The syndactyla have the second and third toes enclosed in a common skin. The Peramelidae and the Notoryctidae are polyprotodont. The remainder are all diprotodont. The Peramelidae or Bandicoot family are represented in Pleistocene Cave-breccias in New South Wales by the genera Peragale and Perameles.

Pleistocene remains of the diprotodont forms of this syndactylous group are Phascolomys (the Wombat), perhaps ranging as low as Upper Pliocene (P. pliocenus) (Fig. 141); Phascolonus (P. gigas) (Fig. 142 A)[4], a large Wombat from Queensland and New South Wales and South Australia; the Giant Kangaroos, as Macropus titan (Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia), Procoptodon goliah (Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria), Sthenurus atlas (New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia), Palorchestes azael (Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland); also the great Diprotodon, the largest known marsupial, as large as, and rather taller than, a rhinoceros, found in almost every part of Australia, with an allied form referred to Nototherium occurring also in Tasmania (Figs. 143, 144, 145). Nototherium (Queensland, South Australia and Victoria), was a smaller animal than Diprotodon, with a shorter and broader skull and similar dentition. Remains of the extinct “Marsupial Lion,” Thylacoleo carnifex, an animal allied to the phalangers, have been found in Cave-deposits in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia. Incised bones of other animals, which are believed to have been gnawed by Thylacoleo, have been found associated with its remains. Thylacoleo possessed a peculiar dentition, the first pair of incisors in the upper jaw being very large and trenchant, whilst the canine and two anterior premolars are small and functionless: the lower jaw has also a pair of large first incisors, behind which are two small premolars, and an enormous chisel-edged last premolar biting against a similar tooth in the upper jaw (Fig. 146).

The oldest marsupial found in Australia is probably Wynyardia bassiana (Fig. 147), whose remains occurred in the Turritella-bed at Table Cape, which is either of Miocene or Lower Pliocene age. This stratum occurs above the well-known Crassatellites-bed (Miocene) of that locality. So far as can be gathered from its incomplete dentition, Wynyardia represents an annectant form between the Diprotodonts and the Polyprotodonts.

Pleistocene Genera, also Living.—

Besides the genera above enumerated, many other marsupials of well-known living species are represented by fossil remains in Cave-deposits and on “sand-blows” in most of the Australian States. The genera thus represented in the Pleistocene deposits of Australia are Bettongia (Prehensile Rat-Kangaroo); Dasyurus (Native Cat); Hypsiprymnus (Rat-Kangaroo); Macropus (Kangaroo); Perameles (Bandicoot); Petaurus (Flying Phalanger); Phalanger (Cuscus); Phascolomys (Wombat); Sarcophilus (Tasmanian Devil); Thylacinus (Tasmanian Wolf).

Cetacea.—

The order Cetacea includes Whales, Dolphins and Porpoises. The earliest known forms belong to the sub-order Archaeoceti, and whilst absent from Australian deposits, are found in the Eocene of Europe, Northern Africa and North America.

Odontoceti: Toothed Whales.—

Remains of Cetacea are first met with in Australian rocks in the Oligocene (Balcombian) of Victoria. At Muddy Creek near Hamilton fragments of ribs and other bones of cetacea, not yet determined, occur in the tenacious blue clays of the lower part of the Clifton Bank section. In Australia and New Zealand the oldest determinable remains of this order belong to the Odontoceti, members of which range from Miocene to Pliocene. Teeth of the toothed whales like Squalodon of the Miocene of France and Bavaria have been found in New Zealand (Kekenodon); in South Australia (Metasqualodon); and in Victoria (Parasqualodon). In Victoria the teeth of Squalodontidae occur in the Janjukian beds of Cape Otway, Waurn Ponds and Torquay, represented by molars and anterior teeth of Parasqualodon wilkinsoni (Fig. 142 B, C). The same species also occurs at Table Cape, Tasmania, in beds of similar age. Teeth of Metasqualodon harwoodi (Fig. 142 D) occasionally occur in the white polyzoal rock of the Mount Gambier district, South Australia. The gigantic toothed whale, Kekenodon onamata (Fig. 142 E) occurs in the Marawhenua Greensands (Oamaru Series) at Waitaki Valley, Waihao, Ngapara, Waikouaiti and Milburn in New Zealand. The molar teeth of this striking species, with their serrated crowns, measure nearly five inches in length.

Ear-bones of Whales.—

The tympanic bones of whales are not uncommon in the Janjukian beds of Waurn Ponds, near Geelong, Victoria; and they are occasionally found in the basement bed of the Kalimnan at Beaumaris, Port Phillip. In the absence of any distinctive generic characters they have been referred to the quasi-genus Cetotolithes (Fig. 142 F). McCoy has expressed the opinion that they may perhaps be referable to the ziphioid or beaked whales, for undoubted remains of that group, as teeth of Ziphius geelongensis, occur in these same beds; as well as portions of their rostrate crania, in the Kalimnan basement beds at Grange Burn, near Hamilton. The large curved and flattened teeth of Ziphius (Dolichodon) geelongensis are occasionally found, more or less fragmentary, in the polyzoal rock of Waurn Ponds.

