239, 1528-1531.

BECK, R. M. D., 2009. Was the Oligo-Miocene Australian metatherian Yalkaparidon a 'mammalian woodpecker'? Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 97, 1-17. WROE, S., BRAMMALL, J. & COOKE, B. N., 1998. The skull of Ekaltadeta

ima (Marsupialia,

Hypsiprymnodontidae?): an analysis of some cranial features within Marsupialia and a re-investigation of propleopine phylogeny; with notes on the inference of camivory among mammals. Journal of Paleontology

12, 738-751.

LUNGFISH FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS, GRIMAN CREEK FORMATION OF LIGHTNING RIDGE, NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA Rodney W. Berrell', Anne Kemp^ and Steven W. Salisbury^*^ ^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; rodnevberrell@vahoo.com ^Centre for Marine Studies, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA.

Key words: Lungfish, Griman Creek Formation, Cretaceous, New South Wales The Early Cretaceous (Albian) Griman Creek Formation at Lightning Ridge, central-northern New South Wales, Australia, has long been known for producing opalised fossils from a continental freshwaterestuarine habitat, including vertebrates, invertebrates and plants. To date, three species of lungfishes are currently described from this fauna: Neoceratodus forsteri, Ceratodus diutinus and Metaceratodus wollastoni. Metaceratodus wollastoni is also known from the mid-Cretaceous (Albian-Cenomanian) Winton Formation of central-western Queensland. In 1981, Kemp and Molnar described a few fragmentary lungfish tooth plates from Lightning Ridge. In their opinion, these specimens bore no resemblance to other previously described fossil lungfishes, but were indistinguishable from those of the living Australian lungfish, Neoceratodus forsteri in overall morphology and length/breath ratios. New material of complete lungfish tooth plates supports the interpretation of Kemp and Molnar, indicating that Neoceratodus was present in the Lightning Ridge assemblage. Neoceratodus forsteri is one of two long-lived lungfish species found at Lightning Ridge; the other is Ceratodus diutinus, from Triassic to middle Miocene deposits. The lungfish fauna at Lightning Ridge is dominated by Metaceratodus wollastoni. The occurrence of M wollastoni in the Wmton Formation suggests that this species had a broad temporal range in the Cretaceous, and was able to tolerate a wide range of environmental factors.

A REVIEW OF THE RIVERSLEIGH DIPROTODONTOIDS AND AN ANALYSIS OF PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS WITHIN THE SUPERFAMILY (MARSUPIALIA: DIPROTODONTIDAE, PALORCHESTIDAE) Karen Black\ Suzanne J. Hand, Michael Archer and Henk Godthelp School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052; \.black@unsw.edu.au

Key words: Diprotodontoidea, Zygomaturinae, Diprotodontinae, Vombatomorphia

Analysis of diprotodontoid material from the fossil deposits of the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland, reveals the most diverse diprotodontoid fauna currently recorded from any single region in Australia. At least seven genera and 13 species are recognized, spanning the late Oligocene to the late Pleistocene. The Riversleigh sample includes the most plesiomorphic diprotodontoids presently known, and consequently represents an important stage in the evolution of this common and widespread group. Although diprotodontids and palorchestids were among the first fossil marsupials described from Australia, phylogenetic analysis of these families has been limited. The cladistic analyses presented here are the first to incorporate both dental and cranial characters to determine diprotodontoid phylogenetic relationships. Monophyly of Palorchestidae was strongly supported in all consensus trees with 12 synapomorphies found to unite the family. Monophyly of Diprotodontidae was supported in all consensus trees, although bootstrap support was moderate and only three synapomorphies were found to unite the family. Monophyly of its respective subfamilies, Diprotodontinae and Zygomaturinae, was not supported, primarily because of the unstable position of the monotypic genus Alkwertatherium.

Further phylogenetic conflict arose due to high levels of convergence in

cranial morphology among the more highly derived members of both subfamilies.

PHYLOGENETIC RELATIONSHIPS OF THE DIPROTODONTIDAE BASED ON POSTCRANIAL MORPHOLOGY Aaron B. Camens Darling Building, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, South Australia, 5005; aaron.camens@adelaide.edu.au Key words: Diprotodontids, Australian megafauna, postcranial, phylogeny Relationships among the various members of the Diprotodontidae have traditionally revolved around dental and, occasionally, basicranial characters. The recovery in recent years of more complete postcranial material of diprotodontids has allowed another means of assessing phylogenetic relationships in this group. This study examined the hind limb and pedal morphology of 8 genera of diprotodontids for their phylogenetic significance. A total of 129 characters from 8 diprotodontids, 3 vombatids, Thylacoleo (the marsupial lion), the koala, the brushtail possum and a bandicoot were used in cladistic analyses. Species habitus as reflected in limb element proportions and joint mobility was found to have a strong influence on tree topology, with the studied taxa grouping in graviportal, fossorial and scansorial-arboreal clades. The early diprotodontids Ngapakaldia and Nimbadon grouped with Thylacoleo, the koala and the brushtail possum in a potentially scansorial-arboreal clade, while the giant wombat Phascolonus grouped with the larger diprotodontids in a clade dominated by characters reflecting graviportal adaptations. Further analyses involving constrained topologies revealed that a number of postcranial characters do support traditional phylogenies based on dental morphology. The analysis suggests that Ngapakaldia, Nimbadon and Thylacoleo all had a degree of climbing ability while the hind limb morphologies of Plaisiodon, Zygomaturus, Euowenia and Diprotodon were dominated by graviportal adaptations. It is concluded that without subjective character selection diprotodontid phylogenetic relationships based on postcranial morphology are clouded by abundant homoplasy. It is also suggested that other Australian marsupial phylogenies based on postcranial anatomy are likely to produce inaccurate results without subjective character selection.

SUPERB MEGAFAUNAL TRACKWAYS FROM THE VOLCANIC PLAINS OF VICTORIA: BIOCMECHANICAL ANALYSIS AND FAUNAL INTERACTIONS Aaron B. Camens\ Stephen P. Carey^ Iain Mclennan^ and David Pickering"* ^Darling Building, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, aaron.caniens@adelaide.edu.au ^School of Science & Engineering, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Vic 3353 Australia; ^School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010; "^Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne 3001; South Australia, 5005; Key words: Australian megafauna, fossil trackways, palaeobiology, biomechanics A fossil trackway locality within the Victorian volcanic plains represents the most speciose and best preserved megafaunal footprint site in Australia. The site includes trackways attributed to the macropodid Protemnodon, the diprotodontid Diprotodon optatum, a vombatid the size of Ramsayia magna and possible prints of the marsupial lion, Thylacoleo carnifex. As the footprints were imprinted during a short time period the site demonstrates actual association of the taxa present rather than the time-averaged associations usually observed in skeletal fossil deposits. Individual manus and pes prints are distinguishable in most trackways and in many cases some digital pad morphology is also present. Two skeletal fossil deposits associated with the trackways confirm the presence of T. carnifex, vombatids, rodents, dasyurids and the kangaroo genera, Macropus and Protemnodon. The assemblage provides new information concerning the gaits and soft tissue morphology of several Pleistocene megafaunal species. The D. optatum trackways indicate significant differences in the shape of the manus to those predicted from skeletal morphology and also indicate that the species was capable of adopting a stance of wider gauge than previously recognized. Possible T. carnifex prints suggest that the species may have walked with the large opposable thumb held off the ground. The site also provides the first opportunity in Australia to contrast mammalian faunal assemblages represented by skeletal remains, footprints and bite marks, and reveals that each mode of preservation is significantly biased.

SUPERB MEGAFAUNAL TRACKWAYS FROM THE VOLCANIC PLAINS OF VICTORIA: GEOLOGICAL CONTEXT Stephen P. Carey\ Aaron B. Camens^ Matthew L. Cupper^ Rainer Griin^ John Hellstrom^ and Iain McLennan^ 'School of Science & Engineering, University of Ballarat, PO Box 663, Ballarat, Vic 3353, Australia s.carev@baUarat.edu.au ; ^Darling Building, School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide; ^School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010; ^Research School of Earth Sciences, Australian National University, ACT 0200; ^School of Earth Sciences, University of Melbourne, Vic 3010; ^School of Science & Engineering, University of Ballarat, P.O. Box 663, Ballarat Vic 3353.

Key words: megafauna, ichnology, marsupials, Australia, Pleistocene

Magnificently preserved trackways created by several Pleistocene megafaunal species are represented at an important new locality in the volcanic plains of western Victoria. Fifteen diprotodontid, macropodid and vombatid trackways are accompanied by skeletal remains, including Thylacoleo, macropodids, vombatids and dasyurids. In this, the first of two companion papers, we interpret the geology of the deposit. The tracking surface is at or near the top of a volcaniclastic sandstone which was buried beneath a thin dolomitic limestone bed, the latter now partially eroded. The sandstone is thinly stratified and features a variety of bed forms, including sand bars, ripples and erosional scours. In some cases, the sand bars influence trackway position and, in others, trackway character. The sand bars were exposed at the margin of a substantial lake at the time the animals traversed them. The lake subsequently became saline with a high Mg/Ca ratio, similar to the situation which exists in many western Victoria lakes today. While the locality is problematic for geochronology, the following results were obtained: (i) for the volcaniclastics hosting the trackways, >75 ka, determined by optically stimulated luminescence (OSL); (ii) for the matrix to the major skeletal fossil accumulation, >57 ka (OSL); (iii) for a macropodid tooth from the major skeletal fossil accumulation, <110 ka (uranium series/electron spin resonance); and (iv) 43-60 ka for the overlying carbonate bed (U/Th). The likely age of the trackways is in the range 57-110 ka, with the 43-60 ka age of the overlying carbonate representing a minimum age.

ONE OF THE OLDEST EUROPEAN OCCURRENCES OF AN ARCHAIC HIPPOTHERIUM (PERISSODACTYLA: EQUIDAE) FROM THE WEST CARPATHIANS (SLOVAKIA) Andrej Cernansky\ Peter Holec^ Milan Sykora^ and Klement Fordinal"^ epartment of Geology and Paleontology, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius Universit Bratislava, Mlynsk^ dolina, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovakia; ^ cernanskYa@fns.uniba.sk "^State Geological Institute of Dionz Stur, Mlynska dolina 1, 817 04 Bratislava, Slovakia. Key words: horses, deciduous dentition, "Hipparion Datum", Slovakia. The first West Carpathian finds of an archaic Hippotherium sp. cf H. primigenium, representing one of the oldest Central and West European populations, are described. The fossil material comes from white, creamcoloured limestone of the Hlavma Member (the marginal upper Miocene sediments of the Risnovce Depression m the Slovak part of the Danube basin), representing the sediments of the Lake Pannon from the central Paratethys region. The material of horses consists of a mandibular fragment with the rarely preserved deciduous dentition and an isolated upper molar from an adult individual. These first populations of hipparionine horses in Europe are extensively studied because of theu* stratigraphic importance and are particularly remarkable for their complexly folded enamel plications on the maxillary and mandibular cheek teeth. Besides this find, archaic hipparions are known from Austria, Spain, Turkey and Pakistan. The arrival of Hippotherium in Europe is called the "Hipparion Datum". It is a marker for the beginning of the late Miocene (MM 9). Hipparions appeared during the Sarmatian in the Eastern Paratethys and later, during the Pannonian, in the Central Paratethys. This research provides the first information about earliest European archaic hipparionine horses in the West Carpathians and rare information about deciduous dentition of a juvenile form. It extends our knowledge about the characteristics of the archaic populations, first migration, evolution and developing of the first European specimens of the genus Hippotherium.

POSTCRANIAL ANATOMY OF TWO MIDDLE DEVONIAN LUNGFISHES (OSTEICHTHYES, DIPNOI) FROM MT. HOWITT, VICTORIA Alice M. Clement' and John A. Long Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666, Melbourne 3001; 'aclement@museum.vic.gov.au Key words: Dipnoi, Devonian, postcranial skeleton, adaptive radiation

The postcranial skeletons of two upper Givetian lungfishes from Mt. Howitt, Victoria, show remarkable similarities, despite the fact that one is a tooth-plated form {Howidipterus Long, 1992) whilst the other has a denticulate dentition {Barwickia Long, 1992). Both genera show identical body shape with a short anterior dorsal fm and greatly elongated posterior dorsal fm, and small anal fm. The cleithrum and clavicles are remarkably similar, except for Barwickia lacking external ornament on the lateral lamina of the cleithrum and having a smaller branchial lamina on the clavicle. Both have paddle-shaped subdermal anocleithra that meet the posterior process of the I bone, approximately the same numbers of cranial ribs, pleural ribs, supraneural and subhaemal spines, the same expanded dorsal and anal fm basals with similar number of proximal and middle radials supporting the fms, and approximately the same number of radials supporting the hypochordal lobe of the caudal fm. These numerous similarities in the postcranial skeletons of the two genera strongly suggest that their differing feeding mechanisms probably evolved from a shared ancestral form having a similar postcranial skeleton. The presence of cranial ribs indicates these fish may have been incipient air-gulpers. The description of postcranial skeletons for two more Middle Devonian lungfish contributes significantly to our knowledge of the early radiation of the Dipnoi.

LONG, J. A., 1992. Cranial anatomy of two new Late Devonian lungfishes (Pisces: Dipnoi) from Mt. Howitt, Victoria. Records of the Australian Museum 44, 299-318.

THE GENUS NAMBAROO (MACROPODOIDEA: BALBARIDAE): TOO MANY SPECIES? B. N. Cooke Visiting scholar, School of Natural Resource Sciences, QUT; bncooke@bigpond.netau

Key words: tooth variations, Nambaroo, Thylogale

Three species of Nambaroo were described by Flannery and Rich (1986) on the basis of isolated teeth from the Middle Miocene Namba Formation in South Australia. Two more species have been described from Riversleigh (Cooke 1997, Kear et al. 2007) and another from Bullock Creek in the Northern Territoiy (Swartz and Megirian 2004). Further, known Riversleigh specimens may represent at least six additional species. To avoid excessive taxonomic "splitting" within Nambaroo, an investigation was made of variations in cheek tooth size and morphology within the comparable extant genus, Thylogale. Compared with Nambaroo, Thylogale species are of similar small size, inhabit similar rainforest/closed forest environments, but are distributed even more widely than those of Nambaroo. Variation within species in the genus was exaggerated by treating the three species within the T brunii complex (Flannery 1992) as a single species. Measurements were made of lengths and widths of cheek teeth and Mests of sample means of all measurements were conducted for all possible combinations of species. Where t values were significant or approaching significance at the 0.05 level, the Coefficients of Difference (Mayr et al. 1953, Ride 1960) were calculated. Only for a single measurement in one pair of species did Coefficients of Difference indicate a separation at the subspecific level. No consistent cheek teeth morphological differences distinguished any species of Thylogale from any other. Although certain characters were absent in some species, they were not consistently present in those species in which they did occur. If the Thylogale cheek teeth specimens were treated as fossil material from a number of different sites, the results indicate there would be little justification in separating them into different species. Differences in tooth morphology between the fossil specimens of Nambaroo, therefore, appear to reasonably justify their assignment to different species.

FLANNERY, T.F. & RICH, T.H.R., 1986. Macropodoids of the middle Miocene Namba Formation, South Australia, and the homology of some dental structures in kangaroos. Journal of Paleontology 60, 418447. MAYR, E., LINSLEY, E.G. & U S I N G E R , R . L . , 1953. Methods and principles

of systematic zoology. M'Graw Hill:

New York. RIDE, W.D.L., 1964. A review of Australian fossil mammals. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia 44, 53-60.

