scholarly journals Phyllozoon and Aulozoon: key components of a novel Ediacaran death assemblage in Bathtub Gorge, Heysen Range, South Australia

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
James G. Gehling ◽  
Bruce Runnegar
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Widespread Species ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Small Window ◽  
Storm Wave ◽  
Tubular Body ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinities ◽  
Body Fossil

Abstract The recognition of fossiliferous horizons both below and above the classical Ediacara levels of the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, significantly expands the potential of this candidate World Heritage succession. Here we document a small window into the biology and taphonomy of the late Ediacaran seafloor within the new Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite in Bathtub Gorge, northern Heysen Range. A 1 m2 slab extracted from the gorge, now on permanent display at the South Australian Museum, has a death assemblage dominated by the erniettomorph Phyllozoon hanseni Jenkins and Gehling 1978 and a newly named macroscopic tubular body fossil – Aulozoon soliorum gen. et sp. nov. – on its fine sandstone bed sole. The orientations and juxtaposition of these taxa suggest overprinting of an in situ benthic Phyllozoon community by sand-filled tubes of Aulozoon carried in by a storm wave-base surge. Phyllozoon hanseni is a widespread species that is restricted to the Nilpena Sandstone Member of the Rawnsley Quartzite, whereas Dickinsonia costata ranges from the underlying Ediacara Sandstone Member into the Nilpena Sandstone Member. Fundamental differences in the ways these two vendobiont taxa are constructed and preserved may provide insights into their biology and phylogenetic affinities. In the Nilpena Sandstone Member, D. costata is joined by Dickinsonia rex Jenkins 1992, which appears to be confined to the member, and is here re-described to clarify its taxonomic status and stratigraphic distribution.

Ediacaran events: boundary relationships and correlation of key sections, especially in ‘Armorica’

1984 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 635-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. J. F. Jenkins
Keyword(s):  
Southern Africa ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Trace Fossils ◽  
Faecal Pellets ◽  
Late Precambrian ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Northern Russia ◽  
Body Fossil ◽  
Radiometric Data

AbstractThe transitional interval between the Adelaidean and Ediacaran systems in the central Flinders Ranges, South Australia, comprises mainly basinal sediments, with some tuff beds (Bunyeroo Formation) and a widespread thin dolomite bed which apparently evidences a brief regressive episode (base of Wonoka Formation). Body imprints of metazoans, trace fossils and probable faecal pellets are present at various levels in the Ediacaran succession. Comparable assemblages occurring in key successions in southern Africa, northern Russia, Siberia, Newfoundland and England promise a global biostratigraphy. One Ediacaran body fossil occurs in the Yangtze Gorges section, China. Analysis of abundant late Precambrian radiometric data for the present North Atlantic margins suggests that the Ediacaran may be dated between about 590 Ma and ~ 545–540 Ma.

scholarly journals An Ediacaran opportunist? Characteristics of a juvenile Dickinsonia costata population from Crisp Gorge, South Australia

2018 ◽  
Vol 92 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily M. Reid ◽  
Diego C. García-Bellido ◽  
James G. Gehling
Keyword(s):  
Size Range ◽  
Large Population ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Morphological Characters ◽  
Juvenile Form ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Gradual Loss ◽  
Loss Of Mass ◽  
Phylogenetic Affinities ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractDespite 70 years of study, Dickinsonia remains one of the Ediacara biota’s most enigmatic taxa with both morphological characters and phylogenetic affinities still debated. A large population of relatively small Dickinsonia costata present on a semi-contiguous surface from the Crisp Gorge fossil locality in the Flinders Ranges (South Australia) provides an opportunity to investigate this taxon in its juvenile form. This population supports earlier findings that suggest D. costata’s early growth was isometric, based on the relationship between measured variables of length and width. The number of body units increases with length, but at a decreasing rate. A correlation between a previously described physical feature, present as a shrinkage rim partially surrounding some specimens and a novel, raised lip in some specimens, suggests that both features may have been the result of a physical contraction in response to the burial process, rather than due to a gradual loss of mass during early diagenesis. A marked protuberance in 15% of the population is also noted in limited specimens within the South Australian Museum collections and appears to be present only in juvenile D. costata. Both the abundance and narrow size range of this population support the notion that Dickinsonia was a hardy opportunist, capable of rapid establishment and growth on relatively immature textured organic-mat substrates.

The Dawson Hill Member of the Grindstone Range Sandstone in the Flinders Ranges, South Australia

2010 ◽  
Vol 134 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-124 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.B. Jago ◽  
C.G. Gatehouse ◽  
C.McA. Powell ◽  
T. Casey ◽  
E.M. Alexander
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Flinders Ranges

Studies of the yellow-footed rock-wallaby, Petrogale xanthopus Gray (Marsupialia : Macropodidae). Population studies at Middle Gorge, South Australia

1994 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 473 ◽  
Author(s):  
AC Robinson ◽  
L Lim ◽  
PD Cantry ◽  
RB Jenkins ◽  
CA MacDonald
Keyword(s):  
Sex Ratio ◽  
Population Studies ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Effective Rainfall ◽  
Main Study ◽  
Exchange System ◽  
Two Phase ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Significant Bias ◽  
Males And Females

A mark-recapture study of Petrogale xanthopus at Middle Gorge in the southern Flinders Ranges revealed that between January 1979 and January 1984 the estimated known-to-be-alive population ranged from 11 to 20. During the main study, individuals living to an estimated age of six years were recorded. Captures of marked animals after completion of the main study revealed both males and females living to at least 10 years old. Births occurred throughout the year but there appeared to be an increase in births following periods of effective rainfall. For the whole study the sex ratio of pouch young did not vary significantly from 1:1. When individuals that gave birth more than once during the study were examined, there was a significant bias towards male young in the later births. It is suggested that this species has a two-phase reproductive strategy with the extra males, produced by older females, sustaining a male-exchange system with nearby colonies.