From the Kalimnan Series (Lower Pliocene) of Beaumaris, Port Phillip, there was described a short time since, a remarkably well preserved specimen of Scaldicetus tooth belonging to a new form, S. macgeei (Fig. 148). Another species of the genus, with teeth of a slender form, has been found in the same geological series, at Grange Burn, near Hamilton. In only one other locality besides Australia does the genus occur, viz., at Antwerp, Belgium, in Crag deposits of Lower Pliocene age.

Sirenia.—

The order Sirenia (Manatees and Dugongs) is represented in the Australian Pleistocene by Chronozoön australe. The remains consist of the parietal and upper part of the occipital bones of the skull, and were discovered in the fluviatile deposits on the Darling Downs, Queensland. This fossil skull, according to De Vis, had a shallower temporal fossa and feebler masticating muscles, as well as a less highly developed brain than the existing Dugong.

Carnivora.—

The order Carnivora is represented in Australia by the Native Dog or Dingo (Canis dingo). It is by no means a settled question whether the Dingo can boast of very great antiquity. The evidence of its remains having been found under volcanic tuff beds in Victoria is not very convincing, for the original record does not indicate the precise position where the bones were found. The fact of the remains of the Dingo having been found in Cave deposits often associated with extinct marsupials, goes a good way to prove its antiquity. McCoy was strongly inclined to the view of its Pleistocene age, and points out that it shows cranial characters intermediate between the Dogs of South America and the Old World. Fossil remains of the Dingo, associated with Pleistocene mammalian forms have been recorded from the Wellington, Valley Caves, New South Wales; from the Mount Macedon Cave, near Gisborne; and in the neighbourhood of Warrnambool, Western Victoria.

Pinnipedia.—

Of the fin-footed Carnivores or Seals and Walruses, the earliest Australasian record is that of the remains of a small seal in the Okehu shell-beds near Wanganui, found in association with the bones of a small Moa-bird (Dinornis).

Newer Pliocene Seal.—

This seal was referred by Hector to Arctocephalus cinereus, a species synonymous, however, with the widely distributed living Seal, Otaria forsteri, Lesson, of the Southern Ocean. Another and larger species of eared seal allied to the living Fur Seal, Otaria forsteri, occurs in Victoria.

Pleistocene Seal.—

This fossil was named Arctocephalus williamsi by McCoy, and was found in Pleistocene deposits at Queenscliff, Port Phillip, at 5 feet below the surface, in marl and sand stone overlain with limestone. Although referred at the time of description to the Pliocene, it has since been proved that at this locality there is a considerable thickness of practically sub-recent material which is more accurately classed with the Pleistocene. Similar remains of eared seals are not uncommon in the Pleistocene deposits of the Otway Coast.

Subrecent Human Remains.

On turning to the occurrence of “human fossils” in Australia we find the geological evidence for any great antiquity of man on this continent to be very scanty and inconclusive. This does not, however, imply that man’s existence in Australia will not eventually be proved to date back far beyond the period of the “kitchen middens” of modern aspect, such as are now exposed on the slopes behind the sea-beaches, and on the inland camping grounds. Almost all the records of Australian human remains that have been found in other than ordinary burial places, have proved to be of comparatively recent date. For example, the partially lime-encrusted body found in the cave in the Mosquito Plains, north of Penola, South Australia, recorded by Tenison Woods, is that of an aborigine who, in the early days of settlement, crawled into the cave in a wounded condition. Other occurrences of human remains in caves, but of fairly recent date are, a child’s skull found in a small cave at Bungonia, Co. Argyle, New South Wales, recorded by Etheridge; and the non-petrified limb-bones found in a cave at Wellington, New South Wales, recorded by Krefft, which were probably washed in from the surface in recent times. As regards the former, in Western Australia, as observed by Froggatt, the natives at the present time seek shelter in caves, where these occur, instead of building mia-mias.

A more interesting, because probably much older, occurrence of human remains has been described by Etheridge and Trickett from one of the Jenolan Caves (Skeleton Cave); and those authors conclude from "The great lapse of time that must have accrued to enable the changes already outlined to have taken place since the introduction of the remains into the Skeleton Cave," that these remains are ancient.

Curious footprints supposed to resemble impressions of human feet with accompanying impress as if made by natives seated, have been long known from the older sand-dune rock of Warrnambool. They were found at Kellas’ Quarry, on the Port Fairy Road in 1890 and at a depth of 54 feet. In November, 1912, a further discovery of similar footprints were found at Messrs. Steere Bros.' Quarry, Warrnambool, at a depth of 10 feet, as a block of stone was being removed for building purposes. These footprints are even more obscure than those previously found, and it would be unsafe to affirm their human origin, although they are suggestive of such. Their antiquity is certainly great, since the lavas and tuffs of the Tower Hill district are found overlying this old dune-rock. Other footprints associated with these resemble those of the Dingo and a gigantic bird, possibly like Genyornis.