PLEISTOCENE CAVE SITES IN NORTH-EAST QUEENSLAND: LOOKING FOR LOST RAINFORESTS Jonathan Cramb Queensland Museum/ Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001; i2.cramb@student.qutedu.au Key words: Chillagoe, Broken River, Mt Etna, Pleistocene Cave sites at Mount Etna indicate that rainforest environments were relatively widespread in eastern-central Queensland during the middle Pleistocene (Hocknull et al 2007). This project focuses on locating cave sites of similar age in north Queensland. Preparation and analysis of material from ten sites from two areas (Chillagoe and the Broken River) has revealed patterns of faunal change from the middle Pleistocene to the present day. Similar patterns seem to be observed in all three areas (Chillagoe, the Broken River, and Mount Etna). A biostratigraphic system for the middle Pleistocene-Holocene of eastern Queensland is proposed on the basis of small mammals; an 'early' phase characterized by rainforest species, a 'middle' phase characterized by aridadapted species, and a 'late' phase when the small mammal assemblage becomes essentially modem. HOCKNULL, S.A., ZHAO, J.-X., FENG, Y.-X. & WEBB, G.E., 2007. Responses of Quaternary rainforest vertebrates

to climate change in Australia. Earth and Planetary Science Letters 264, 317-33 L

AN ASPECT OF THE GEOLOGICAL EVOLUTION OF RIVERSLEIGH Phil Creaser Visiting Fellow, School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University ofNew South Wales, SYDNEY NSW 2052; philcreaser@grapevine.coni.au Key words: Riversleigh, karst, geology, groundwater Following the recognition of the extent of the Tertiary freshwater limestones at Riversleigh by Mike Archer and his team in 1983, unraveling the geological evolution of the area has been a major priority. Understanding the geology can help in determining environments of deposition and accumulation of fossil material. Archer, Godthelp, Hand and Megirian (1989) proposed three Systems (A, B and C) that represented broad stratigraphic units deposited in a certain time interval with a distinctive fauna. Since then, this has been used by researchers when interpreting both the geology and palaeontology of Riversleigh. The work of Arena (2004) has been significant in understanding the geological evolution of the area. Drawing on modem theories for the evolution of karst terrains and tufa depositional environments, Arena proposed a four phase model that can be correlated with the Systems of Archer et al (1989). Further geological and palaeontological research can continue to test these hypotheses and models and there are many aspects of the geology that need to be studied. One aspect that is worthy of more detailed consideration is the role that warm geothermal groundwater may have played in both the deposition of the tufa sediments and the formation of the caves in the karst environment. Based on fieldwork at a range of sites in a particular area at Riversleigh as well as observations based on the research work of Osborne (2007) at Wellington Caves, which is also documented in White (2008), it is suggested that geothermal groundwater may have played a significant role and that the implications from this may be important. ARCHER, M., GODTHELP, H., HAND, S.J. & MEGIRIAN, D., 1989. Fossil mammals of Riversleigh, north-western

Queensland: preliminary overview of biostratigraphy, correlation and environmental change. Australian Zoologist 25(2), 29-65. ARENA, D . A., 2004. The geological history and development of the terrain at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area during the middle Tertiary: Unpublished PhD thesis. University of New South Wales, Sydney, 275 pages. OSBORNE, R.A.L. 2007. Cathedral Cave, Wellington Caves, New South Wales, Australia. A multiphase, nonfluvial cave. Earth Surface Processes and Landforms 32, 2075-2103. WHITE, A., 2008. The making of Wellington Caves. Riversleigh Notes 69, 1-5.

EVOLUTION OF MODERN HUMANS IN EAST ASIA-AUSTRALASIA Darren Curnoe School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales; dxurnoe@unsw.edu.au

Key words: Human evolution, Homo sapiens

The origin of modem humans has been a major research topic of hominin palaeontology for more than two decades. The fossil record and genetics indicate that 'anatomically modem' humans appeared in sub-Saharan Africa at least 200,000 years ago and evolved from an 'archaic' H. sapiens population dating to >300,000 years ago. Thus, modem humans evolved in Africa between 100 ka and 150 ka earlier than they appeared in East Asia and Australasia. Just why they took so long to colonize Eurasia and the mechanisms involved remain unknown. Scenarios about modem human evolution in East Asia and Australasia in particular have relied heavily on genetic evidence owing to a paucity of fossils and many ongoing problems with the dating of human fossils and archaeological sites, as well as decreased confidence in the ability of stone tools to be reliable markers following the discovery of H.floresiensis. However, recent progress has been made in understanding the fossil record of modem humans in East Asia and scenarios are beginning to emerge which may be tested against evidence from other regions and against genetic scenarios. In this talk, I will provide an overview of current research into the evolution of modem humans globally and within East Asia/Australasia, as well as discussing my own research into this question in Australia and China.

PROFESSOR OWEN AND THE NOT ELEPHANT: ARMCHAIR TRAVELLERS IN THE EMPIRES OF THE DEAD Kirsty Douglas Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra Australia; kirstv«douglas@environ mentgov.au

Key words: Owen, Diprotodon, mastodon, Notelephas

Dubbed 'the British Cuvier', by the 1850s, Richard Owen's empire of fossil behemoths stretched across several continents, geological periods and three orders of the subphylum Vertebrata. Though he did not travel far, his network of collectors ensured a ready supply of material with which to populate his realms of the past. In 1843 he announced that he had identified the remains of an extinct Australian elephant. Owen tentatively named it Mastodon australis. He later conceded that it appeared to be so closely related to South American mastodons because it was a South American mastodon, probably a trade item (Owen 1882). Owen was not a field scientist and never visited Australia. Therefore he depended entirely on the reliability of his suppliers. At three removes from his field area, his identification of the molar may have been correct but his mistake was in his readiness to accept its eastern Australian provenance. In the early 1880s, Owen was again delivered the tusk of what appeared to be an animal closely related to an elephant and named it Notelephas australis. He hoped that its history would mimic Diprotodon optatum, which, beginning with 'but a portion of a tusk' in 1838, ultimately established the existence of the 'previously hugest known Marsupial'. Instead, its history apparently mirrored that of Mastodon australis, as Notelephas was quietly consigned to the dustbin of palaeontological chimerae, and the southern elephant proved indeed to be a not-elephant. This brief episode in Owen's intellectual life illustrates the hit-and-miss nature of biogeographical knowledge.

AMUNDSON, R., 1998. Typology reconsidered: Two doctrines on the history of evolutionary biology. Biology and Philosophy

13, 153-177.

DUGAN, K. G., 1980. Darwin and Diprotodon: The Wellington Caves fossils and the law of succession. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales 104(4), 265-72. OWEN, R., 1843. On the discovery of the remains of a mastodontoid pachyderm in Australia. Annals and Magazine of Natural History

11,7-12.

OWEN, R., 1882. Description of portions of a tusk of a proboscidean mammal {Notelephas australis, Owen). Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society, London 173, 777-781.

FROM FOSSILS TO METACOMMUNITIES: A NORTHERN HEMISPHERE PERSPECTIVE BASED ON 40 YEARS OF PALEONTOLOGICAL RESEARCH IN THE QUERCY AND LIMAGNE AREAS, MASSIF CENTRAL, SOUTH-WESTERN FRANCE Gilles Escarguel, Serge Legendre and Bernard Sige UMR-CNRS 5125 "Paleoenvironnements & Paleobiosphere", University Lyon 1 Bat. "Geode" 2, rue Dubois F-69622, Villeurbanne, France; gi[les.escarguel@univ-tyonl.fr Key words: Mammal, diversity dynamics, rate scaling, poly-cohort matrix For four decades, many palaeontologists from various French universities (Montpellier, Paris, Lyon, Poitiers) have extensively studied the terrestrial vertebrate remains fossilized in the Quercy (palaeo-karstic phosphorite ore fillings; Legendre et al. 1997) and Limagne (sedimentary basin; Hugueney 1997) adjacent areas (Massif Central, France). Fossils unearthed to date from -170 known localities over a -7000 km^ surface area, allow the characterization of >300 mammalian (placentalian and metatherian) phyletic lineages, ranging within a main time interval of 16 Myr from the late Middle Eocene to the Early Miocene (38-22 Myr; Escarguel et al. 1997). This material provides a rare opportunity to follow the regional-level diversity dynamics of a mammalian metacommunity within an evolving meta-ecosystem\ From this viewpoint, it constitutes an almost unique deeptime key into several major current macroecological debates. In this paper, we will focus on the local vs. regional dynamics, looking at those climatic and environmental parameters that potentially drive mammal diversity changes at these two ecological integration levels. Contrasting locality-level results from cenogram analysis (Legendre 1986, 1989) with regional-level results based on evolutionary rate scaling analyses and poly-cohort matrix computation (Escarguel & Legendre 2006; Escarguel et al. 2008), we show that these two functional levels of ecological integration show very distinct deep-time diversity dynamics, involving at least partially independent sets of controlling parameters. Clearly, those driving the metacommunity still remain to be better understood. In particular, the detailed, numerical analysis of the poly-cohort matrix indicates the Eocene/Oligocene transition (a global climatic event also known as the Stehlin's "Grande Coupure", a biogeographical event that deeply affects Northern Hemisphere mammals) as a time of major change in the mammalian metacommunity dynamics. The post-SGC metacommunity shows a periodic (~2 Myr) oscillation between an extinctiondominated phase and a following origination-dominated phase. The very nature of the mechanisms underlying this periodic signal remains to be elucidated. Among various possibilities, two working hypotheses are currently under scrutiny: - it could be related to the periodic evolution of some "extrinsic" driving parameter(s) of the meta-ecosystem such as the eccentricity (2.37 & 0.97 Myr) and obliquity (1.2 Myr) low-frequency modulations of Milankovitch oscillations, which are known to regulate Antarctic ice sheet expansion and global climate cooling through a - 2 Myr-period astronomical forcing from the Eocene/Oligocene boundary onward (see van Dam et al., 2006); - it could be "intrinsic" to the metacommunity itself, which would behave as a complex adaptive system exhibiting a self-organized dynamics around an equilibrium state initially perturbed by the Eocene/Oligocene ^ "[Metacommunities are] sets of local communities that are linked by dispersal of multiple interacting species." (Leibold et al. 2004 - Ecology Letters 7, 601-613) "[A meta-ecosystem is] a set of ecosystems connected by spatial flows of energy, materials and organisms across ecosystem boundaries." (Loreau et al, 2003 - Ecology Letters 6, 673-679)

transition event. From this viewpoint, empirical relations between origination and extinction dynamics and diversity, underlying possible diversification models such as logistic or hierarchical growths and the niche incumbency hypothesis, appear worthy of attention. ESCARGUEL, G. & LEGENDRE, S., 2006. New methods for analyzing deeptime meta-community dynamics and their application to the Paleogene mammals from the Quercy and Limagne area (Massif Central, France). Strata (Ser. 1) 13, 245-273. ESCARGUEL, G., LEGENDRE, S. & SIGE, B., 2008. Unearthing deep-time biodiversity changes: The Palaeogene

mammalian metacommunity of the Quercy and Limagne area (Massif Central, France). Compte-rendus Geoscience 340, 602-614. ESCARGUEL, G., MARANDAT, B. & LEGENDRE, S., 1997. Sur I'age numerique des faunes de mammiferes du

Paleogene d'Europe occidental, en particulier celles de I'Eocene inferieur et moyen. In Actes du congres BiochroM'97, J.-P. Aguilar, S. Legendre & J. Michaux (Eds.), Mem. et trav. E.P.H.E., Inst. Montpellier 21, 443-460. HUGUENEY, M., 1997. Biochronologie mammalienne dans le Paleogene et le Miocene mferieur du Centre de la France : synthese reactualisee. In Actes du congres BiochroM'97, J.-P. Aguilar, S. Legendre & J. Michaux (Eds.), Mem. et trav. E.P.H.E., Inst. Montpellier 21, 417-430. LEGENDRE, S., 1986. Analysis of mammalian communities from the Late Eocene and Oligocene of southem France, Palaeovertebrata 16, 191-212. LEGENDRE, S., 1989. Les communautes de mammiferes du Paleogene (Eocene superieur et Oligocene) d'Europe occidental : structures, milieux et evolution. Miinchner Geowissenschaftliche Abhandlungen (A) 16, 1-110. LEGENDRE, S., SIGE, B., ASTRUC, J . - G . , DE BONIS, L., CROCHET, J.-Y., DENYS, C., GODINOT, M.„HARTENBERGER, J.-L., LEVEQUE, F., MARANDAT, B., MOURER-CHAUVIRE, C., RAGE, J.-C., REMY,

J.-A., SUDRE, J. & VIANEY-LIAUD, M., 1997. Les phosphorites du Quercy : 30 ans de recherche. Bilan

et perspectives. Geobios M. S. 20, 331-345. VAN DAM, J.A., ABDUL AZIZ, H . , ALVAREZ SIERRA, M . A . , HILGEN, F.J., VAN DEN HOEK OSTENDE, L . W . , LOURENS, L.J., MEIN, P., VAN DER MEULEN, A.J. & PELAEZ-CAMPOMANES, P., 2 0 0 6 - L o n g - p e r i o d

astronomical forcing of mammal turnover. Nature 443, 687-691.

PATTERNS AND CONSTRAINTS IN CARNIVORAN AND RODENT DENTAL COMPLEXITY AND RELATIVE TOOTH SIZE Alistair R. Evans, School of Biological Sciences, Monash University, Victoria 3800, Australia; arevans@fastmaiLfm Key words: mammals, dental complexity, dietary reconstruction, inhibitory cascade It has been known for centuries that general tooth shape correlates with diet in mammals. Our previous work quantified one aspect of this relationship, showing that the 3D complexity of cheek tooth rows is a robust measure of broad diet in camivorans and rodents quantified as orientation patch count (OPC; Evans et al 2007). Here, we extend this to investigate patterns of dental complexity of individual teeth along a tooth row. Within the rodents, there is a consistent pattern of decreasing OPC from anterior to posterior along the tooth row for all of the diet categories. However, the more herbivorous the diet is, the greater the OPC for each single tooth. The story is quite different for the camivorans, where there is much more diversity in terms of variation within a tooth row and differences in patterns between the diets. Therefore, rodent dentitions appear more constrained, not just in the number of teeth in a row but also in variation of dental complexity along the row. This corresponds with the constraint in relative tooth sizes along the row, as illustrated by the inhibitory cascade model of Kavanagh et al. (2007). The camivorans show some deviation from the strict inhibitory cascade mle, with most of the species falling some distance from the line. However, there is a relationship between the strength of the inhibitory cascade and the dental complexity. We suggest that changes in tooth size and proportions (through the inhibitory cascade) are incidental with respect to ecology, and reflect the way dental complexity changes in response to evolving dietary preferences. EVANS, A.R., WILSON, G.P., FORTELIUS, M. & JERNVALL, J., 2007. High-level similarity of dentitions in

camivorans and rodents. Nature 445, 78-81.

KAVANAGH, K.D., EVANS, A.R. & JERNVALL, J., 2007. Predicting evolutionary pattems of mammalian teeth

from development. Nature 449, 427-432.

THE WALLABY HUNTERS OF LATE PLEISTOCENE TASMANIA Jillian Garvey Archaeology La Trobe University VIC 3086; i.garvey@latrobe.edu>au Key words: zooarchaeology, late Pleistocene, Tasmania, Bennett's wallaby Humans adapted to the harsh late Pleistocene environment in southwest Tasmania by focusing on the medium-sized macropodid the Bennett's wallaby Macropus rufogriseus. Recent skeletochronological (dental growth-increment) analysis of wallaby teeth suggests that humans hunted in upland and lowland valleys on a coordinated seasonal basis (Pike-Tay et al. 2008). The dominance of Bennett's wallaby body parts and elements, in particular split hindlimbs and metatarsals, in the zooarchaeological assemblages implies humans were targeting these elements for their relatively large flesh or marrow yields as part of their high latitude economic strategy, despite the relatively small size of the prey. Alternatively, it may have been the flesh or marrow quality that humans were seeking. These theories have yet to be tested. The aim of this research is to investigate the economic utility and the fatty acid profile of the tissue and bone marrow of the Bennett's wallaby. This will provide a modem analogue to try and identify why this species, and specific body parts, dominates the southwest Tasmanian late Pleistocene zooarchaeological assemblages. Early results indicate that the unsaturated or desirable marrow increases distally away from the body core, thus the most sought after marrow is situated within the tibia and radius/ulna. However, the economic utility trails indicate a large size discrepancy between the forelimbs and hindlimbs. The bone marrow fatty acid analysis is extended to include animals from different geographical and altitudinal regions to determine if seasonal differences in the nutritional quality can help explain human hunting in lowland or upland valleys during particular seasons. This study will help to better understand human adaptation and decision-making in late Pleistocene Tasmania. PIKE-TAY, A., COSGROVE, R. & GARVEY, J. 2008. Systematic seasonal land use by late Pleistocene Tasmanian

Aborigines. Journal ofArchaeological Science 35(9), 2532-2544.