WOMEN OF THE ADNJAMATANA TRIBE OF THE NORTHERN FLINDERS RANGES, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Oceania ◽  
1941 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 155-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. P. Mountford ◽  
Alison Harvey
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Flinders Ranges

Geology of the Beltana Willemite Deposit, Flinders Ranges, South Australia

2003 ◽  
Vol 98 (4) ◽  
pp. 797-818 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. M. Groves ◽  
C. E. Carman ◽  
W. J. Dunlap
Keyword(s):  
South Australia ◽  
Flinders Ranges

Testing the potential for supplementary water to support the recovery and reintroduction of the black-footed rock-wallaby

2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca West ◽  
Matthew J. Ward ◽  
Wendy K. Foster ◽  
David A. Taggart
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Threatened Species ◽  
Population Decline ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Camera Traps ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Population Growth Rates ◽  
Introduced Predators ◽  
Predation Effects

Context Supplementary resource provision is increasingly used by conservation managers to manipulate habitat conditions that limit population growth of threatened species. These methods are popular in reintroduction programs because they can assist released individuals to adapt to novel environments. In situ management and reintroductions are being used to recover warru (black-footed rock-wallaby, Petrogale lateralis MacDonnell Ranges race) on the arid Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands of South Australia. Direct predation by introduced predators is thought to be the main cause of population decline, but indirect predation effects reducing access to water resources has also been proposed as a limiting factor. Aims To determine whether warru would use supplementary water and so provide a tool to alleviate resource pressure for in situ (wild) and reintroduced warru populations. Methods We provided supplementary water to a wild and reintroduced warru population across 12 months. Drinking rates were calculated by monitoring water points with camera traps and modelled against plant moisture content and total rainfall. We also examined whether number of visits to water points by warru predators and competitors was significantly different to control points (no water present). Key results Wild and reintroduced warru used water points within 0–10 days of installation. No significant increase in visits by predators or competitors was observed at water points. Drinking rates were significantly higher during dry winter months (March–October) for both wild and re-introduced populations. Conclusions Supplementary water is readily utilised by warru. Water could be provided in this manner to warru populations where predators are present, particularly during drier months (generally March–October on the APY Lands), periods of drought or after fire, when food resources will have a lower water content and/or be less abundant. This may increase breeding rates and recruitment of young, and improve the probability of persistence for populations of this threatened species, and should be further investigated. Implications Supplementary water provision may be a useful tool to increase population growth rates for threatened mammalian herbivores in arid habitats. Experimental trials of the uptake of supplementary water and effects on population dynamics will provide important data for implementing adaptive management frameworks for conservation.

Subaqueous speleothems from the Flinders Ranges, South Australia, as palaeohydrological archives for the arid zone

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Calla Gould-Whaley ◽  
Russell Drysdale ◽  
Jan-Hendrick May ◽  
John Hellstrom ◽  
Hai Cheng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Arid Zone ◽  
Regional Climate ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Middle Latitude ◽  
Water Levels ◽  
Human Migration ◽  
Dispersal Patterns ◽  
Groundwater Levels ◽  
Flinders Ranges ◽  
Ecosystem Changes

<p>Australia is the driest continent outside of Antarctica yet relatively little is known about its long-term moisture history. Many local palaeoclimate archives suffer preservation problems, particularly in the arid centre of the continent, where weathering and erosion leave behind an incomplete record. In an attempt to redress the paucity of arid-zone palaeoclimate records, we investigate ‘pendulites’, subaqueous speleothems that grow episodically according to fluctuations in local groundwater levels. At Mairs Cave (central Flinders Ranges, South Australia), pendulites have formed around stalactites. During the first sustained episode of drowning, the stalactite is veneered by subaqueous calcite, sealing it and preventing further stalactitic growth after water levels fall. Once sealed, the pendulites only record periods of persistent drowning, assumed to correspond to major pluvial episodes.</p><p>Age data from two pendulite samples collected from close to the ceiling where the highest water levels have reached reveal two main groundwater ‘high-stand’ phases centred on ~67 and ~48 ka, coincident with Southern Hemisphere summer insolation maxima. This suggests that precession-driven southward migration of the ITCZ resulted in regular and persistent incursions of tropical air masses to the central Flinders Ranges. Trace element, stable isotope and growth-rate changes reveal that these orbitally controlled growth intervals are superimposed by regional climate responses to Dansgaard-Oeschger and Heinrich events. The results from Mairs Cave shed new light on the moisture history of central Australia, in particular the competing influences of tropical and middle-latitude circulation systems. This provides a precisely dated regional palaeoclimate template for reconstructing ecosystem changes, understanding human migration/dispersal patterns of the first Australians, and the progressive demise of megafauna. We also highlight the utility of subaqueous speleothems more generally as important archives for investigating arid-zone palaeoclimate.</p>

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