Probable Origin of Aborigines.—

Ethnology appears to throw more light upon the subject than does geology. Australia has in the past been peopled by two distinct types of man. (1), the ancestors of the Tasmanians, now alas, extinct, who according to some authorities came by way of Australia from Papua through the Malay Peninsula, passing over to Tasmania from the mainland before the separation caused by the subsidence of the Bass Strait area; and who were represented by a negroid or woolly-haired type: (2), the present aboriginals of Australia, showing affinities with the Dravidians of Southern India, a primitive race from whose original stock the white Caucasian races of Europe were derived. By intermarriage with a negroid race like the Melanesian, it is supposed that the black Caucasian gave rise to the present Australian mixed aboriginal type, with negroid features, but possessing the long black hair and keener intellect of the “melanochroi,” as the dark Eurasian stock was termed by Huxley.

Aboriginal Implements.—

The stone implements fashioned by the Tasmanian aboriginals were roughly chipped and of primitive type, of such forms as used at the present day by the Bushmen of South Africa, and representing the eoliths and palaeoliths of early man in the south of England. The implements of the Australian aboriginals on the other hand include besides these both flakes and worked and polished tools, such as were produced by the Neolithic men of Europe, as contrasted with the typically rough palaeolithic tools of the Tasmanian, who never grooved his axes for hafting as did the Australian aboriginal. According to some authorities the Tasmanians represent palaeolithic or even eolithic man in the character of their implements; whilst the Australian resembles the Middle or Mousterian stage of early man in certain of their ethnological characters and in the forms of their implements, although a marked exception is seen in their manufacture of polished adzes, of the neolithic period and in the use of bone implements such as were used in Europe in Upper Palaeolithic times. So far no human remains or handiwork in the form of chipped implements have been found in other than superficial deposits, either in Tasmania or Australia. The incised bone-fragment found near Ballarat, in a bed of silt beneath a sheet of basalt which flowed from Mount Buninyong, is believed by some to be evidence of man’s handiwork in the early Pleistocene, though by others thought to have been cut by the teeth of the “marsupial lion” (Thylacoleo). A stone axe of basalt, grooved for the purpose of mounting in a handle, was found in gravel at Ballarat at a depth of 22 inches from the surface. This, however, is no proof of man’s antiquity, for superficial deposits of much greater depth are easily accumulated within a short period. Another implement was found at Maryborough in Queensland in gravels at a depth of 4 feet from the surface, but not below the basalt of the main lead. In this case it is believed that the implement may have fallen into a natural hollow or wombat-burrow. A bone pointer, such as used by native medicine men, was some years ago found buried in the Miocene marls of Waurn Ponds near Geelong. Its presence in so old a rock is easily explained from the fact that in the aboriginal ceremonies the pointer was buried after the incantations. Seeing the difficulties in the way of discovering reliable occurrences of man’s handiwork in isolated examples amongst the older superficial deposits of silt and gravels, the ancient sand-dunes of Victoria, which date back at least to Upper Pliocene, should afford favourable conditions for the preservation of any really ancient kitchen middens, did such exist. Moreover, these deposits would have been less liable to disturbance when once they were covered, than the inland deposits, for the former are now consolidated into a tolerably hard stone.

Antiquity of Man in Australia.—

A strong argument in favour of a considerable antiquity for man in Australia is the fact that the dialects are many, and marriage and tribal customs more complex and intricate than would be found in a comparatively recent primitive race. In any case, it is quite possible, if not probable, that man was in southern Australia before the termination of the last phase of volcanic activity, since the tuff beds of Koroit, for example, are quite modern and were laid down on a modern sea-beach strewn with shells identical in species and condition with those now found thrown up in the vicinity at high tide. This view is quite compatible with the occurrence of dingo remains (assuming this animal was introduced by man) in cave deposits in Australia, associated with extinct forms of marsupials.

COMMON OR CHARACTERISTIC FOSSILS OF THE FOREGOING CHAPTER.

FISHES.

Thyestes magnificus, Chapman. Silurian: Victoria.

Asterolepis australis, McCoy. Middle Devonian: Victoria.

Ganorhynchus süssmilchi, Etheridge fil. Devonian: New South Wales.

Gyracanthides murrayi, A. S. Woodward. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

Acanthodes australis, A. S. Woodward. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

Ctenodus breviceps, A. S. Woodward. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

Strepsodus decipiens, A. S. Woodward. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

Elonichthys sweeti, A. S. Woodward. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

Physonemus micracanthus, Chapman. Lower Carboniferous: Victoria.

(?) Deltodus australis, Eth. fil. Carbopermian: Queensland.

Tomodus (?) convexus, Agassiz. Carbopermian: New South Wales.

Edestus davisii, H. Woodward. Carbopermian: W. Australia.

Peocilodus jonesi, Agassiz. Carbopermian: W. Australia.

Gosfordia truncata, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Myriolepis clarkei, Egerton. Triassic: New South Wales.

Apateolepis australis, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Dictyopyge robusta, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Belonorhynchus gigas, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Semionotus australis, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Pristisomus latus, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Cleithrolepis granulatus, Egerton. Triassic: New South Wales.

Pholidophorus gregarius, A. S. Woodw. Triassic: New South Wales.

Pleuracanthus parvidens, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Sagenodus laticeps, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Palaeoniscus crassus, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Elonichthys armatus, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Elpisopholis dunstani, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Pholidophorus australis, A. S. Woodw. Upper Trias: New South Wales.