BIRD CLAW MORPHOLOGY: LOCOMOTOR AND PREDATORY FUNCTIONS, WITH INFERENCES FOR FOSSIL THEROPODS

Christopher L. Glen and Michael Bennett School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, BRISBANE QLD 4072; c.glen@uq.edu.au

Key words: comparative analysis, claw curvature The claws of extant birds primarily function in locomotion and feeding by engaging and, just as importantly, disengaging living or non-living substrates. Simple hard structures such as claws have a fixed shape that cannot be modified between tasks. Aspects of claw shape such as claw curvature, must allow effective engagement of important substrates, yet not hinder intentional disengagement. Claw curvatures that satisfy both these requirements differ between species to suit different habits or lifestyles involving different substrates. The curvature of the pedal claws of many non-predatory birds are adapted for locomotion on substrates upon which they forage, as this is the primary active use of the hind-limb. Claw angle is a reliable measure of claw curvature that is largely independent of scale and phylogenetic constraints. Our initial comparative analysis of over 250 species supports the hypothesis that greater claw angles will be found in non-predatory birds that forage more often in trees than on the ground. Analysis of fossilized claws of 12 genera of Mesozoic birds and non-avian theropods with suggested close links to avian ancestry finds they had claw angles similar to modem ground based and ground foraging birds, with little evidence for adaptation to arboreal habits. The current analysis in progress compares the claws of extant carnivorous birds (predators and scavengers) to those of non-predatory birds to explore adaptations for procurement and rendermg of prey. Radius of claw curvature for most groups of predatory and non-predatory bird scales isometrically with body mass.

CRANIAL EVOLUTION : SELECTION, DRIFT AND FOUNDER EFFECT IN TAMMAR WALLABY {MACROPUS EUGENIl) POPULATIONS Claire B. Hadley\ Nick Milne, Lincoln H. Schmitt School of Anatomy and Human Biology, University of Western Australia M309, The University of Western Australia 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley WA 6009 Perth, Australia; ' chadlev@anhb.uwa.edu.au

Key words: crania, wallaby, geometric morphometries, evolution

This study examines differentiation in the cranial size and shape of geographically discrete populations of the Australian tammar wallaby {Macropus eugenii). Thirty-six 3D landmarks were taken from 143 crania sourced from nine different locations in Western Australia and South Australia, and analysed using geometric morphometries. Our results show that the crania vary significantly according to broad geographical location, latitude, whether island or mainland, island size and the degree of isolation. We found no evidence of island dwarfism or gigantism, but cranial size was shown to increase with both latitude and island size. In addition to size, cranial shape varied with increased latitude, including a narrowing of the palate relative to the nasal bones, an increase in cranial flexion and nasal height, and a tendency for the zygomatic arches to spread out laterally from the cranium. Overall, the anterior nasal aperture (nares) was found to narrow as latitude increased. Pair-wise comparisons among the populations showed that most populations were significantly different from each other. There was a clear tendency for island populations and those with greater geographic separation to show greater shape differentiation. It was also found that mainland and large island populations diverged in shape less rapidly than smaller islands. This study demonstrates the effect of selection, drift and founder effect on the evolution of tammar crania.

PALAEOECOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS OF PECULIAR CRANIAL MORPHOLOGY IN OLD WORLD LEAF-NOSED BATS (HIPPOSIDERIDAE) FROM THE AUSTRALIAN MIOCENE Suzanne J. Hand, Karen Black, Michael Archer and Henk Godthelp School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; s.hand@unsw,edu«au Key words: Fossil, bat, cranium, ecoTnorphology

Two new species referable to the extinct Old World leaf-nosed bat genus Xenorhinos Hand, 1998 are described from early and middle Miocene deposits in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Boodjamulla National Park, northwestern Queensland. The new taxa share with the type and only oi\\QT Xenorhinos species, Riversleigh'sX halli, a number of striking cranial features including pronounced rostral rotation and a markedly constricted sphenoidal bridge. The new taxa also exhibit some features that appear to be less derived than those in X. halli^ including a more constricted interorbital region in one species and a more complete palate and nasal septum in the other. From analogy with living hipposiderids, Hand (1998) concluded that the peculiar rostral and palatal morphology ofX. halli was probably correlated with ultrasound production and emission, while Hand & Archer (2005) found that subtle variations in palatal morphology could be indicative of spatial resource partitioning in a hipposiderid-rich bat community. The bat species described here enable a new look at the likely evolutionary development of the \xm(\MQ Xenorhinos cranial anatomy and the palaeoecological implications of those distinctive morphological adaptations, as well as reappraisal of the phylogenetic and biogeographic relationships of the lineage.

HAND, S.J., 1998. Xenorhinos, a new genus of Old World leaf-nosed bats (Microchiroptera: Hipposideridae) from the Australian Miocene. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 18, 430-439. HAND, S.J. & ARCHER, M., 2005. A n e w hipposiderid genus (Microchiroptera) from an early Miocene bat

community in Australia. Palaeontology

1-13.

THE BAT FAUNA OF ME AURE CAVE (WMD007), MOINDOU, NEW CALEDONIA: EVIDENCE OF HUMAN CONSUMPTION AND A NEW SPECIES RECORD FROM THE RECENT PAST Suzanne J. Hand^ and Jack Grant-Mackie^ ^School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia; s.hand@unsw.edu.au ^Geology Programme, SGGES, University of Auckland, PO Box 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. Key words: Bats, cave, archaeological, New Caledonia Bats are the only mammals native to New Caledonia, with all others (rats, pigs, deer, etc.) introduced by people during the last 3000 years. Vertebrate remains recovered from a cave near Me Aure on the central southwestern coast of New Caledonia include those of flying foxes and smaller insectivorous bats, as well as birds, frogs, rodents and humans (Grant-Mackie et al 2003). The Me Aure cave deposit accumulated over a period of some 3000 years, from before colonization of the area by Lapita people to the present (Grant-Mackie et al. 2003, Horrocks et al 2008). In the deposit's upper levels, bat remains approximate the modem New Caledonian fauna, and probably represent bat species that lived and died in the cave as well as those brought in by bam owls as prey. In the lowest levels, only flying foxes are represented, their blackened remains and other evidence indicating they were cooked and eaten by people. From these lowest levels smaller cave-dwelling bats are absent, perhaps because of disturbance caused by human occupation and smoke. Our study also suggests that at least one bat species has become extinct on New Caledonia during the last 250 years. Altematively, it is possible that this bat continues to be part of the extant New Caledonian fauna but has yet to be recorded by modem faunal surveys.

Grant-Mackie, J.A., Bauer, A.M. & Tyler, M.J. 2003. Stratigraphy and herpetofauna of Me Aure cave (site WMD007), Moindou, New Caledonia. Pp. 295-306 in C. Sand, ed. Pacific archaeology: Assessments and prospects. Proceedings of the Conference for the 50^^ Anniversary of the First Lapita Excavation, Kone-Noumea, 2002. Cah. Archeol. Nouvelle-Caledonie 15. Horrocks, M., Grant-Mackie, J. & Matisso-Smith, E. 2008. Introduced taro {Colocasia esculenta) and yams {Dioscorea spp) in Podtanean (2700-1800 years BP) deposits from Me Aure Cave (WMD007), Moindou, New Caledonia. Journal of Archaeological Science 35, 169-180.

THE STATUS OF LEAELLYNASAURA AMICAGRAPHICA (DINOSAURIA: ORNITHISCHIA) FROM THE EARLY CRETACEOUS OF SOUTH-EASTERN AUSTRALIA Matthew C. Herne^ and Steven W. Salisbury^'^ ^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Saint Lucia, QLD, 4072; m,henie@uq.edu.au Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA Key words: Leaellynasaura, Omithopoda, Cretaceous, Victoria The holotype of Leaellynasaura amicagraphica, a small bipedal omithischian dinosaur from the Early Cretaceous (Albian) of Victoria, Australia, comprises a partial left-side skull fragment. A skull roof complex (including a partial cranial endocast) and a partial articulated postcranium, recovered in close proximity to the holotype, have been regarded as belonging to the holotype individual, owing to their comparable size and apparent taxonomic affinities. However, no anatomical data has been presented that unambiguously confirms these referrals. Leaellynasaura was originally assigned to "Hypsilophodontidae", but more recently has been considered a non-dryomorphan iguanodontian. Reconstruction of the holotype using previously undescribed elements has revealed a new anatomical understanding of the facial region of L. amicagraphica, enabling us to thoroughly review the status of the taxon and the likely taxonomic identity of the type series. The antorbital morphology of the holotype suggests a nonmarginocephalian genasaur that is basal to Iguanodontia. The maxillary dentition indicates omithopodan affinities, and a likely dorsally extensive jugal postorbital process is shared with Muttaburrasaurus. The size of the orbit based on the skull roof complex is comparable with that suggested by the holotype; however, the prefrontal morphology and supratemporal dimensions of the former are inconsistent with those likely to be associated with the latter. A previous argument that the field site of L. amicagraphica yielded only a single taxon and individual is therefore questionable. In the absence of conclusive anatomical overlap, the previous referral of the skull roof complex and postcrania to L. amicagraphica is not supported.

PALAEOMAGNETISM THROUGH SPACE AND TIME IN AFRICA: DATING LANDMARKS IN HOMININ AND MAMMALIAN EVOLUTION Andrew LR. Herries*, J. Adams, D. Braun, J. Brink, K. Brown, D. Curnoe, E. Fisher, C. Marean, D. Roberts, and G. Warr, *PaIaeosciences Laboratory, SOMS, University of New South Wales, Kensington, 2052, NSW, Australia; a.herries@unsw.edu.au Key words: Archaeomagnetism, Palaeomagnetism, Mineral Magnetism, Geochronology Palaeomagnetism can be used in many geological environments and time periods and in tandem with other geochronological techniques can validate or refine the age estimates for fossil assemblages. This paper presents a series of case studies ranging in age fi-om 5.0 Ma to 70 ka in South Afi-ica, and Kenya providing the first accurate age estimates for some of the sites examined. The prolific fluvio-estuarine Langebaanweg palaeontological site on the west coast offers a vivid glimpse into biotas and ecosystems at - 5 Ma; ancient river deposits at Cornelia host a rare fossil of Homo dated to --1.0 Ma; a palaeo-karstic system at Hoogland near Johannesburg (-2.5 Ma) is a recent addition to a suit of important primate fossil sites; Makapansgat (-2.7 Ma) hosts the oldest evidence of hominins in southern Africa at 3.0-2.6 Ma; Sterkfontein contains the youngest Australopithecus in Africa at around 2.2 Ma; FwJj20 (-2.0 Ma) provides the oldest evidence for the systematic and habitual exploitation of meat and aquatic resources; and Pinnacle Point (-170-40 ka) documents the first evidence of human exploitation of marine resources and symbolic behaviour as well as the oldest evidence for heat treatment of stone tools (-70 ka).

EVALUATING THE MITOCHONDRIAL TIMESCALE OF HUMAN EVOLUTION Simon Y.W. Ho' and Phillip Endicott 'Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology, School of Biology, Australian National University; simon.ho@anu.edu.au

Key words: molecular clock, calibration, purifying selection, saturation

The time-scale of human evolution, prehistoric migrations, and population changes can be inferred from DNA sequences. The most important aspect of the methodology used to estimate molecular time-frames is the calibration point, the role of which is to convert measures of genetic distances into units of time. Almost invariably, analyses of human evolution have been calibrated with reference to the human-chimpanzee divergence, which is frequently condensed to a point estimate of around 6 Myr despite the existence of considerable uncertainty over this date. Evidence of saturation and selection, however, clearly indicate that this calibration method is inappropriate, and that it is more suitable to use archaeological or biogeographic calibrations within the human tree. The impact of calibration choice can clearly be seen when comparing hypotheses of the timing of migration events, such as the colonisation of the Americas. We also present estimates of the substitution rate for different portions of the mitochondrial genome, and illustrate some of the complexities of human mitochondrial evolution that are not adequately addressed when using simple models of analysis. Overall, our results call for the use of more sophisticated models of molecular evolution, along with judicious selection of calibration points.

ENDICOTT, P. & Ho, S.Y.W., 2008. A Bayesian evaluation of human mitochondrial substitution rates. American Journal of Human Genetics 82, 895-902. ENDICOTT, P., Ho, S.Y.W., METSPALU, M . & STRINGER, C., 2009. Evaluating the mitochondrial timescale of

human evolution. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, in press. Ho, S.Y.W. & ENDICOTT, P., 2008. The crucial role of calibration in molecular date estimates for the peopling of the Americas. American Journal of Human Genetics 83, 127-147.

LATE CAINOZOIC RAINFOREST VERTEBRATES, INTEGRATING MT. ETNA, HAMILTON AND RIVERSLEIGH Scott A. Hocknull Queensland Museum, 122 Gerler Rd., Hendra, QLD. 4011; scotthocknull@qm.qld.gov.au

Key words: Oligo-Miocene; Pliocene; Pleistocene; rainforests Understanding the past evolution, biogeography and extinction of Australopapuan vertebrate groups is fundamental to determining the baseline responses of these groups to past environmental changes. In the light of predicted future climatic change and anthropogenic impact, it is of great importance to determine the trajectories of our present day fauna and flora. In particular, mesothermic rainforest faunas are considered to be one of the most vulnerable terrestrial groups under threat from future climate change (via both natural and anthropogenic causes). The present study aims to document and better understand the Australopapuan late Cainozoic rainforest vertebrate record and its response to environmental change, via adaptive radiations, biogeographical change and extinction. In particular it provides the first detailed systematic appraisal of Quaternary fossil sites and local faunas from northern Australia. In addition, this study documents the only known Quaternary mesothermic rainforest fauna in Australia and its transition to a xeric-adapted fauna during the middle Pleistocene. The taxonomic composition of the faunas comprise dozens of species; including several new genera and species. Each taxon shares a close phylogenetic relationship with species either only known from the Tertiary or from Quaternary-present New Guinea and the Wet Tropics rainforests. The influences of palaeoclimate on these past vertebrate faunas will be discussed.

REBUILDING A GIANT*, AGAIN Scott A. Hocknull and Laurie Beirne Queensland Museum, PO Box 3300 South Brisbane, Queensland 4001; scotthocknu[l@qni.qid.gov.au Key words: 'Megalama\ varanid, Pleistocene, megafauna.

We review new and all known fossil material referred to 'Megalaniaprisca Owen' in Australian and overseas museum collections. Dozens of new specimens have been miss-identified as crocodile, mammal and bird; indicating the need for an almost complete inspection of all Plio-Pleistocene collections from Australia. These specimens referred to Megalania include those that are identified here as Varanus komodoensis and Varanus sp. nov., a new taxon from the Late Pliocene and Middle Pleistocene. Varanus (=Megalania) priscus (Owen) can only be confidently confined to the late Middle - Late Pleistocene and includes representative elements of cranial and postcranial skeletons, including: maxillae; dentaries; teeth; frontals; parietal; surangular; occipital and quadrate (cranial); cervical, dorsal, sacral and caudal vertebrae; ilia; pubes; ischia; humeri; uhae; phalanges; scapulocoracoids; dorsal ribs; femora; tibia; calcanea; metatarsals; phalanges, unguals and osteoderms. For a taxon with only two known specimens to have associated elements; we have much of the skeleton. We use these specimens to reconstruct an average adult Megalania using phylogenetically constrained presacral vertebral counts and cranial landmarks within Varanidae. Our reconstruction indicates a maximal snout-to-vent length (SVL) of 2.5m for an adult K priscus. On the basis of a 1:1 ratio of SVL : Tail Length we estimate the total length of an adult Megalania at 5m. We will discuss new insights into the apomorphic morphology of this amazing creature.