Psilichthys selwyni, Hall. Jurassic: Victoria.

Leptolepis crassicauda, Hall. Jurassic: Victoria.

Ceratodus avus, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: Victoria.

Coccolepis australis, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: New South Wales.

Aphnelepis australis, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: New South Wales.

Aetheolepis mirabilis, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: New South Wales.

Archaeomaene tenuis, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: New South Wales.

Leptolepis talbragarensis, A. S. Woodw. Jurassic: New South Wales.

Lamna daviesii, Eth. fil. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Lamna appendiculatus, Agassiz. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Corax australis, Chapm. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Aspidorhynchus sp. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Belonostomus sweeti, Eth. fil. and A. S. Woodw. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Portheus australis, A. S. Woodw. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Cladocyclus sweeti, A. S. Woodw. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Notidanus marginalis, Davis. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Lamna compressa, Agassiz. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Callorhynchus hectori, Newton. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Ischyodus thurmanni, Pictet and Campiche. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Odontaspis contortidens, Agassiz. Cainozoic (Bal. and Janj.): Victoria.

Lamna apiculata, Ag. sp. Cainozoic (Bal. and Janj.): Victoria. Also Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Carcharodon megalodon, Agassiz. Cainozoic (Bal. Janj. and Kal.): Victoria. Also Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Cestracion cainozoicus, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Janj. and Kal.): Victoria.

Asteracanthus eocaenicus, Tate sp. Cainozoic (Janj. and Kal.): Victoria.

Galeocerdo davisi, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Janj.): Victoria. Also Cretaceous (Waipara Series) and Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Carcharoides totuserratus, Ameghino. Cainozoic (Janj.): Victoria.

Odontaspis incurva, Davis sp. Cainozoic (Janj. and Kal.): Victoria. Also Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Oxyrhina retroflexa, Agassiz. Cainozoic (Janj.): Victoria. Also Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Carcharodon auriculatus, Blainville sp. Cainozoic (Janj. and Kal.): Victoria.

Acanthias geelongensis, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Janj.): Victoria.

Ischyodus mortoni, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Janj.): Tasmania.

Notidanus jenningsi, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Galeocerdo aduncus, Agassiz. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Oxyrhina hastalis, Agassiz. Cainozoic (rare in Balc. and Janj., abundant in Kal.): Victoria.

Myliobatis moorabbinensis, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Edaphodon sweeti, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Labrodon confertidens, Chap. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Diodon formosus, Chapm. and Pritch. Cainozoic (Kal.): Victoria.

Notidanus marginalis, Davis. Cretaceous (Waipara Series); and Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Myliobatis plicatilis, Davis. Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Sargus laticonus, Davis. Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Ctenolates avus, A. S. Woodw. Pleistocene: New South Wales.

Neoceratodus forsteri, Krefft, sp. Pleistocene: New South Wales.

AMPHIBIA.

Bothriceps australis, Huxley. Carbopermian: New South Wales.

Bothriceps major, A. S. Woodw. Carbopermian: New South Wales.

Platyceps wilkinsoni, Stephens. Triassic: New South Wales.

REPTILIA.

Ichthyosaurus hectori, Ch. (nom. mut.). Triassic: New Zealand.

(?) Megalosaurus sp. Jurassic: Victoria.

Notochelone costata, Owen sp. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Ichthyosaurus australis, McCoy. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Ichthyosaurus marathonensis, Eth. fil. Lower Cretaceous: Queensland.

Cimoliosaurus leucoscopelus, Eth. fil. Upper Cretaceous: New South Wales.

Plesiosaurus australis, Owen. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Polycotylus tenuis, Hector. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Cimoliosaurus haastii, Hector sp. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Tylosaurus haumuriensis, Hector sp. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Taniwhasaurus oweni, Hector. Cretaceous: New Zealand.

Pallymnarchus pollens, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland and Victoria.

Crocodilus porosus, Schneider. Pleistocene: Queensland and Victoria.

Miolania oweni, A. S. Woodw. Pliocene (Deep-leads): New South Wales. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Miolania platyceps, Owen. Pleistocene: Lord Howe Island.

Megalania prisca, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland.

BIRDS.

Palaeeudyptes antarcticus, Huxley. Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Dinornis sp. Cainozoic (Petane Series): New Zealand.

Pelecanus proavis, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Platalea subtenuis, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Anas elapsa, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Gallinula strenuipes, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Fulica prior, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Dromornis australis, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland and New South Wales.

Dromaeus patricius, De Vis. Pleistocene. Queensland.

Dromaeus minor, Spencer. Pleistocene: King Island.

Genyornis newtoni, Stirling and Zietz. Pleistocene: S. Australia.

Cnemiornis calcitrans, Owen. Pleistocene: New Zealand.

Harpagornis moorei, von Haast. Pleistocene: New Zealand.

Aptornis otidiformis, Owen sp. Pleistocene: New Zealand.

Dinornis giganteus, Owen. Pleistocene and Holocene: N. Id., New Zealand.

Pachyornis elephantopus, Owen sp. Pleistocene and Holocene: S. Id., New Zealand.

Anomalopteryx antiqua, Hutton. Pleistocene: S. Id., New Zealand.

MAMMALIA.

Ornithorhynchus maximus, Dun. Cainozoic (Kalimnan or L. Pliocene): New South Wales.

Echidna (Proechidna) robusta, Dun. Cainozoic (Kalimnan): New South Wales.

Ornithorhynchus agilis, De Vis. Pleistocene: New South Wales.

Echidna (Proechidna) oweni, Krefft. Pleistocene: New South Wales.

Wynyardia bassiana, Spencer. Cainozoic (Kalimnan): Tasmania.

Dasyurus maculatus, Kerr sp. Pleistocene: Victoria and New South Wales. Living: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Phascolomys pliocenus, McCoy. Cainozoic (Werrikooian): Victoria.

Sarcophilus ursinus, Harris sp. Pleistocene: Victoria and New South Wales. Living: Tasmania.

Thylacinus cynocephalus, Harris sp. Pleistocene: Victoria and New South Wales. Living: Tasmania.

Thylacinus spelaeus, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland and New South Wales.

Thylacinus major, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Peragale lagotis, Reid sp. Pleistocene: New South Wales. Living: S. Australia and W. Australia.

Perameles gunni, Gray. Pleistocene: Victoria. Living: Queensland and Victoria.

Phascolomys parvus, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Phascolonus gigas, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales and S. Australia.

Macropus titan, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and S. Australia.

Macropus anak, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, S. Australia and New South Wales.

Procoptodon goliah, Owen sp. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Sthenurus atlas, Owen sp. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Sthenurus occidentalis, Glauert. Pleistocene: W. Australia.

Palorchestes azael, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria.

Diprotodon australis, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and S. Australia.

Nototherium mitchelli, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, S. Australia and Victoria.

Thylacoleo carnifex, Owen. Pleistocene: Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and W. Australia.

Parasqualodon wilkinsoni, McCoy sp. Cainozoic (Janjukian): Victoria and Tasmania.

Metasqualodon harwoodi, Sanger sp. Cainozoic (Janjukian): S. Australia.

Kekenodon onamata, Hector. Cainozoic (Oamaru Series): New Zealand.

Cetotolithes nelsoni, McCoy. Cainozoic (Janjukian): Victoria.

Ziphius (Dolichodon) geelongensis, McCoy. Cainozoic (Janjukian): Victoria.

Scaldicetus macgeei, Chapm. Cainozoic (Kalimnan): Victoria.

Chronozoön australis, De Vis. Pleistocene: Queensland.

Canis dingo, Blumenbach. Late Pleistocene or Holocene: Victoria.

Otaria forsteri, Lesson. Pliocene (Petane Series): N. Id., New Zealand.

Arctocephalus williamsi, McCoy. Pleistocene: Victoria.

LITERATURE.

FISHES.

Silurian.—Chapman, F. Proc. R. Soc. Vict., vol. XVIII. (N.S.), pt. II. 1906, pp. 93-100, pls. VII. and VIII. (Thyestes).

Devonian.—McCoy, F. Prod. Pal. Vict., Dec. IV. 1876, pp. 19, 20, pl. XXXV. figs. 7, 7a, 7b (Asterolepis). Etheridge, R. jnr. Rec. Austr. Mus., vol. VI. pp. 129-132, pl. XXVIII. (Ganorhynchus).

Carboniferous and Carbopermian.—Woodward, H. Geol. Mag., Dec. III. vol. III. 1886, pp. 1-7, pl. I. (Edestus). Etheridge, R. jnr. Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, p. 296, pl. XXXIX. fig. 1 (Deltodus). De Koninck, L. G. Mem. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, Pal. No. 6, 1898, p. 281, pl. XXIV., fig. 11 (Tomodus). Woodward, A. S. Mem. Nat. Mus. Melbourne, No. 1. 1906 (Mansfield Series).

Triassic.—Johnston, R. M. and Morton, A. Proc. R. Soc. Tasmania (1889), 1890, pp. 102-104; ibid. (1890), 1891, pp. 152-154 (Acrolepis). Woodward, A. S. Mem. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, Pal. No. 4, 1890 (Gosford). Ibid. No. 10, 1908 (St. Peters).

Jurassic.—Woodward, A. S. Mem. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, Pal. No. 9, 1895. Id., Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. VII. Vol. XVIII. 1906, pp. 1-3, pl. I. (Ceratodus). Hall, T. S. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. vol. XII. (N.S.) pt. II. 1900, pp. 147-151, pl. XIV. Chapman, F. Rec. Geol. Surv. Vict. vol. III. pt. 2, 1912, pp. 234-235, pl. XXXIX. (Ceratodus).

Cretaceous.—Etheridge, R. jnr. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, vol. III. ser. 2, 1889, pp. 156-161, pl. IV. Idem, Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, pp. 503-504. Davis, J. W. Trans. R. Dubl. Soc. vol. IV. ser. 2. 1888, pp. 1-48, pls. I.-VII. (Cretaceous and Cainozoic of New Zealand). Etheridge, R. jnr. and Woodward, A. S. Trans. R. Soc. Vict., vol. II. pt. II. 1892, pp. 1-7, pl. I. (Belonostomus). Woodward, A. S. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist., ser. 6, vol. XIX. 1894, pp. 444-447, pl. X. (Portheus and Cladocyclus). Chapman, F. Proc. R. Soc. Vict., vol. XXI. (N.S.), pt. II. 1909, pp. 452, 453 (Corax).