•RICH, T.H. & HALL, B. 1979. Rebuilding a giant. Australian Natural History 19, 310-313.

THE INTERNAL BRAINCASE ANATOMY OF GOGONASUS REVEALED THROUGH MICRO CTSCANNING AND THE SPIRACULAR CHAMBER OF TETRAPODOMORPH FISHES ^'^Timothy Holland ^School of Geosciences, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria, Australia, 3800; ^Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia; thQllandd@niuseum.vic.gov.au

Key words: Gogonasus, tomography, braincase, Harajica

The phylogenetic position of the tetrapodomorph fish Gogonasus andrewsae from the Frasnian Gogo Formation of Western Australia has been a point of contention amongst Palaeozoic fish workers. Once regarded as a member of the now paraphyletic 'Osteolepididae' (Johanson & Ahlberg 1998), new mformation from the first complete specimen discovered m 2005, including previously unknown details of the spiracular chamber and pectoral fm endoskeleton, resulted in a phylogenetic placement crown ward of the Tristichopteridae, as the sister taxa to the 'elpistostegids' + Tetrapoda (Long et al. 2006). This position was refuted by Friedman et al. (2007) and Holland & Long (2009) in favour of a more basal position stem wards of the Tristichopteridae. New information presented here on the internal morphology of the ethmosphenoid and oticoccipital regions recovered through the micro CT-scanning at ANU reveals a mosaic of primitive and derived features, including aspects of the nasal capsule and olfactory canal morphology. Additional data from a new taxon of tetrapodomorph fish from the Givetian of Harajica, Northern Territory, adds further information to the distribution of large spiracular size amongst the Tetrapodomorpha, a derived character previously considered unique to Gogonasus, 'elpistostegids' and early tetrapods. The Harajica taxon shares several features with various tetrapodomorph groups, including the Canowindridae, Tristichopteridae and Megalichthyidae.

AHLBERG, P.E. & JOHANSON, Z., 1998. Osteolepiforms and the ancestry of tetrapods. Nature 395, 792-794.

FRIEDMAN, M., COATES, M.L & ANDERSON, P., 2007. First discovery of a primitive coelacanth fm fills a major

gap in the evolution of paired fins and limbs. Evolution and Development 9, 329-337. HOLLAND, T. & LONG, J.A., 2008. On the phylogenetic position of Gogonasus andrewsae Long, 1985, within the Tetrapodomorpha. Acta Zoologica 90 (Suppl. 1), 285-296. LONG, J.A., YOUNG, G.C., HOLLAND, T., SENDEN, T.J. & FITZGERALD E.M.G., 2006. An exceptional Devonian

fish from Australia sheds light on tetrapod origins. Nature 444, 199-202.

OPTICAL DATING OF AUSTRALIA'S EARLIEST HUMAN OCCUPATION SITES: A FRESH LOOK AT AN OLD QUESTION ^ Nathan Jankowski\ Richard G. Roberts, Zenobia Jacobs, Jacqui Fenwick ^School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; nri934@uow.edu.au

Key words: geochronology, archaeology, Australia, colonisation The earliest archaeological traces of modem humans in Australia are artefacts excavated from rock shelter deposits at Malakunanja II and Nauwalabila I in the Northern Territory. Sediments associated with these artefacts have been dated to 60,000-50,000 years ago using thermoluminescence and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) techniques (Roberts et al. 1990, 1994), both of which rely on sediment exposure to sunlight to reset the luminescence 'clock'. OSL (or optical) dating has also been used to obtain slightly younger ages (50,000-^6,000 years) for initial human occupation of the Devil's Lair and Lake Mungo (Shawcross trench) sites in southwestern and southeastern Australia, respectively (Tumey et al. 2001, Bowler et al. 2003). Since these studies were made, significant technological and methodological advances have been made in OSL dating, especially as regards to the development of techniques to use individual quartz grains to obtain OSL ages with improved accuracy and precision. In this presentation, we report the initial results of a new, systematic dating study of these four sites (and others), using the same instrumentation, experimental procedures, and methods of data analysis to provide a common 'yardstick' for comparing the new chronologies. The latter approach, recently applied to Middle Stone Age sites across southern Africa, is able to resolve small differences in ages that are otherwise obscured by experimental uncertainties associated solely with the use of different equipment, protocols and analytical tools (Jacobs et al 2008). Our aim is to provide a chronology of unprecedented resolution for the human colonisation of Australia.

BOWLER, J . M . , JOHNSTON, H . , OLLEY, J . M . , PRESCOTT, J.R., ROBERTS, R . G . , SHAWCROSS, W . & SPOONER, N . A . ,

2003. New ages for human occupation and climatic change at Lake Mungo, Australia. Nature 421, 837-840. JACOBS, Z., ROBERTS, R . G . , GALBRAITH, R.F., DEACON, H.J., GRUN, R . , MACKAY, A . , MITCHELL, P.,

VOGELSANG, R. & WADLEY, L., 2008. Ages for the Middle Stone Age of southern Africa: implications for human behavior and dispersal. Science 322, 733-735. ROBERTS, R.G., JONES, R. & SMITH, M.A., 1990. Thermoluminescence dating of a 50,000 year old human

occupation site in northern Australia. Nature 345, 153-156. ROBERTS, R . G . , JONES, R., SPOONER, N . A . , HEAD, M . J . , MURRAY, A . S . & SMITH, M . A . , 1 9 9 4 . T h e h u m a n

colonisation of Australia: optical dates of 53,000 and 60,000 years bracket human arrival at Deaf Adder Gorge, Northern Territory. Quaternary Science Reviews 13, 575-583. TURNEY, C . S . M . , BIRD, M . L , FIFIELD, L . K . , ROBERTS, R . G . , SMITH, M . , DORTCH, C . E . , GRON, R., LAWSON, E.,

AYLIFFE, L.K., MILLER, G.H., DORTCH, J. & CRESSWELL, R.G., 2001. Early human occupation at

Devil's Lair, southwestern Australia 50,000 years ago. Quaternary Research 55, 3-13.

OF PHOTONS AND FAUNA: OPTICAL DATING OF LATE PLEISTOCENE FAUNAL DEPOSITS IN EXTREME SOUTH WESTERN WESTERN AUSTRALIA Nathan Jankowski Richard G. Roberts \ Zenobia Jacobs \ Gavin Prideaux ^ Grant Gully ^ ^ School of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; * n ri934@u()w.edu.au ^School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park, SA 5042, Australia. Key words: geochronology, megafauna, Pleistocene, caves

Although nearly two centuries have elapsed since Sir Richard Owen first described Diprotodon, a consensus is still to be reached upon the timing and causes of extinction of Australia's megafauna, which disappeared sometime in the late Pleistocene (Roberts et al 2001, Wroe & Field 2006). Until recently, chronologies for megafauna sites have been constructed prmcipally using radiocarbon dating. However, as many of these deposits lie close to or beyond the "radiocarbon barrier" in age, alternative numerical dating methods have increasingly been employed (Roberts et al. 1994). Optical dating is one of the various methods that have been used to provide a timeframe for these palaeontological sites. Optical dating provides an estimate of the time elapsed since sediments were last exposed to sunlight (thereby resetting the luminescence "clock") and, hence, the burial age of any associated fossil remains. Over the past decade, there has been a revolution in optical dating methodology and technology, especially as regards the development of techniques to obtain ages fi-om individual quartz sand grains. The use of the single-grain technique allows an assessment of sample and site integrity (Jacobs & Roberts 2007). The limestone cave deposits of Tight Entrance Cave and Kudjal Yolgah, on the Leeuwin-Naturaliste Peninsula of south-western Western Australia, contain the remains of a range of extant and extinct late Pleistocene fauna. Both sites have been investigated previously using optical dating, but not using the latest generation of single-grain techniques. In this talk, we will present the results of our single-grain OSL investigations at these sites and the implications for understanding the process of extinction of Australia's ancient bestiary.

JACOBS, Z. & ROBERTS, R.G., 2007. Advances in optically stimulated luminescence dating of individual grains of quartz from archeological deposits. Evolutionary Anthropology 16, 210-223. ROBERTS, R . G . , FLANNERY, T . F . , AYLIFFE, L . K . , YOSHIDA, H., OLLEY, J . M . , PRIDEAUX, G . J . , LASLETT, G . M . ,

BAYNES, A., SMITH, M.A., JONES, R. & SMITH, B.L., 2001. New ages for the last Australian megafauna:

continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago. Science 292, 1888-1892. ROBERTS, R.G., JONES, R. & SMITH, M.A., 1994. Beyond the radiocarbon barrier in Australian prehistory. Antiquity

611-616.

WROE, S. & FIELD, J., 2006. A review of the evidence for a human role in the extinction of Australian megafauna and an alternative interpretation. Quaternary Science Reviews 25, 2692-2703.

M/A^M/AND THE ANKYLOSAUROMORPHAN PALATE Lucy G. Leahey^ Ralph E. Molnar^ and Steven W. Salisbury^'^ 'School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; Lleahev@uq.edu.au ^Museum of Northern Arizona, 3101 N. Fort Valley Road, Flagstaff, AZ 86001, USA ^Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA Key words: Minmi, Ankylosauromorph, Cretaceous, Queensland Minmi is Australia's only known genus of ankylosauromorphan omithischian dinosaur. Seven specimens are known from the Early Cretaceous of Queensland. Only two of these specimens have been described in any detail: Minmiparavertebra (QM F10329) and Minmi sp. (QM F18101). The latter represents one of the world's most complete Early Cretaceous ankylosauromorphs, and the best-preserved dinosaur skeleton from Australia. The skull of QM F18101 is one of only four ankylosauromorphan skulls known in which the majority of sutures have not been obliterated by extensive osseous ornamentation. In 1996, a preliminary description of QM F18101 was provided, pending further preparation of the palate and maxillary rostrum. This preparation is now complete. The ankylosauromorphan 'bony secondary palate' has been the focus of many recent studies, yet the osteological parameters that have been used to define it are significantly different from those in other amniotes traditionally regarded as possessing this type of palate. The study of Minmi's cranial osteology has enabled us to formulate a clear set of osteological boundaries to identify palatal forms in all known amniote clades. Contrary to previous assumptions, ankylosaurians do not possess a 'bony secondary palate' senso stricto. They do, however, have either a bony palate or an extensive bony palate. Phylogenetic analysis incorporating the new information for Minmi has revealed that the Australian taxon is an intermediate between Thyreophora and Ankylosauria [Ankylosauridae + Nodosauridae]. The phylogenetic analysis strongly supports the creation of the stem based Ankylosauromorpha that include all eurypods closer to Ankylosaurus than Stegosaurus.

ON THE ORIGINS OF COPULATORY SEXUAL REPRODUCTION IN VERTEBRATES: PROBLEMS WITH ERECTING A ROBUST PHYLOGENY ^ John A. Long, and ^Kate Trinajstic; ^ ^Museum Victoria, Melbourne, Victoria; ilong@niuseum.vic.gov>au WA Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), Department of Applied Chemistry, The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Curtin University of Technology, Perth; Key words: Devonian, placoderm, embryo, reproduction

Recently the first evidence of basal gnathostome fishes, piacoderms, showing evidence of viviparity (live birth) was found in ptyctodontids fi-om the Late Devonian Gogo Formation of Western Australia (Long et al. 2008). This mdicated that copulation took place with males using spiked claspers that were inserted inside females. Ptyctodontids had long been known to exhibit sexual dimorphism, but evidence for reproductive behaviour was lacking until the new discoveries. Arthrodires, the largest group of piacoderms (> 300 spp) show no evidence of sexual dimorphism, so the unexpected discovery of embryos inside two Gogo specimens implied that they too had complex copulatory reproduction, and reinvestigation of their pelvic girdle and fin structure indicated that they had in place an extended basipterygium that could have borne a clasping element (Long et al. 2009). A recent find confirms this showing the male basipterygium with a knobbly swollen head of the clasper attached. The phylogenetic implications of these discoveries are significant to current schemes of lower gnathostome interrelationships.

LONG, J.A., TRINAJSTIC, K., YOUNG, G.C. & SENDEN, T., 2008. Live birth in the Devonian period. Nature 455, 650-652.

LONG, J.A., TRINAJSTIC, K. & JOHANSON, Z., 2009. Devonian arthrodire embryos and the origin of internal

fertilisation in vertebrates. Nature 457, 1124-1127.

CRANIAL ANATOMY AND FUNCTIONAL MORPHOLOGY OF THE AUSTRALIAN PLIOSAUR KRONOSAURUS QUEENSLANDICUS Colin R. McHenry School of Engineering, University of Newcastle, NSW 2308; colin.mchenrv@newcastle.edu.au Keywords: Plesiosaur, Cretaceous, biomechanics, FEA, The pliosaur Kronosaurus queens Iandicus is known from an abundance of material from the marine Early Cretaceous sequences of Queensland, and its evident large size has generated speculation as to its biology within the scientific and popular literature. Various logistical factors have, however, prevented formal description of its anatomy since the species was named by Longman (1924). Several specimens include cranial material, and preservation in nodular limestone has apparently minimised the sedimentary compaction that often affects pliosaur skulls known from Jurassic and Late Cretaceous formations. Comparison of the available material does not support suggestions of multiple species of Kronosaurus within the Queensland Early Cretaceous (Molnar 1992). The remarkable 3-D preservation of the cranial material allowed the geometry (but not, so far, the detailed osteology) of the skull in Kronosaurus queenslandicus to be reconstructed using a combination of photography and CT imaging. The reconstructed 3-D geometry formed the basis of a Finite Element model, the first for a pliosaur. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been adopted in a range of recent studies as a means of quantifying the biomechanical response of skeletal components to hypothesised behaviours (e.g. McHenry et al 2007, Wroe et al 2007), and can augment functional morphology-based investigations of ecology in extinct species as long as the original geometry is preserved. FEA of the skull of Kronosaurus, in comparison with the crocodilian Crocodylus porosus, indicates that relatively small prey were an import component of the diet, a combination of cranial features allowing large prey to be targeted when available.

LONGMAN, H. A., 1924. A new gigantic marine reptile from the Queensland Cretaceous. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 8,26-28. MCHENRY, C. R., WROE, S., CLAUSEN, P. D . , MORENO, K. & CUNNINGHAM, E., 2 0 0 7 . S u p e r m o d e l e d sabercat,

predatory behavior in Smilodon fatalis revealed by high-resolution 3D computer simulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(41), 16010-16015. MOLNAR, R. E., 1991. Fossil Reptiles of Australia. Pp. 605-701. In Vertebrate Palaeontology of Australasia, P. Vickers-Rich, J. M. Monaghan, R. F. Baird, and T. H. Rich, eds. WROE, S., CLAUSEN, P. D . , MCHENRY, C . R . , MORENO, K . & CUNNINGHAM, E . , 2 0 0 7 . C o m p u t e r simulation of

feeding behaviour in the thylacine and dingo: a novel test for convergence and niche overlap. Proceedings of the Royal Society Series B 274,2819-2828.

NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE PALAEOECOLOGY OF LIGHTNING RIDGE, NEW SOUTH WALES Anne M. Musser^ and Robert K. Jones' 'Australian Museum, eum, 6 College St., Sydney NSW 2010, Australia; anne.niusser@austnius.gov.au

Key words: Cretaceous; palaeoecology; Lightning Ridge; Australia

Lightning Ridge in north-central New South Wales has produced a diverse Early Cretaceous biota. All fossils are opalised, formed as either natural casts or replacement fossils. Although Lightning Ridge during the Cretaceous lay near the Antarctic Circle, the presence of turtles, crocodiles and lungfish suggests that temperatures were warm enough for ectothermic reptiles and lungfish. The climate would therefore have been subtropical to temperate rather than frigid, albeit with the extremes of daylight found in near-polar regions today. The environment was forested at least in part, as evidenced by gymnosperm cones, branches and tree trunks. Freshwater molluscs and crustaceans suggest extensive freshwater lake and river systems, while the presence of plesiosaurs and sharks indicate estuarine incursions from the nearby epicontinental Eromanga Sea. Vertebrate material in the Australian Museum collection is generally fragmentary, disarticulated and of small to medium size taxa, although sauropod, larger omithopod and large theropod fossils are known. Larger crocodilians, pterosaurs, birds and mammals were also present, but appear to have been less common than smaller crocodilians, small omithopods and turtles. We tentatively identify two dinosaur families previously unknown from Lightning Ridge, markedly increasing the dinosaurian diversity: Omithomimidae, which is also described from the Early Cretaceous of Victoria, and Stegosauridae, represented by the first body fossils of an Australian stegosaur, a group more typical of Jurassic faunas overseas. The presence of fleet-footed omithomimids may suggest that at least some parts of Lightning Ridge were not heavily forested but were perhaps more open environments. At least one Lightning Ridge 'mammal', KoUikodon ritchiei, is shown to exhibit pre-mammalian (Triassic) features, and should therefore be considered an Australian relict taxon. The Lightning Ridge fauna is therefore proving to be an unusual and diverse mix of archaic (Triassic), Jurassic and Cretaceous forms, co-existing in a unique, near-polar environment during the Early Cretaceous.

FIRST AUSTRALIAN NON-MAMMALIAN CYNODONT: NEW EVIDENCE FOR THE UNUSUAL NATURE OF AUSTRALIA'S CRETACEOUS VERTEBRATES

Anne M. Musser\ Zhe-Xi Luo^ Agustin G. MartinellP, Matthew C. Lamanna^ Vera Weisbecker^ Stephen Wroe"* and Steven W. Salisbury^'^ 'Australian Museum, 6 College St., Sydney, NSW 2010, Australia; Anne.Musser@austmus.gov.au Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, ^ Pennsylvania 15213, USA ^Seccion Paleontologi'a de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", Av. Angel Gallardo 470 (1405DJR), Buenos Aires, Argentina "^School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia ^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia

Key words: Cynodontia, Cretaceous, Winton Formation, Queensland

The Early to mid-Cretaceous terrestrial vertebrate fauna of Australia has been considered to be highly unusual, due in large part to Australia's partial isolation from other landmasses and its geographic position close to the palaeo-South Pole. This fauna is characterized by diversification from limited stock (e.g., basal omithopods) punctuated by archaic 'holdovers' (e.g., temnospondyl amphibians and dicynodont therapsids, otherwise known only from the Triassic and Jurassic). Here we describe the first Australian non-mammalian cynodont, an assemblage of mainly carnivorous synapsids generally of Triassic age that gave rise to mammaliaforms. Southern Gondwana was a centre of cynodont evolution during the Triassic, with a diverse range of taxa known from South America, South Africa and Antarctica. The new Australian cynodont material includes a fragmentary femur and incipiently divided postcanine tooth root referred to Probainognathia, a group of small cynodonts that were probably the direct ancestors of mammals and that were otherwise extinct by the Middle Jurassic. The new fossil material was recovered from the late Albian-early Cenomanian Winton Formation of central-western Queensland. The Winton cynodont(s) were thus late survivors of an earlier Permian-Jurassic cynodont radiation. Non-mammalian cynodonts are now known from all Gondwanan continents. Other Australasian fossil taxa with cynodont-like features are discussed, including the enigmatic Kollikodon ritchiei from New South Wales and mammal-like remains from New Zealand. These Australasian taxa were part of a unique mix of relictual, Gondwanan and endemic taxa seen nowhere else. Along with temnospondyls and dicynodonts, the Winton cynodont supports the contention that southeastern Gondwana provided a reflige for relictual Triassic taxa during the late Mesozoic.

COMPARATIVE MORPHOLOGY OF THE AUSTRALO-PAPUAN PASSERINE BIRDS: PRELIMINARY RESULTS Jacqueline M. T. Nguyen School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; jacqueline.nguven@student.unsw.edu.au Key words: Aves, Passeriformes: Corvida, morphology, phylogeny Passerines (songbirds) are very uniform in their skeletal morphology, which allows them to be readily distinguished from non-passerine birds, but creates difficulties in determining subgroups beyond ordinal level. However, recent studies of modem and fossil passerine taxa have demonstrated that there are osteological differences within the order that are phylogenetically informative. These studies are of mainly European and American taxa (e.g. Manegold 2008), though phylogenetically informative characters have also been identified for fossil passerines from Riversleigh, Australia (Boles 2006, and references therein) and St Bathans, New Zealand (Worthy et al submitted). The "basal Corvida" are suggested to have originated in the Australo-Papuan region. Preliminary results of a detailed osteological study to characterise families within the "basal Corvida" are presented here. Diagnoses of families studied thus far corroborate the passerine relationships proposed in recent molecular trees. In future, this study will use suites of diagnostic characters to identify and describe fossil passerines from Riversleigh, and test the phylogenetic relationships among the Australo-Papuan passerines. BOLES, W.E. 2006. A new songbird (Aves: Passeriformes) from the mid-Cenozoic of Riversleigh, northwestern

Queensland. Alcheringa Special Issue 1, 31-37.

MANEGOLD, A. 2008. Passerine diversity in the late Oligocene of Germany: earliest evidence for the sympatric

coexistence of Suboscines and Oscines. Ibis 150, 377-387.

WORTHY, T. H., HAND, S. J., NGUYEN, J. M. T., TENNYSON, A. J. D., WORTHY, J. P., SCOFIELD R. P., BOLES, W. E. & ARCHER, M., in press. Biogeographical and phylogenetic implications of an Early Miocene wren

(Aves: Passeriformes: Acanthisittidae) from New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

MOLECULES, MORPHOLOGY AND ECOLOGY INDICATE A RECENT, AMPHIBIOUS ANCESTRY FOR ECHIDNAS Matthew J. Phillips^ and Michael S. Y. Lee^ ^Centre for Macroevolution and Macroecology, School of Biology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia; niatt.phillips@anu.edu.au ^School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia and Earth Sciences Section, South Australian Museum, Adelaide, SA 5000, Australia

Key words: molecular dating, Monotremata, phylogeny, ecological niche

The semi-aquatic platypus and terrestrial echidnas (spiny anteaters) are the only living egg-laying mammals (monotremes). The fossil record has provided few clues to their origins and the evolution of their ecological specializations. However, recent reassignment of the Early Cretaceous Teinolophos and Steropodon to the platypus lineage implies that platypuses and echidnas diverged >112.5 million years ago, reinforcing the notion of monotremes as living fossils. This placement is based on characters related to a single feature, the enlarged mandibular canal, which supplies blood vessels and dense electrosensory receptors to the platypus bill. Our reevaluation of the morphological data instead groups platypus and echidnas to the exclusion of Teinolophos and Steropodon, and suggests an enlarged mandibular canal is ancestral for monotremes (partly reversed in echidnas in association with general mandibular reduction). The first multi-gene evaluation of the echidna/platypus divergence with both a relaxed molecular clock and direct fossil calibrations reveals a recent split of 21-47 million years ago. Platypus-like monotremes (Monotrematum) pre-date this divergence, indicating that echidnas had aquatically foraging ancestors that reinvaded terrestrial ecosystems. This ecological shift and the associated radiation of echidnas represent a recent expansion of niche-space despite potential competition from marsupials. We suggest that the monotremes that survived the invasion of marsupials into Australasia exploit ecological niches in which marsupials are restricted by their reproductive mode. Morphology, ecology and molecular biology together indicate that Teinolophos and Steropodon are basal monotremes rather than platypus relatives, and that living monotremes are a relatively recent radiation.

CLIMATIC FORCING FOR LATE PLEISTOCENE MEGAFAUNAL EXTINCTION: EVIDENCE FROM THE DARLING DOWNS, EASTERN AUSTRALIA Gilbert J. Price\ Gregory E. Webb\ Jian-xin Zhao\ Yue-xing Feng\ Scott A. HocknulP, Ian H. Sobbe^ and Bernard N. Cooke^ ^Radiogenic Isotope Facility, Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Queensland, 4072, Australia; g.pricel@ua.edu.au ^Queensland University of Technology, School of Natural Resource Science, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, Queensland, 4001, Australia. Queensland Museum, Geoscience Department, 122 Gerler Road, Hendra, Queensland, Australia, 401L

Key words: megafauna, Pleistocene, Darling Downs, dating A key to understanding Late Pleistocene megafaunal extinction dynamics is knowledge of megafaunal ecological response(s) to long-term environmental perturbations. Strategically, that requires targeting fossil deposits accumulated during glacial and interglacial intervals both before and after human arrival. Late Pleistocene vertebrate fossil localities from the Darling Downs, eastern Australia, provide an accurate, longterm, dated palaeoecological record for the region, thus allowing testing of anthropogenic and climate change megafauna extinction hypotheses. Each stratigraphic unit at site QML796, Kings Creek Catchment, had similar sampling potential, and ecological preferences of vertebrate and invertebrate taxa indicate a reduction in woodland and vine thicket habitats through time, with replacement by more open-adapted taxa in the stratigraphically-youngest units. Importantly, sequential faunal horizons show stepwise decrease in taxonomic diversity with the loss of some, but not all, megafauna in the geographically-small palaeocatchment. Significantly, there is no palaeontological or archaeological evidence of megafauna-human overlap in the region. Chronologies of deposition were established using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS)

U/Th, and

optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods (n - 4 0 dates). OSL and U/Th dating demonstrate that the faunal sequences span -120-55 ka, well beyond the radiocarbon dating window. Significantly, those dates suggest that local habitat change and loss of biological diversity occurred significantly before the colonisation of humans on the continent. Our data are consistent with a pre-human climate change model driving local habitat change and megafauna extinction, but not with nearly simultaneous extinction of megafauna after human arrival as required by the human-induced blitzkrieg extinction hypothesis.

DETERMINING THE SIGNIFICANCE OF NED'S GULLY IN THE AUSTRALIAN PLEISTOCENE MEGAFAUNA EXTINCTION DEBATE Gilbert J. Price\ Ian H. Sobbe^ and Joanne E. Wilkinson^ ^Radiogenic Isotope Facility, Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia; g.pricel@uq.edu.au ^Geosciences, Queensland Museum, 122 Gerler Road, Hendra, 4011, Queensland, Australia.

Key words: megafauna, Pleistocene, extinction, Ned's Gully The Ned's Gully fossil site, Darling Downs, southeastern Queensland, is regarded as being one of the youngest Pleistocene megafauna-bearing deposits in Australia (Roberts et al. 2001). As such, the site is critical for examining the spatial and temporal occurrence of the last-surviving megafauna, and for testing hypotheses relating to their continental extinction. However, the significance of Ned's Gully in the megafauna extinction debate has not been universally accepted, primarily because: 1) the direct association of dated sediment samples to the megafauna fossils has never been properly demonstrated; 2) the formational processes of the site have never been described in detail; 3) the bone taphonomy -sedimentological relationships are unknown; and 4) a fiill species list has never been presented with respect to stratigraphy. As such, some recent megafauna extinction reviews dismiss the results from Ned's Gully, at least until corroborating evidence is provided that supports the existing published chronology. Our latest investigations confirm that the site does contain articulated skeletal remains of Diprotodon optatum and Macropus giganteus titan. However, previously published species lists are inflated in regards to the number of taxa associated with the main fossil horizon and analytical dates. Other megafaunal taxa (e.g., Sarcophilus, Thylacoleo, Vombatus, Procoptodon) previously thought to be associated with the main Ned's Gully bone bed were actually collected from other deposits within the catchment. Our on-going investigations will involve a formal stratigraphic and taphonomic study of the main site, and a new dating program involving the use of U-series dating directly on the fossil remains.

ROBERTS, R.G., PLANNER Y, T . F . , AYLIFFE, L . K . , YOSHIDA, H., OLLEY, J . M . , PRIDEAUX, G . J . , LASLETT, G . M . ,

BAYNES, A., SMITH, M.A, JONES, R. & SMITH, B.L., 2001. New ages for the last Australian megafauna:

continent-wide extinction about 46,000 years ago. Science 292, 1888-1892.

GEOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF THE MIOCENE FRESHWATER LIMESTONES OF THE RIVERSLEIGH WORLD HERITAGE AREA, NW QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

E. Price School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, UNSW, Sydney NSW 2052, Australia; lizprice210@hotniaiLcom Key words: Riversleigh, freshwater, limestone, geochemistry

Withm the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, fossils are found at over 200 individual sites. Correlation between these sites is extremely difficult due to poorly defined boundaries, problems in dating the individual sites and difficulties in obtaining detailed geological mapping in a karst environment that has undergone multiple changes in water table elevation. To date, the different sites have been grouped according to their macroscopic features. These include vertebrate fossils, geological formations (such as speleothems), phosphate nodules and invertebrate fossils such as gastropods, ostracods and charophytes. Microscopic features (using petrography and SEM analysis) are also being investigated in this study, but it is hoped that geochemical analysis, using ICPMS, will provide further insight into the relationships between the individual sites. Patterns in the rare earth elements (REE's) can be used to group sites either by age (by distinguishing changes in the formational waters) or palaeo-ecosystem (by determining depositional environment REE concentrations). More results are needed at the moment to determine anything with certainty, but already the geochemistry has indicated more samples that could work well when analysed for U/Pb radiometric dating and that the waters of the present day are similar to the waters that formed the Riversleigh Cainozoic limestone, which suggests minimal geological change.

ARCHER, M., HAND, S.J. & GODTHELP, H., 2000. Australia's

Indiana University Press. 264pp.

lost world: prehistoric

animals of Riversleigh.

A REASSESSMENT OF THE CRETACEOUS NON-AVIAN DINOSAUR FAUNAS OF AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND Steven W. Salisbury^ ^ Federico L. Agnolin^ ^ Martin D. Ezcurra^ and Diego F. Pais^

^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; s,salisburv@uq.edu.au ^Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA ^Laboratorio de Anatomia Comparada y Evolucion de Vertebrados, Museo Argentino de Ciencias Naturales "Bernardino Rivadavia", Av. Angel Gallardo 470 (1405DJR), Buenos Aires, Argentina ^Fundacion de Historia Natural "Felix de Azara", Universidad Maimonides, V. Virasoro 732 (1405), Buenos Aires, Argentina

Key words: Dinosauria, Gondwana, Cretaceous, palaeobiogeography Cretaceous dinosaur faunas of Australia and New Zealand have traditionally been considered distinct from those of other Gondwanan landmasses. Some Australasian Cretaceous dinosaurs have been regarded as relics of clades that were more common in the Jurassic, and others as early representatives of groups that are more typical of Laurasia. It has also been proposed that omithomimosaurians, oviraptorosaurians, dromaeosaurids and neoceratopsians may have originated in Australia before dispersing to Laurasia where they subsequently radiated. These taxonomic and palaeobiogeographic interpretations are at odds with the pervading biotic signal from other parts of Gondwana during the Cretaceous, with varying amounts of faunal interchange between South America, India, Madagascar and Africa. Here we review all currently described and figured Cretaceous non-avian dinosaurs from Australia and New Zealand. Our results basically confirm previously proposed phylogenetic affinities of described Australian Cretaceous sauropod material (Titanosauriformes), Minmi (Ankylosauromorpha) and Muttaburrasaurus (Styracostema). Among Australian "hypsilophodontids", only Leaellynasaura and Qantassaurus are considered valid, and re-interpreted as non-dryomorphan iguanodontians. Material assigned to the alleged neoceratopsian Serendipaceratops and "Protoceratopsia" indet. is placed in Genasauria indet. and Ornithischia indet., respectively. All Australian theropod taxa are considered nomina dubia. Walgettosuchus is placed in Theropod indet., while Kakuru and Victoria's 'pygmy' Allosaurus are tentatively referred to Abelisauroidea indet. As with recently described material from Victoria, Rapator is placed in Spinosauroidea cf. Megaraptor,

Timimus

and oviraptorosaurian material are referred to Dromaeosauridae cf Unenlagiinae. Our results indicate that the majority Australasian Cretaceous dinosaurs display affinities that are concordant with current palaeobiogeographic models for Gondwanan terrestrial vertebrate distributions.