Cainozoic.—McCoy, F. Prod. Pal. Vict., Dec. II. 1875, pp. 8-10, pl. XI. (Carcharodon). Chapman, F. and Pritchard, G. B. Proc. R. Soc. Vict., vol. XVII. (N.S.), pt. I. 1904, pp. 267-297, pls. V.-VIII. Idem, ibid, vol. XX. (N.S.), pt. I. 1907, pp. 59-75, pls. V.-VIII. See also Davis, J. W. (Cretaceous).

Pleistocene.—Etheridge, R. jnr. Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, p. 646 (Neoceratodus). Woodward, A. S. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. VII. pt. 2, 1902, pp. 88-91, pl. XXIV. (Ctenolates).

AMPHIBIA.

Huxley, T. H. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. XV. 1859, pp. 647-649, pl. XXII. figs. 1, 2 (Bothriceps). Stephens, W. J. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, ser. 2. vol. I. 1886, pp. 931-940. Ibid., 1887, pp. 1175-1182, pl. XXII. Ibid., vol. II. 1887, pp. 156-158. Woodward, A. S. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. VIII. pt. 4, 1909, pp. 317-319, pl. LI. (Bothriceps).

REPTILIA.

Jurassic and Cretaceous.—Hector, J. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. VI. 1874, pp. 333-358.

Cretaceous.—McCoy, F. Proc. R. Soc. Vic., vol. VIII. pt. I. 1868, p. 42 (Plesiosaurus). Ibid., vol. IX. pt. II. 1869, p. 77 (Ichthyosaurus). Owen, R. Geol. Mag., Dec. I. vol. VII. 1870, pp. 49-53, pl. III. (Plesiosaurus). Id., Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. XXXVIII. 1882, pp. 178-183 (“Notochelys” = Notochelone). Etheridge, R. jnr. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, ser. 2, vol. III. 1889, pp. 405-413, pls. VII. and VIII. (Ichthyosaurus). Id., Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, pp. 505-510. Hutton, F. W. Trans. N.Z. Inst. vol. XXVI. 1894, pp. 354-358, 1 pl. (Cimoliosaurus).

Pleistocene.—Etheridge, R. jnr. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. I. pt. 3, 1889, pp. 149-152 (Miolania). Id., Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, pp. 647-653.

AVES.

Miocene.—Huxley, T. H. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc. vol. XV. 1859, pp. 670-677. Also Hector, J. Trans. N.Z. Inst. vol. IV. 1872, pp. 341-346, 1 pl. (Palaeeudyptes). Chapman, F. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. (N.S.) pt. I. 1910, pp. 21-26, pls. IV. and V.

Pleistocene and Holocene.—Von Haast, J. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. IV., 1872, pp. 192-196; and vol. VI. 1874, pp. 62-75 (Harpagornis). Owen, R. Memoirs on the Extinct Wingless Birds of New Zealand, London, 1879, 2 vols. De Vis, C. W. Proc. R. Soc. Queensland, vol. VI. pt. I. 1889, pp. 6-8. Id., Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, vol. III. ser. 2, 1888, pp. 1277-1292, pls. XXXIII.-XXXVI. (Carinatae). Etheridge, R. jnr. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. I. pt. 2, 1889, pp. 126-136, pls. XI.-XIII. (Dromornis). Id., Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, pp. 653-663. Hutton, F. W. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. XXIV. 1892, pp. 93-172 (Moas). Id., ibid., vol. XXV. 1893, pp. 14-16, 1 pl. (Anomalopteryx). Id., ibid., vol. XXIX. 1897, pp. 441-557, figs. (Moas). Id., ibid., vol. XXXVIII. 1906, pp. 66 and 67 (Emeus crassus). Hamilton, A. Ibid, vol. XXVI. 1894, pp. 227-257 (Bibliography of Moas). Ibid, vol. XXX. 1898, pp. 445 and 446 (Euryapteryx). Stirling, E. C. and Zietz, A. H. C. Mem. R. Soc. S. Austr., vol. I. pt. II. 1900, pp. 41-80, pls. XIX.-XXIV. (Genyornis). Spencer, W. B. Vict. Nat. vol. XXIII. 1906, pp. 139 and 140; also Spencer, W. B. and Kershaw, J. A. Mem. Nat. Mus. Melbourne No. 3, 1910, pp. 5-35, pls. I.-VII. (Dromaeus minor).

MAMMALS.