RAPID SOMATIC EXPANSION CAUSES THE BRAIN TO LAG BEHIND: THE CASE OF THE BRAIN AND BEHAVIOUR OF NEW ZEALAND'S HAAST'S EAGLE {HARPAGORNISMOOREI) R. Paul. Scofield^ and Ken. W. S. Ashwell^ ' The Canterbury Museum, Christchurch, New Zealand; pscofield@canterburymuseum.coni ^ The Department of Anatomy, School of Medical Sciences, The University of New South Wales, 2052, NSW, Australia; k.ashwen@unsw.edu.au Key words: Harpagornis, Somatic Expansion, Brain, Holocene New Zealand's late Pleistocene and Holocene Haast's eagle {Harpagornis moorei) was the sole predator of the dinomithiform moa and the largest eagle so far described. Recent molecular evidence has hypothesised that it evolved from a much smaller Asian/Australian eagle within the past 1.8 my. We have used osteometry and high resolution spiral CT of skeletal remains of Haast's eagle to determine morphological and functionally significant characteristics of the central and peripheral nervous system and sensory apparatuses and to test these against hypotheses about behaviour and evolution based on molecular and external morphology. We find that compared to other accipitrids, Haast's eagle had a proportionally low endocranial volume for its body weight. Similarly, the size of the osseus bony labyrinth was found to be not greatly different from that of much smaller extant Accipitridae and indicators of visual system anatomy (e.g. scleral ossicle ring size, optic foramen area and optic fossa volume) were smaller than in many modem Accipitridae of much lower body weight. There was no anatomical evidence to support the significant use of olfaction by Haast's eagle, since the olfactory bulb size and cross-sectional area of the olfactory nerve foramen were no larger than would be expected for Accipitridae of this body weight. Both the size of the neural canal at the cervicothoracic junction and the brachial spinal quotient (ratio of neural canal area at cervicothoracic and caudal thoracic levels) were low, suggesting that the spinal cord at brachial levels was also small. This in turn suggests that fine motor control of the wing muscles and neural machinery for analysis of proprioceptive data from the same was not well developed. On the other hand, analysis of the synsacrum indicates that the (motor and sensory) nerve supply to the hindlimbs was robust in Haast's eagle, consistent with active predation of large prey. In summary, our data are consistent with the hypothesis that Harpagornis had evolved to large size from a smaller ancestor and that the ancestors of Haast's eagle appear to have undergone rapid expansion of body size and elements of the hindlimb somatic nervous system at the expense of enlargement of the brain and visual, olfactory and vestibular apparatuses.

WHEN DID NEW ZEALAND'S BIRDS EVOLVE? Alan J.D. Tennyson Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, P.O. Box 467, Wellington, New Zealand; alant@tepaDa.govt.nz Key words: Bird, evolution, New Zealand, origin A wealth of new research has greatly increased our knowledge of the origins of New Zealand's unique avifauna. Fossil and molecular evidence indicate that the ancestors of some taxa evolved earlier than suspected, e.g. stitchbirds (Driskell et al. 2007), while others evolved later than previously believed, e.g. Finsch's duck (Worthy & Olson 2002) and Haast's eagle (Bunce et al 2005). Some taxa appear to have their origins on Gondwana, e.g. moa (Cooper et al. 2001), large parrots (Wright et al. 2008) and New Zealand wrens (Worthy et al. in press), while others evolved only in the Pleistocene, e.g. oystercatcher species (Banks & Paterson 2007). Many taxa, some endemic only at generic level (Baker et al. 2007), apparently pre-date the purported Oligocene drowning of Zealandia (contra Landis et al. 2008). The arrival of many taxa in Zealandia is debated but most evidence suggests a long history for a few, with the majority arriving over-water since Zealandia's separation from Australis. These findings are roughly in accord with earlier theories of biogeographer Charles Fleming (Fleming 1962), although he tended to under-estimate the antiquity of taxa. This reflects a worldwide trend, where many modem bird groups are now considered older than previously thought (e.g. Cooper & Penny 1997). BAKER, A.J., PEREIRA, S.L. & PATON, T.A., 2007. Phylogenetic relationships and divergence times of

Charadriiformes genera: multigene evidence for the Cretaceous origin of at least 14 clades of shorebirds. Biology Letters 3, 205-209.

BANKS, J.C. & PATERSON, A.M., 2007. A preliminary study of the genetic differences in New Zealand oystercatcher species. New Zealand Journal of Zoology 34,141-144. BUNCE, M., SZULKIN, M., LERNER, H.R.L., BARNES, I., SHAPIRO, B., COOPER, A. & HOLDAWAY, R.N., 2005.

Ancient DNA provides new insights into the evolutionary history of New Zealand's extinct giant eagle. PLoS Biology A

COOPER, A. & PENNY, D., 1997. Mass survival of birds across the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary: molecular

evidence. Science 21

COOPER, A., LALUEZA-FOX, C., ANDERSON, S., RAMBAUT, A., AUSTIN, J. & WARD, R., 2001. Complete mitochondrial genome sequences of two extinct moas clarify ratite evolution. Nature 409, 704-707. DRISKELL, A., CHRISTIDIS, L., GILL, B.J., BOLES, W.E., BARKER, F.K. & LONGMORE, N.W., 2007. A new

endemic family of New Zealand passerine birds: adding heat to a biodiversity hotspot. Australian

Journal of Zoology 55, 73-78. FLEMING, C.A., 1962. History of the New Zealand land bird fauna. Notornis 9, 270-274. LANDIS, C.A., CAMPBELL, H.J., BEGG, J.G., MILDENHALL, D.C., PATERSON, A.M. & TREWICK, S.A., 2008. The Waipounamu Erosion Surface: questioning the antiquity of the New Zealand land surface and

terrestrial fauna and flora. Geological Magazine 145, 173-197. WRIGHT, T.F., SCHIRTZINGER, E.E., MATUSOMOTO, T., EBERHARD, J.R., GRAVES, G.R., SANCHEZ, J.J., CAPELLI, S., MULLER, H., SCHARPEGGE, J., CHAMBERS, G.K. & FLEISCHER, R.C., 2008. A multilocus molecular phylogeny of the parrots (Psittaciformes): support for a Gondwanan origin during the Cretaceous.

Molecular Biology and Evolution 25, 2141-2156. WORTHY, T.H. & OLSON, S.L., 2002. Relationships, adaptations, and habits of the extinct duck 'Eury anas' finschi. Notornis A9, 1-17.

WORTHY, T.H., HAND, S.J., NGUYEN, J.M.T., TENNYSON, A.J.D., WORTHY, J.P., SCOFIELD, R.P., BOLES, W.E. & ARCHER, M., in press. Biogeographical and phylogenetic implications of an Early Miocene wren

(Aves: Passeriformes: Acanthisittidae) from New Zealand. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

CURRENT APPROACHES TO UNDERSTANDING EARLY MODERN HUMAN FAUNAL EXPLOITATION STRATEGIES Jessica C. Thompson University of Queensland School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072; iessica.thompson@uq.edu.au Key words: Middle Stone Age, zooarchaeology, modem human origins, subsistence The last decade has seen a substantial improvement in the understanding archaeologists have of the patterns and processes involved in the emergence of anatomically and behaviourally modem Homo sapiens. This has been aided by an increase in research focus on the Middle Stone Age of Africa (MSA - from ca. 280 - 30 thousand years ago), during which time many important changes in human demography, technology, and behavioural complexity took place. Unfortunately, a concurrent understanding of human subsistence strategies during this time has been slower to materialise. Zooarchaeology provides an important line of evidence for MSA subsistence, but until recently, MSA faunal collections have been rarely or poorly recovered and imprecisely dated. Others have been interpreted without a full taphonomic analysis that first demonstrates which components of the assemblage can actually be attributed to human subsistence behaviour. The situation is now improving, particularly for the South African record. This paper summarises recent approaches to analysis and interpretation of MSA faunal assemblages, and illustrates them with results from two South African coastal cave sites that have yielded other evidence for early behavioural complexity: Blombos Cave and Pinnacle Point Cave 13B. The emerging pattern of MSA faunal exploitation is one of variable strategies that are at least partially contingent on specific site configuration and broad-scale palaeoecological parameters. This contrasts with traditional views of the emergence of modem faunal exploitation strategies, which have implied that changes in subsistence occurred in a linear and relatively predictable fashion over time.

DESCRIPTION, PHYLOGENY AND PALAEOECOLOGY OF A NEW SHORT-SNOUTED BANDICOOT (MARSUPIALIA; PERAMELEMORPHIA) FROM RIVERSLEIGH'S OLIGOMIOCENE DEPOSITS, NORTHWESTERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA Kenny J. Travouillon'^\ Jeanette Muirhead*, Robin M.D. Beck* and Yamila Gurovich'^ School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia; \ennvtravouillon@hotniail.coni Key words: Peramelemorphian, bandicoot, Riversleigh, Australia

The second species of peramelemorphian from Early Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, World Heritage Property, northwestern Queensland is described, Yarala burchfieldi being the first (Muirhead and Filan 1995). The new genus and species of a short-snouted bandicoot is much larger than Y. burchfieldi and similar in size to extant bandicoots. It shares with extant peramelemorphians a number of synapomorphies such as the preparacrista of Ml posteriorly orientated, the buccal position of the centrocrista, the buccal termination of the cristid obliqua and the hypoconulid being posterior to the entoconid. Both the new species and K burchfieldi share a number of plesiomorphies, such as having alisphenoid-parietal contact and having a complete centrocrista. Here we present the first morphology-based phylogeny of peramelemorphians. Our results show that Y. burchfieldi and the new species are structural links between extant peramelemorphians and outgroups such as dasyuromorphians and didelphoids, forming a paraphyletic group outside of the extant peramelemorphian clade. The morphology of the skull of the new species is characterised by a short and broad snout, suggesting that it filled a different ecological niche to extant peramelemorphians. Its morphology, however, resembles that of dasyurids such as Murexia from the rainforests of New Guinea. The short-snouted bandicoot may have thus filled a similar niche in the early Miocene rainforests of Riversleigh, as dasyurids were relatively rare at that time.

MUIRHEAD, J. & FILAN, S. L., 1995. Yarala burchfieldi, a plesiomorphic bandicoot (Marsupialia, Peramelemorphia) from Oligo-Miocene deposits of Riversleigh, northwestern Queensland. Journal of Paleontology 69, 127-134.

THE USE OF MSR: HOW MUCH DATA IS NEEDED TO SAY SOMETHING MEANINGFUL IN PALAEOECOLOGY?

Kenny J. TravouiIlon*t\ Gilles Escarguelf, Serge Legendref, Michael Archer* and Suzanne J. Hand* * School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, New South Wales 2052, Australia; t UMR CNRS 5125 Paleoenvironnements et Paleobiosphere, France ; Universite Lyon 1, Campus de la Doua, F-69622 Villeurbanne Cedex, France; ^kennvtravouillon@hotmaiLcom

Key words: Palaeoecology, Minimum Sample Richness, Taxonomic Distinctness, assemblages Minimum Sample Richness (MSR) is defmed as the smallest number of taxa that must be recorded in a sample to achieve a given level of inter-assemblage classification accuracy (Travouillon et al., 2007). MSR is calculated from known or estimated richness and taxonomical similarity. MSR is tested for strengths and weaknesses using 167 published mammalian local faunas from the Palaeogene and early Neogene of the Quercy and Limagne area (Massif Central, south-western France), and then applied to 84 fossil faunas from Riversleigh, north-western Queensland in Australia. In many cases, MSR is able to detect the assemblages in the data set that are potentially too incomplete to be used in a comparative, taxonomical similarity-based analysis. In some cases, MSR alone is not able to account for potential biases resulting in the incorrect clustering of some faunas. In those cases, the average taxonomic distinctness and its variation are shown to provide useful complementary information (Warwick and Clarke, 1995; Clarke and Warwick, 2001). This analysis reveals that lower than expected average taxonomic distinctness and higher than expected variation m taxonomic distinctness may lead to incorrect clustering of faunas. It is concluded that when used together in the context of comparative analysis between taxonomical assemblages, these methods can screen sample assemblages that are not representative of their underlying original living communities. Ultimately, they can be used to identify which assemblages require further sampling before being included in a comparative analysis.

CLARKE, K.R. & WARWICK, R.M., 2001. A further biodiversity index applicable to species lists: variation in taxonomic distinctness. Marine Ecology Progress Series 216, 265-278. TRAVOUILLON, K.J., ARCHER, M., LEGENDRE, S. & HAND, S.J., 2007. Finding the Minimum Sample Richness

(MSR) for multivariate analyses: implications for palaeoecology. Historical Biology 19, 315-320. WARWICK, R.M. & CLARKE, K.R., 1995. New "biodiversity" measures reveal a decrease in taxonomic distinctness with increasing stress. Marine Ecology Progress Series 129, 301-305.

THE POTENTIAL OF X-RAY AND SYNCHROTRON CT SCANNING IN DETERMINING SOFT TISSUE ANATOMY IN EARLY VERTEBRATES ^Kate Trinajstic and John Long *WA Organic and Isotope Geochemistry Centre (WA-OIGC), Department of Applied Chemistry, The Institute for Geoscience Research (TIGeR), Curtin University of Technology, Perth; K.Trinaistic@curtin.edu.au Key words: Placoderm, Devonian, Synchrotron, Muscle Vertebrate hard parts are potentially a rich source of information about the biology of the extinct animals. However, established techniques for studying vertebrate fossils recover only a small part of this information and the techniques are also destructive, which severely limits their utility particularly with rare material. Recently, the use of conventional CT scanning has been used because non-destructive "serial sections" can now be produced rapidly and three-dimensional models reconstructed electronically. However, the resolution provided by most conventional CT scanners is insufficient to study histological features. Very recently, the advent of synchrotron CT scanning has been used to visualize subtle texture differences with negligible absorption contrast. Here we present its use to systematically survey, document and reconstruct soft-tissue contacts such as arrested growth surfaces and Sharpey's fibres. Integral to this project is the fossils from the Gogo Formation in Western Australia as they preserve actual soft tissue structures. Recently small areas of muscle tissue were identified in the placoderm Eastmanosteus, which included blood vessels and nerve fibres (Trinajstic et al 2007) and the preserved umbilical cord connecting the embryo of the ptyctodont Materpiscis to a yolk sac (Long et al 2008). New discoveries have revealed large areas of phosphatised muscle preserved beneath dermal plates in placoderm fishes. For the first time we can map the postcranial musculature in an extinct placoderm fish. In addition structures interpreted as the heat, liver and abdominal tract have been identified in palaeoniscoid fishes. The excellent 3D preservation in these fossils has provided proof of the synchrotron technique. LONG, J.A., TRINAJSTIC, K., YOUNG G . C . & SENDEN, T., 2008. Live birth in the Devonian. Nature 4 5 3 , 6 5 0 652.

TRINAJSTIC, K., MARSHALL, C., LONG, J. & BIFIELD, K., 2007. Exceptional preservation of nerve and muscle

tissues in Devonian placoderm fish and their phylogenetic implications. Biology Letters 3, 197-200.