Huxley, T. H. Quart. Journ. Geol. Soc., vol. XV. 1859, pp. 676-677 (Phocaenopsis). McCoy, F. Prod. Pal. Vict., Dec. I. 1874, pp. 21, 22, pls. III.-V. (Phascolomys). Ibid, Dec. II. 1875, pp. 7-8, pl. XI. and Dec. VI. 1879, pp. 20 and 21, pl. LV. (Squalodon). Ibid, Dec. III. 1876, pp. 7-12, pl. XXI. (Thylacoleo). Ibid, Dec. IV. 1876, pp. 7-11, pl. XXXI.-XXXIII. (Diprotodon). Ibid, Dec. V. 1877, pp. 7-9, pl. XLI. and XLII. (Arctocephalus). Ibid, Dec. VI. 1879, pp. 5-7, pl. LI. (Macropus): pp. 9-11, pl. LI.-LIII. (Procoptodon): pp. 13-17, pl. LIV. (Cetotolithes); pp. 19 and 20, pl. LV. (Physetodon). Ibid, Dec. VII. 1882, pp. 7-10, pl. LX. (Canis dingo): pp. 11-13, pl. LXXII. and LXII. (Sarcophilus): pp. 23-26, pl. LIX. (Ziphius). Owen, R. Extinct Mammals of Australia, London 1877, 2 vols. Hector, J. Trans. N.Z. Inst., vol. XIII. 1881, pp. 434-436, 1 pl. (Kekenodon). Lydekker, R. Cat. Foss. Mammalia, Brit. Mus. part V. 1887. Id., Handbook to the Marsupialia, and Monotremata. Allen’s Nat. Library, 1894, pt. III. pp. 249-286. De Vis, C. W. Proc. Linn. Soc. New South Wales, vol. VIII. pt. 3, 1883, p. 395 (Sirenian). Id., ibid, vol. X. 1895, pp. 75-133, pls. XIV.-XVIII. (Macropodidae). Id., Proc. R. Soc. Vict., vol. XII. (N.S.), pt. I, 1899, pp. 107-11 (Marsupials). Etheridge, R. jnr. Geol. and Pal. Queensland, 1892, pp. 663-683 (Pleistocene Mammals). Dun, W. S. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. III. pt. 4, 1893, pp. 120-124, pl. XVI. (Palorchestes). Ibid., vol. IV. pt. 3, 1895, pp. 118-126, pls. XI. and XII. (Monotremes). Stirling, E. C. and Zietz, A. H. C. Mem. Roy. Soc. S. Australia, vol. I. pt. I. 1899 (Descr. of Diprotodon, Manus and Pes.). Spencer, W. B. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1900, pp. 776-794, pls. XLIX. and L. (Wynyardia). Hall, T. S. Proc. R. Soc. Vict. vol. XXIII. (N.S.), pt. II. 1911, pp. 257-265, pl. XXXVI. (Rev. of Squalodontidae). Spencer, W. B. and Walcott, R. H. Proc. R. Soc. Vict., vol. XXIV. (N.S.), pt. I. 1912, pp. 92-123, pls. XXXVI.-XXIX. (Thylacoleo). Chapman, F. Rec. Geol. Surv. Vict., vol. III. pt. 2, 1912, pp. 236-238, pl. XL. (Scaldicetus). Woods, J. E. T. Geol. Observations in S. Australia, 1862, pp. 329 and 330 (Human Remains): also Krefft, G. Australian Vertebrata, Recent and Fossil, 1867, p. 91; Etheridge, R. jnr. Rec. Geol. Surv. New South Wales, vol. III. pt. 4, 1893, pp. 128-132; Etheridge, R. jnr. and Trickett, O. Ibid., vol. VII. pt. 4, 1904, pp. 325-328.

APPENDIX.—ON THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF FOSSILS.

The tools and other paraphernalia necessary for fossil collecting are fortunately within the reach of all. The principal of these is a geological hammer, preferably with a pick at one end of the head and the opposite end square-faced. The pick end is useful for digging out fossils from soft clays, or for extracting a block of fossils entire. The square end is employed for breaking up the slabs or masses containing fossils. To get good results, much will of course depend upon one’s skill in striking the right face of a block. If bedding planes are present on the lump from which we wish to extract our fossils, it will be well to strike at right angles to these layers in order to split them asunder, thus exposing a shell-layer corresponding to the original surface of the ancient sea-bed upon which the organisms accumulated. In some cases the splitting of fossiliferous rocks may be best carried out with the pick end, provided it be not too sharply curved. The hammer should be faced with steel, for many fossiliferous rocks, especially compact limestones, are apt to severely try the temper of an ill-made tool.

A chisel, of chilled steel, should accompany the hammer, since this is often of the greatest use in working out large fossils, more particularly those that are buried in a cliff or quarry face. The process of extracting difficult specimens should never be hurried, for one often gets surprisingly good results with a little extra care.

A strong pocket knife may be used in trimming specimens and partially cleaning shells that can be safely manipulated on the spot, but the final cleaning should be left until the return home. The knife is also useful for cleaning slates and shales, since the chisel-edge is frequently a trifle too thick for this kind of work.

For the more delicate fossils, means for careful packing should be provided; chip-boxes and cotton-wool being indispensable for the smaller specimens. A ready method of packing the fossils obtained from the friable, sandy tertiary deposits is to store them in tins, the contents of which can be firmly secured from rattling by filling up with sand. This sand, however, should be taken from the same bed in which the fossils occur, so as to get no admixture of the smaller shells from another formation or deposit; for although we may not wish to examine the finer material ourselves, it will yield in many cases a rich harvest to our microscopical friends, such residues containing microzoa, as shells of foraminifera, polyzoa and carapaces of the ostracoda. The residues referred to may be obtained from many of our marls and rubbly limestones by the simple process of washing in water, and repeatedly pouring off the finest clayey mud, until only a sandy deposit remains, which can then be dried and sorted over by the aid of a lens or low power microscope.

Hints on Fossil Collecting.—

As regards the places most suitable for collecting fossils, the Cainozoic beds are perhaps, the most accessible to a beginner, especially in Victoria. For instance, the cliff exposures at Beaumaris, Port Phillip, will afford a plentiful supply of the little heart-shaped sea-urchin, Lovenia, and an occasional Trigonia and Limopsis, as well as many other fossils of the great group of the shell-fish or mollusca. The richest bed containing the sharks’ teeth at the above locality is almost perpetually covered with a bed of shingle, but can be reached by digging at the cliff-base. Isolated specimens, however, although rather the worse for wear, may often be picked up amongst the shingle, having been washed up from the foreshore by the tide. An enticing band of large bivalve shells (Dosinea), can be seen halfway up the cliffs, near the baths at this locality, but are somewhat disappointing, for when obtained they crumble to pieces in the hand, since their shells are composed of the changeable form of carbonate of lime called aragonite, which has decomposed in place in the bed, after the shells were covered up by the deposit.

Good collections of shells of the Balcombian series may be easily made at Balcombe’s Bay and Grice’s Creek, Port Phillip. They can there be dug out of the grey-blue clay with a knife, and afterwards cleaned at leisure by means of a soft tooth brush dipped in water. In the cement stone at the same place there are numerous shells of pteropods or “sea-butterflies” (Vaginella), and specimens of the stone may be obtained, showing myriads of the porcelain-like shells, and also their internal casts in the hard greenish coloured matrix.

The ferruginous or ironstone beds seen in the Flemington Railway cutting, Melbourne, is an old marine shell-bank, resting on basalt. The shells have all been dissolved away, and only their casts and moulds remain. These impressions are, however, so faithfully moulded that the ornamentation of each shell can often be reproduced on a squeeze taken with a piece of modelling wax or plasticine. Such fossil remains are easily collected by carefully breaking up the blocks of ironstone with a hammer.

Quarries in the older limestones and mudstones in Victoria, New South Wales and other States, are often good hunting grounds for fossils. The quarry at Cave Hill, Lilydale, for example, will be found very profitable, for the limestone is full of corals and molluscan shells; whilst the friable or rubbly portion is worth breaking down for the smaller fossils. The bed-rock (Silurian) of Melbourne is in places very fossiliferous; the sandstones of Moonee Ponds Creek generally affording a fair number of brachiopods, and occasionally corals. The mudstones of South Yarra, Studley Park, Yan Yean, and other places on the same geological horizon, contain a rich fauna, to be obtained only by the assiduous collector who will search over and break up a large number of blocks. Practice in this work makes a good collector; although of course one must know something about the objects looked for, since many apparently obscure fossil remains of great interest might easily be passed over for lack of knowledge as to what should be expected to occur at each particular locality.

Many other good collecting grounds might here be alluded to, but we have purposely cited only a few near Melbourne, since a selection from other parts of Australasia may easily be made from the localities mentioned in connection with the various groups of fossils dealt with in the systematic portion of this work.

Preservation of Fossils.—

Many of the Cainozoic fossils from the shelly sands and clays are extremely delicate, owing in some cases to their being imperfectly preserved, seeing that they frequently contain in their shell-structure layers of the unstable form of carbonate of lime called aragonite. Fossils containing aragonite are:—Calcareous Sponges; Corals; Bivalved shells, except Oysters, Pectens, and the outer layer of Spondylus, Pinna, and Mytilus; Gasteropods (with a few exceptions); and Cephalopods. In some of these, however, a transformation of the aragonite into calcite enables the fossil to be permanently preserved. The delicate fossils referred to should be dipped in weak glue or gelatine and left to dry; after which their final cleaning can be done with the aid of a little warm water and a soft brush.

Certain of the clays and mudstones, both of Cainozoic and Jurassic ages which show remains of plants, such as leaves and fern fronds, are often best treated with a thin surface layer of paper varnish, before they lose the natural moisture of the rock; for when they become perfectly dry the thin carbonaceous film representing the original leaf-substance peels off, and the fossil is consequently destroyed. A method of treatment for Cainozoic leaves, by dipping them in warm vaseline and brushing off the superfluous material, has been described by Mr. H. Deane.

Storing Fossils for Reference.—

Fossils specimens are generally best displayed in cardboard trays; or if thin wooden paper-covered tablets are used, say of about 3-16in. thickness and cut to proportionate sizes, the fossils should be held in place by pins for easy removal, unless more than one example can be shown together, exhibiting all aspects, when they can be secured to the tablet by a touch of seccotine. The smaller shells may be displayed in glass topped boxes, which in turn may be stuck down to tablets or placed in trays.

INDEX.