WHAT HAVE HUMAN GENETIC STUDIES TAUGHT US ABOUT HUMAN EVOLUTION? Sheila van Hoist Pellekaan^ and Alan Wilton School of Biotechnology & Biomolecular Sciences, D26 University of New South Wales 2052; ^ s.vanholst@unsw,edu.au Key words: Human evolution, Mitochondrial DNA, genome, genetics

During the past two decades biotechnological advances have enabled an unprecedented accumulation of genetic data from hundreds of studies across genera and species. The very small amount of observable difference between the DNA of Homo sapiens and our nearest relatives sets a challenge for explaining how that difference may have driven evolution. The focus of much DNA research about Homo sapiens has been to elucidate the dispersal of humans throughout the world, proceeding from a knowledge base derived from fossil and other archaeological evidence. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome studies have proved to be powerful tools for examining dispersal events, but so far have offered little insight into evolutionary process. As an example, it is well understood that mitochondrion have a very deep evolutionary time depth, the genome conforms to expectations of neutral theory, are remarkably conserved across genera, yet with variable arrangements of the conserved genes. The complex interdependence between mitochondrial and nuclear genes in mammals means that an understanding of evolutionary processes requires whole genome description, now technologically available and extensive data analysis. Human studies will benefit from a focus that includes comparison with more genera than our nearest relatives.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SCRAP Anne Warren*\ Ross Damiani*, Caroline Northwood* and Dhurjati P. Senguptaf ^Department of Zoology, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; fGeological Studies Unit, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, India; ^ a.warren@latrobe.edu.au

Key words: Arcadia, Panchet, mandible, Temnospondyli

Bone scrap has been collected from two sites in the Early Triassic Arcadia Formation, Bowen Basin, Queensland, over a 35 year period. Tiny vertebrates found in the scrap include a higher taxon of temnospondyls, the Lapillopsidae, the smallest known juvenile temnospondyls from the Triassic, at least five taxa of reptiles, and several fish. Additionally the first insects and other invertebrates from the Arcadia Formation were found in coprolites from the scrap collection (Northwood 2005). Fragmentary mandibles from the scrap described as 'Plagiobatrachus australis' were originally assigned to the Plagiosauridae, based on their dorsoventrally flattened profile, tubercular ornament, and the presence of typical centra. Recently, scrap mandibles from the Panchet Formation, Early Triassic, Damodar Basin, India, have been identified as congeneric with 'Plagiobatrachus' (Warren et al. 2009). The Indian mandibles have a bizarre posterolateral^ projecting process behind the glenoid, and a new search of the Arcadia Formation scrap found similar processes. Plagiobatrachus australis has been split; the vertebrae remain in the Plagiosauridae, with a new genus erected for the mandibles, with two species, one in the Panchet Formation and one in the Arcadia Formation. Such a mandibular process is almost unique among vertebrates, and the function is unknown. This taxon common to the Panchet and Arcadia Formations cements their biostratigraphic position as basal Triassic, based on palynology of the Panchet Formation, and further emphasises the value of scrap to vertebrate palaeontology.

NORTHWOOD, C., 2005. Early Triassic coprolites from Australia and their palaeobiological significance. Palaeontology 48, 49-68. WARREN, A., DAMIANI, R. & SENGUPTA, D. P., 2009. Unique stereospondyl mandibles from the Early Triassic

Panchet Formation of India and the Arcadia Formation of Australia. Special Papers in Palaeontology 81,1-13.

MEIOLANIID TURTLE REMAINS FROM A 3,200 YR BP ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE IN VANUATU Arthur W.White\ Trevor H.Worthy\ Stuart Hawkins ^ Stuart Bedford^ and Matthew Spriggs^ ^ School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; awh41103@bigpond.net.au ^ School of Archaeology and Anthropology, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia Meiolaniid turtles have a long fossil history that extends from the Early Cretaceous (Smith 2009) to the Recent. In Australia deposits, these turtles are well-represented in the Tertiary, but are not present in the postPleistocene. The most recent records of meiolaniids are from western Pacific Islands (such as Lord Howe Island, and Walpole Island), but meiolaniids were believed not to be present on these islands at the time of human settlement. In 1990, meiolaniid remains found in caves on Pindai Peninsula in New Caledonia indicated that this may not be the case but dating and deposition of this material is uncertain (Balouet 1991, Gaffiiey 1996). In 2004, 2005 and 2006, archaeological excavations from a human habitation site at Teouma on the island of Efate in Vanuatu unearthed human remains as well as midden and camp fire remains. Butchered limb bones from a meiolaniid turtle were present amongst the remains; the site has been provisionally dated at 3,300 yrs BP. This is the first conclusive evidence that humans encountered meiolaniid turtles. Meiolaniid turtles are not found in middens deposited after the initial 200 years of human occupation of the island. The Teouma meiolaniid was a small to medium-sized turtle (up to about 1 metre in shell length) but was quite low-domed for a terrestrial turtle. No cranial elements, tail rings or tail clubs have been found so far. The limb bones are less robust than those of the Lord Howe meiolaniid (M platyceps), but indicate that the turtle was fully terrestrial. Excavations are still ongoing at Teouma and additional skeletal or cranial elements may yet be found that will enable a more complete description and phylogenetic analysis of this species.

PHYLOGENETIC REASSESSMENT OF GALLINULA DlSNEYl FROM RIVERSLEIGH AND DESCRIPTION OF A NEW SPECIES ^Trevor H. Worthy and ^Walter E. Boles ^School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; t.worthv@unsw.edu.au; ^Research and Collections Branch, Australian Museum, 6 College Street, Sydney, New South Wales 2010, Australia

Key words: Gruiformes: Rallidae, Riversleigh, phylogenetic relationships

Gallinula disneyi Boles, 2005 (Aves: Rallidae) was described from a series of fossil bones from Faunal Zone A and B sites in Oligo-Miocene Carl Creek Limestone in the Riversleigh World Heritage Property, Boodjamulla (Lawn Hill) National Park, in northwestern Queensland, Australia. Molecular analyses of gruiforms suggest a basal divergence of the generically-diverse Rallidae at about 21.8 Ma (Fain et al. 2007). A crown group genus from Faunal Zone A & B sites challenges this gene-derived date and invites a reassessment of the phylogenetic relationships of this taxon. Based on the original and new material, we reaffirm the gallinule affinities of G. disneyi, but find that it is not a member of the crown-group taxon Gallinula. We describe additional material from Faunal Zone C sites, of Middle Miocene age, that is referrable to a second species in the same new genus. Both taxa were flightless, and are the only gruiforms in the Riversleigh faunas. FAIN, M. G.; KRAJEWSKI, C. & HOUDE, P., 2007. Phylogeny of "core Gruiformes" (Aves: Grues) and resolution of the Limpkin-Sungrebe problem. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 43, 515-529.

3-D COMPUTER SIMULATION OF HOMINOID CRANIAL MECHANICS Stephen Wroe, Toni Ferarra, Uphar Chamoli, Colin McHenry and Darren Curnoe School of BEES, University of NSW, Kensington, NSW, Australia, 2052; s.wroe@unsw.edu.au

Key words: Hominoidea, Biomechanics, Finite Element Changes in diet and feeding behaviour are thought to have strongly influenced the evolution of hominin facial form. In order to examine hypotheses of form and function in the evolution of hominins we have constructed three dimensional Finite Element Models (FEMs) of five extant species, representing each extant hominid genus as well as Hylobates. Each model, comprising both cranium and mandible, has been assembled on the basis of Computed Tomography data largely following recently developed protocols (McHenry et al. 2007, Wroe et al. 2007a, Wroe et al. 2007b). Results to date suggest that, relative to other extant apes, mechanical advantage is considerable in Homo sapiens, but that the facial region is not well-adapted to resist high loads under most simulations of feeding behaviour. Assembly of FEMs representing a gracile (Australopithecus africanus) and a robust {Paranthropus boisei) australopithecine is now nearing completion. MCHENRY, C. R., WROE, S., CLAUSEN, P. D., MORENO, K. & CUNNINGHAM, E., 2007. Supermodeled sabercat,

predatory behavior in Smilodon fatalis revealed by high-resolution 3D computer simulation. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (USA) 104, 16010-16015. WROE, S., CLAUSEN, P. D., MCHENRY, C. R. & MORENO, K., 2007a. Computer simulation of feeding behaviour

in the thylacine and dingo as a novel test for convergence and niche overlap. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series B 274, 2819-2828. WROE, S., MORENO, K., CLAUSEN, P. D., MCHENRY, C. R. & CURNOE, D., 2007b. High resolution three-

dimensional computer simulation of hominid cranial mechanics. The Anatomical Record, Part A 290, 1248-1255.

CHARLES DARWIN, THE GEOLOGIST, FORMULATED HIS EVOLUTIONARY THEORY BECAUSE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS (AGE OF THE EARTH; NEW FOSSIL DISCOVERIES), PROVIDED THE DEEP TIME NECESSARY FOR NATURAL SELECTION TO OPERATE Gavin C. Young College of Science, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200; Gavin.Young@anu.edu.au Key words: Darwin; geologist; deep time; complex organs At the time of the 'Beagle' voyage, recently acquired evidence for the great age of the Earth, and of fossils discovered in sedimentary strata, provided a new perspective for Charles Darwin's observations in the Southern Hemisphere. Notes of his excursions around Hobart Town are replete with significant geological observations (Banks 1971). In the few years after returning to London, with a growing reputation as an important geologist, he formulated his theory of natural selection, even though it was not published until 1859. Issues raised concerning 'imperfections of the geological record' and the 'geological succession of organic beings' were discussed as two separate chapters in The Origin of Species. The 'extreme imperfection of the geological record' was used to explain the lack of evidence for 'organs of extreme perfection and complication', which under his theory must have evolved by innumerable transitional gradations. The fossil record subsequently has produced many examples of the transitional forms Darwin predicted, in some cases preserved at a level of detail he could never have imagined possible. Australian and Chinese fossil specimens will be used to illustrate the oldest detailed fossil evidence for the structure of the vertebrate eye and brain (Young 2008). These indicate an evolutionary legacy from an ancestral segmented animal, in which the braincase is still partly subdivided, and the arrangement of nerves and muscles controlling eye movement was intermediate between the living jawless and jawed vertebrate groups. BANKS, M.R., 1971. A Darwin manuscript on Hobart Town. Papers and Proceedings of the Royal Society of

Tasmania 105, 5-19.

YOUNG, G.C., 2008. Early evolution of the vertebrate eye - fossil evidence. Evolution: Education and Outreach 2008 1(4), 427-438.

High School Forum THE BIGGEST, THE WEIRDEST AND GLOBALLY MOST EXTRAORDINARY AUSTRALIANS

Michael Archer School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; m.archer@unsw.edu.au

This lecture will present to students the extraordinary range of record-breaking claims to fame about extinct and living creatures that are uniquely Australian. This will include insights into the origins of Earth's first life, the weirdest of the first animals, the first evidence of sex, the first creatures on land, the largest dinosaurs on Earth, the most specialized carnivorous mammals anywhere on Earth, the largest snakes that ever lived, extraordinary creatures from the Riversleigh World Heritage fossil property in Queensland, possibly the origins of our own species and many other global records that Australia proudly holds. The over-ridmg message is that although Australia may now be an isolated and largely arid continent, it has always played a critical role in some of the most important events in the history of life on Earth. All of the content is relevant to the Science syllabi for NSW.

ONCE WE WERE NOT ALONE Dr Darren Curnoe School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales 2052, Australia; d.curnoe@unsw.edu.au

For virtually the entire seven million years of human evolution our species and its ancestors lived side by side with other human-like apes (or hominins). We competed with them for food, water, shelter and shelter. Our ancestors sometimes ate them. They probably ate us. Our ancestors likely even, on occasion, mated with them leaving a genetic legacy manifest today in surprising ways. Now, however, we are alone, and this situation is highly unusual. If the entire human evolutionary story was compressed into just one year, we have been alone since about midday on the

of December. That is, humans have been on our own for only the last half of the last

day of the last month of that year. Barely long enough to even notice. The Neandertals, for example, disappeared from Europe around 20,000 years ago and the tiny 'hobbits' of Flores died out even more recently. To put these extinctions into perspective: people invented farming and began to establish permanent settlements, the forerunners to our modem cities, from around 12,000 years ago, and the wheel was invented perhaps 10,000 years ago. Given our recent and ongoing record of driving species to extinction, including possibly the megafauna of the Pleistocene, could these hominin relatives have perished at the hands of early humans? Or, is there a less sinister explanation; one perhaps involving climate change? Perhaps even tales about the Yowie and Yeti might reflect a collective ancestral memory of our relatives, or even an unconscious longing for a time when we were not alone.

"DIGGING DINOSAURS DOWN UNDER" Scott A. Hocknull Queensland Museum, 122 Gerler Rd., Hendra, QLD. 4011; scotthocknull@qm.qld.gov.au

Many people dream of being able to dig up a dinosaur; the thrill of the discovery and the excitement of the science. However, very few people get the chance to get their hands dirty. Australia is one of the last friendly frontiers for dinosaur discovery, where people of all walks of life have the chance to come face to face with their countries unique natural history. The development and establishment of'outback' scientific collections and museums is the key catalyst to these new discoveries, allowing many Australians and overseas visitors the chance to directly contribute to our Geological Heritage, whilst conserving the remains for scientific study in perpetuity. This is the story of two such 'outback' organisations; the Australian Age of Dinosaurs (www.australianageofdinosaurs.com) and the Outback Gondwana Foundation (www.ogforg.au).

SPECIES FROM DEEP TIME RIDE WAVES OF EXTINCTION Jenny Jones, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia; iennv.iones@unsw.edu.au Key words: roles, extinction, evolution. Nobody knows what caused the spark of life to ignite back in the Precambrian when planet earth was in its earliest formation. However it did and from then on communities of organisms existed on the earth. We will see that palaeontologists have been able to piece together detailed descriptions of life and the environments in which it existed from the earliest of times. They can trace how these organisms evolved, uhimately leading to what we see today. In this presentation I am going to summarize the impacts of the major extinction events in life history on earth. I will address just how evolution of life is affected by the extinction of a species or lineage. You will see how in the past extinction has been a fundamental factor in the evolution of the Earth's biota. We are now witness to what is often called the sixth major extinction event, a period of change created by humans. Knowledge of previous crises shows this is likely to be the beginning of a new era for life on earth.

EATING DINOSAURS: OR HOW TO SHOW THAT YOUR BBQED CHOOK IS A DINOSAUR Paul M. A. Willis, Quinkana Pty Ltd, 42 Holmesdale St, Marrickville, NSW 2204, Australia. It's now widely recognized that dinosaurs did not go extinct 65 million years ago. One group of dinosaurs survived and today we call them the birds. So, if birds are dinosaurs, what pieces of evidence can we find that reveals this ancestry? I pull apart an ordinary old BBQed chicken to reveal features of the skeleton that help us to recognize the relationship between birds and dinosaurs. In the process we find out about the history of evolutionary biology, the nature of the classification system known as cladistics and get to eat some chicken!

Posters THYLACOLEO'S DEN Steve Bourne^ and Liz Reed^ ^Naracoorte Caves National Park, PO Box 134 Naracoorte SA 5271; bourne.steven@saugov.sa.gov.au School of Biological Sciences, The Flinders University of South Australia GPO Box 2100 Adelaide SA 5001. Keywords: Vertebrate palaeontology, caves, Naracoorte, Thylacoleo. Komatsu Cave (5U240) was discovered during quarrying operations in April 2005. The site is approximately 10 km north of the Naracoorte Caves World Heritage Area in a quarry that has previously yielded several outstanding Pleistocene fossil sites. All material was removed from this small, but extremely rich site over a period of two and a half years with the generous cooperation of the quarry owners. The remains of at least 12 individuals of Thylacoleo carnifex have been discovered including complete skeletons of a juvenile and a sub adult, a partial adult skeleton and a number of articulated sub assemblies including the manus and pes. Near the end of the excavation an extension to the cave was discovered containing numerous scratch marks on cave walls, polished rocks and worn paths throughout. This evidence suggests Thylacoleo was using the cave as a den.

CARTILAGINOUS FISH FAUNA FROM THE VISEAN (CARBONIFEROUS, MISSISSIPPIAN) DUCABROOK FORMATION, CENTRAL QUEENSLAND Carole J. Burrow^ and Susan Turner^'^ ^Goesciences, Queensland Museum, 122 Gerler Rd, Hendra QLD 4011; carole.burrow@gmaiLconi ^School of Geosciences, Monash University VIC 3800 Key words: xenacanthiform, Carboniferous, Ducabrook Formation, Queensland

A new Early Carboniferous (Mississippian, mid-Visean) genus and species of xenacanthiform shark is reported from non-marine or marginal marine sandy mudstones of the tetrapod unit of the top Holkerian^asal Asbian (=330 Mya) Ducabrook Formation from northwest of Springsure, in the Drummond Basin of central Queensland. The taxon is represented by robust diplodont teeth with multicristate cusps, a prominent rounded coronal button, and a horseshoe-shaped labial boss, plus rare spine fragments from the type locality, possible scales, and a partial lower jaw from a site close to the type locality. This new xenacanth was medium-sized, about 1 m long, with a large complement of teeth, probably feeding on smaller paleoniscoid and other fishes and/or invertebrates. Analysis of the teeth and comparison with those of xenacanthiforms from other early Carboniferous and later Palaeozoic sites show some similarities to those of Triodus Hampe and Hagenoselache Hampe and Heidtke. Cladistic analysis of the xenacanthiforms based on characters known in the new taxon, using outgroups Phoebodus and Antarctilamna Young, does not support the family Diplodoselachidae Hampe as a clade, with the new xenacanthiform being indeterminate at family level. The tetrapod unit of the Ducabrook Formation has also yielded rare remains of other cartilaginous fishes, including Ageleodus teeth and hybodont fin spine fragments. As noted by Turner (1993), the Ageleodus/xenacanthoidMyhodoniiform

assemblage

characterises nonmarine and marginal marine Carboniferous vertebrate faunal assemblages from western Europe and north America, as well as the Raymond and overlying Ducabrook formations in the Drummond Basin in Australia, and is usually associated with tetrapod remains. TURNER, S., 1993. Early Carboniferous microvertebrates from the Narrien Range, central Queensland. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists 15, 289-304.

A NEW SPECIES OF CONILURUS

(MURIDAE) FROM PLEISTOCENE-HOLOCENE CAVE SITES IN QUEENSLAND

Jonathan Cramb Queensland Museum/Queensland University of Technology GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001; i2.cranib@student.qut.edu.au Keywords: Conilurus, rodent, cave sites Ongoing study of fossil faunas from cave sites in eastern Queensland has revealed large range extensions for both described species of Conilurus. The fossil record of the genus in Queensland spans from the middle Pleistocene (>292 ka BP) to very recent, with some remains possibly hinting at the presence of undetected extant populations. Sites at Mount Etna and Marmor Quarry contain C albipes. Sites at Chillagoe and Broken River contain C penicillatus. Additionally, sites at Mount Etna and Broken River contain a previously unknown large species. This new form first appeared in the late Pleistocene and replaced other Conilurus species across its distribution. The new species has never been seen alive, so is presumed to be extinct.

ACID PREPARATION OF VERTEBRATE FOSSILS (TELEOSTI AND DINOSAURIA) FROM THE MID-CRETACEOUS WINTON FORMATION OF ISISFORD, CENTRAL-WESTERN QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA

Tamara FIetcher\ Rodney, W. Berrell\ Kerry Geddes^ and Steven W. Salisbury^'^ ^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Qld 4072, Australia; ^ tamara.Lfletcher@gmaiLconi Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA

Key words: Acetic acid, Mowital, Isisford, Winton Formation

Vertebrate fossils from Isisford, central-western Queensland, are preserved within volcanoclastic sandstones of the late Albian-early Cenomanian Winton Formation. The material is typically well preserved, with most specimens comprising semi- to fully-articulated skeletons. The described fauna thus far includes the basal eusuchian crocodyliform Isisfordia duncani and two teleostean fishes: an indeterminate species of the ichthyodectiform Cladocyclus and a new halecomorph. The Isisfordia and halecomorph material was prepared mechanically using pneumatic drills, with excellent results. The Cladocyclus material and other fish specimens from Isisford are unsuitable for mechanical preparation due to their fragility, and for such specimens, we have been using acid preparation over the last two years. The Isisford sandstone consists of a matrix of predominately angular quartz and plagioclase clasts, and fine-grained igneous/volcanic lithics. Fine clays and carbonates form the cement, and it is this part of the rock that can be broken down with acid. Specimens are immersed in a roughly 10% dilution of acetic acid, and then washed in water prior to drying. Bones are hardened with Mowital B30 (polyvinyl butyral powder) dissolved in pure ethanol. Throughout this process, the bones and rock are regularly cleaned to prevent any buildup of unconsolidated matrix, which can inhibit the action of the acid and cause a muddy film to develop on the bones. Some specimens need to be embedded in acrylic resin prior to preparation. These techniques are now being used with great success in the preparation of other specimens, including new fishes, a potential amphibian, and dinosaurs.

MORPHOLOGY OF THE PALATE OF CHRONIOSAURUS DONGUSENSIS (CHRONIOSVCHIA) FROM THE UPPER PERMIAN DEPOSITS OF RUSSIA Jozef Klembara*, Jennifer A. Clack^ and Andrej Cernansky^ *Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Ecology, Mlynska dolina B-1, 84215 Bratislava, Slovakia; klembara@fns.uniba.sk; ^University Museum of Zoology, Cambridge, CB2 3EJ, UK; ^Comenius University in Bratislava, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Mlynska dolina B-1,84215 Bratislava, Slovakia Key words: Anatomy, Chroniosaurus dongusensis, Upper Permian, Russia

A new chemically prepared specimen of Chroniosaurus dongusensis from the Upper Permian of Russia gives new information on the structure of its palate - a very poorly known portion of its skull. The specimen represents a juvenile, with skull length about 70 mm. The vomer, palatine and ectopterygoid are elongate bones bearing tusks on their lateral margins: six on the vomer, at least nine on the palatine and at least seven on the ectopterygoid. The anterior portion of the vomer is broad and meets its fellow in the median plane. The pterygoid is the largest and longest element of the palate. The anterior end of the pterygoid is split into two processes; the medial process meets its fellow in the median plane, and the anterior ends of these fit between the vomers. The medial margin of the palatal ramus is distinctly slanted. The parasphenoid extends anteriorly into a long and narrow cultriform process located between the slanted medial margins of the palatal rami of the pterygoids. The transverse process of the pterygoid is small, but distinct. The ventral surface of the pterygoid bears rows of small denticles which radiate from a site immediately lateral to the articular portion of the pterygoid. The posterior portion of the parasphenoidal plate extends into a short, but distinct laterodorsally oriented processes. A cladistic analysis recovered six most parsimonious trees. All placed Chroniosaurus at the base of the Embolomeri, a group of Upper Carboniferous stem amniotes, below the Visean and Namurian anthracosaur Eoherpeton.

NEW ANATOMICAL INFORMATION ON RHOETOSAURUS BROWNEI {DmOSkVRW: EUSAUROPODA), FROM THE JURASSIC INJUNE CREEK GROUP, NEAR ROMA, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA Jay P. Nair^ and Steven W. Salisbury^'^ ^School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia; j.nair@uq.edu.au Vertebrate Paleontology, Carnegie Museum of Natural History, 4400 Forbes Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, USA

Key words: Sauropoda; Eusauropoda; Middle Jurassic; Gondwana

Rhoetosaurus brownei is the only knov^n named pre-Cretaceous sauropod from Australia. It is therefore a potentially important taxon for understanding global palaeobiogeographic and phylogenetic trends among sauropods, particularly for Gondwanan Early-Middle Jurassic eusauropods. In this study, we underscore new anatomical information on this thus far poorly understood sauropod based on the description of previously undescribed material: a right crus, tarsus and pes. The lower hindlimb of Rhoetosaurus displays ample differences from other sauropods, affirming the morphological distinctiveness of the taxon. Examples of autapomorphic features of Rhoetosaurus include multiple prominent medial crests on the distal tibia, a concentric proximal fossa on the medial surface of the tibia, and accessory fossae or grooves on the medial face of the unguals. Plesiomorphic traits include a narrow articular bridge along the proximal metatarsus (similar to the condition in Shunosaurus), and four phalanges in pedal digit-Ill (as observed in basal non-eurosauropodan sauropods). The pes retains four unguals, like most non-neosauropods, but also displays metatarsal characteristics previously considered exclusive to diplodocid neosauropods. Preliminary phylogenetic analysis, based primarily on previously published characters and coding for other taxa, suggests that Rhoetosaurus is a basal non-neosauropodan eusauropod. In our analysis the majority of coded synapomorphies for Rhoetosaurus relate to the pes. While pedal morphology has been fundamental to our understanding of sauropodomorph phylogeny, it is less informative for resolving the lower-level phylogeny of sauropods within Eusauropoda. Consequently, it is anticipated additional work on the axial skeleton of Rhoetosaurus will refine the phylogenetic position of this taxon among non-neosauropodan eusauropods.

BUILDING GIANTS DURING THE PLEISTOCENE: BODY SIZE EVOLUTION OF THE AUSTRALIAN DIPROTODON (MARSVFlALIA; DIPROTODONTOIDEA) ^Gilbert J. Price and ^Katarzyna J. Piper ^Radiogenic Isotope Facility, Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia; p.pncel@uq.edu.au ^School of Geosciences, Monash University, Victoria, Australia

Key words: megafauna, Pleistocene, gigantism, body-size Body size modifications are mostly related to selective advantages relating to an individual's fitness, thereby providing a genetic basis for the body-size shift. Although size changes within a lineage may be initially advantageous, they are commonly disadvantageous when the optimum body size is obtained. Here we report cranial elements from an unusually small-bodied Diprotodon from the Early Pleistocene Nelson Bay Formation, Portland, Australia. The Nelson Bay individuals are significantly smaller than typical Late Pleistocene D. optatum, but are larger than the Pliocene Euryzygoma dunense (the ancestor of Diprotodon). Other than overall size differences, the Nelson Bay taxon is morphologically identical to Late Pleistocene Diprotodon. Therefore, we here refer the Nelson Bay form to D. loptatum. A temporal morphocline most parsimoniously explains the medium body size of the Nelson Bay taxon; thus, we provide the first evidence for a transitional form within Diprotodon. Determining the specific cause(s) of gigantism within the E. dunense-D. loptatum-D. optatum lineage is difficult, but may have included its physiological response to a range of physical and biotic factors including: 1) temporally progressive habitat structural changes (e.g. body size variations relating to dispersal abilities); 2) access to food resources and nutrition; 3) increased competition to resources; 4) anti-predation advantages; 5) sexual selection advantages; and (6) ecophysiological responses driven by increased temperature variations (e.g. Bergmann-type responses on temporal, rather than spatial, scales). Our results suggest that Diprotodon was at its largest-ever body size during the Late Pleistocene - the time period that coincided with its continental extinction.

SYSTEMATIC U/TH DATING OF AUSTRALIA'S MOST NORTHERLY PLEISTOCENE MEGAFAUNA: PALORCHESTES AZAEL FROM TEA TREE CAVE, NORTHEASTERN QUEENSLAND Gilbert J. P n c e \ Yue-xing Feng and Jian-xin Zhao Radiogenic Isotope Facility, Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, 4072, Queensland, Australia; ^ g.pricel@uq.edu.au

Key words: megafauna, Pleistocene, extinction, dating Development of reliable chronologies for Pleistocene megafauna is critical for determining the spatial and temporal patterns of their occurrence, and for testing hypotheses concerning their extinctions. Direct dating of fossil material has an advantage over other indirect dating methods in that it overcomes the problems of association between the dated material (e.g., charcoal, sediment) and the fossils. Here we present the results of a systematic U/Th dating study (n=28 dates) of an individual Palorchestes azael ('marsupial tapu*') specimen from Tea Tree Cave, Chillagoe, northeast Queensland. We obtained 21 U/Th dates and constructed Uconcentration profiles across three teeth exposed in cross-section using thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS). The results show no evidence of U leaching, suggesting that the dates represent reliable minimum ages. For independent age control, we also dated calcite that had grown over the sample (thus, providing minimum ages; n=6) and calcite that had been reworked into the surrounding fossil breccia (thus, providing a maximum age; n=l). U/Th dates of the teeth are older than the calcite overgrowths and younger than the reworked calcite, consistent with their stratigraphical relations. Collectively, the results unequivocally bracket the age of the fossil within 199.1 ± 8.9 ka to 137.4 ± 1.1 ka (2o). The results are significant in that the specimen is at the northern limit of the geographic range of all typical Pleistocene 'megafauna'. More broadly, the new results add to a growing number of studies that cannot place the youngest unequivocal occurrence of P. azael within the last 100 ka.

RECONSTRUCTION OF PAST RODENT ASSEMBLAGES USING SUB-FOSSIL DNA IN AUSTRALASIA Vicki Thomson Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, University of Adelaide, Room 205d, Darling Building, North Terrace campus; vicki.thomson@adelaide.edu.au Key words: Climate change; ancient DNA The genetic information preserved in short DNA fragments in sub-fossil cave bone material can contribute to the debate on human-induced habitat modification. Several native rodent species have become extinct or declined across southern Australia, presumably due to human-induced habitat disturbance. Changes in the composition of rodent assemblages through sub-fossil deposits can reveal the effect that perturbations have had over relatively long time scales. This approach relies on using ancient sequences to increase the resolution of assemblage member identification by including non-identifiable rodent post-cranial and teeth (incisor) remains. Progress to date has included refinement of DNA extraction techniques to include this material, and generation of phylogenetically informative markers that can be used to distinguish species. Over 20 samples from extinct southern populations of Pseudomys oralis have been collected and extracted, with sequence data to follow. Addition of these extinct southern populations into analyses of the extant northern populations can be used to answer questions about whether the divergent extant clades are evidence of true phylogeographic structure or an artefact of recent habitat fragmentation and bottlenecks.

PELVIS AND HINDLIMBS OF THE AUSTRALIAN CRETACEOUS ICHTHYOSAUR PLATYPTERYGIUSLONGMANI: IMPLICATIONS FOR FUNCTION Maria Zaininit\ Benjamin Kear and Rachel Norris ^School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide SA 5005, Australia; ' maria.zammit@adelaide.edu.au

Keywords: Functional morphology, hindlimbs, pelvic girdle, ichthyosaur

The skeletal anatomy of most Cretaceous ichthyosaurs is very poorly known, especially for the hindlimbs and pelvis, which have never been documented in detail Consequently, the identification of an exceptionally wellpreserved ischiopubic element and a set of associated femora with proximal metapodials in articulation, both attributable to the Australian Early Cretaceous taxon Platypterygius longmani, are of considerable significance as they permit the first assessment of pelvic morphology and function in any post-Jurassic ichthyosaur. Overall structure of the recovered ischiopubis and femur are similar to other opthalmosaurians in which this bone has been reported. However, there are key apomorphic differences: ischium and pubis completely fused into a single ischiopubis, but lacking an obturator foramen (obturator foramen present in Ophthalmosaurus); and (2) femur with three distal articular facets for the tibia, fibula and an additional anterior ossification (only two distal facets are present in Ophthalmosaurus). Interestingly, pronounced dorsal and ventral trochanters on the femora (indicating extensive muscle attachment) and closely-fitting rectangular phalanges are comparable to the characteristic forelimb morphology of Platypterygius spp. and might imply similar function as a hydrodynamic stabiliser. The apparent trend towards enlargement of the hind-limbs in Platypterygius longmani relative to other ichthyosaurs might also infer an increase in acceleration proficiency.

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