Short-tailed mice with a long fossil record: the genusLeggadina(Rodentia: Muridae) from the Quaternary of Queensland, Australia

The genusLeggadina(colloquially known as ‘short-tailed mice’) is a common component of Quaternary faunas of northeastern Australia. They represent a member of the Australian old endemic murid radiation that arrived on the continent sometime during the late Cenozoic. Here we describe two new species of extinctLeggadinafrom Quaternary cave deposits as well as additional material of the extinctLeggadina macrodonta.Leggadina irvinisp. nov. recovered from Middle-Upper (late) Pleistocene cave deposits near Chillagoe, northeastern Queensland, is the biggest member of the genus, being substantially larger than any other species so far described.Leggadina webbisp. nov. from Middle Pleistocene cave deposits at Mount Etna, central eastern Queensland, shares features with the oldest species of the genus, the Early PleistoceneL. gregoriensis. Based on the current palaeoecological interpretation of the type locality,L. webbi, represents the only member of the genus that inhabited rainforest. The succession ofLeggadinaspecies through the late Quaternary suggests an ecological replacement of the extinct large-bodiedL. irviniwith the extant, small-bodiedL. lakedownesisat Chillagoe. At Mt. Etna, the extinct rainforest speciesL. webbiis replaced with the extant xeric-adaptedL. forrestiduring the latest Middle Pleistocene. This replacement is associated with a mid-Pleistocene shift towards progressive intensifying seasonal and arid climates. Our study adds to the growing list of small-bodied faunal extinctions during the late Quaternary of northern Australia.

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Aeolian influx and related environmental conditions on Gran Canaria during the early Pleistocene

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2018.64 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 91 (1) ◽

pp. 35-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Inmaculada Menéndez ◽

José Mangas ◽

Esperança Tauler ◽

Vidal Barrón ◽

José Torrent ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Late Quaternary ◽

Textural Analysis ◽

Climatic Conditions ◽

Saharan Dust ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Quartz Content ◽

Gran Canaria ◽

Climatic Oscillations ◽

Climatic Variations

AbstractThe island of Gran Canaria is regularly affected by dust falls due to its proximity to the Saharan desert. Climatic oscillations may affect the Saharan dust input to the island. Geochemical, mineralogical, and textural analysis was performed on a well-developed and representative early Pleistocene paleosol to examine Saharan dust contribution to Gran Canaria. Significant and variable Saharan dust content was identified in addition to weathering products such as iron oxides and clay minerals. Variations in quartz and iron oxide concentrations in the paleosol likely reflect different Saharan dust input in more/less-contrasted rhexistasic/biostatic climatic conditions. Linking the quartz content in Canarian soils, the Ingenio paleosol, and two Canarian loess-like deposits to different ages from the Quaternary, we hypothesized that the dust input should be lower (about 33–38%) throughout the early to middle Pleistocene than during the late Quaternary. The Saharan dust input to the Gran Canaria profile in the Pleistocene persisted in spite of climatic variations.

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Two new species of Antechinus Macleay (Dasyuridae:Marsupialia) from mid-Pleistocene cave deposits in eastern central Queensland

Australian Mammalogy ◽

10.1071/am09025 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 32 (2) ◽

pp. 127 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Jonathan Cramb ◽

Scott Hocknull

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

Mount Etna ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Phylogenetic Position ◽

Dental Morphology ◽

Large Species ◽

Extinct Species ◽

Cave Deposits ◽

Two New Species

The dasyurid genus Antechinus occurs in numerous Cainozoic fossil sites but until now only one extinct species has been described, Antechinus puteus Van Dyck. Antechinus yammal sp. nov. and A. yuna sp. nov. are described here on the basis of dental remains recovered from middle Pleistocene (between >500 and 205–170 thousand years ago) cave deposits at Mount Etna, eastern central Queensland. Most of these sites are interpreted as closed rainforest palaeoenvironments, and this is the likely habitat of both species. Both taxa are morphologically variable. A. yammal is characterised by complete anterior cingula and well developed posterior cingula on the upper molars; a relatively unreduced, robust P3; and small entoconids. A. yuna is a relatively large species, typified by poorly developed or absent posterior cingula on M1–3, lack of a metacone on M4, and large entoconids on M1–3. Dental morphology suggests that A. yuna was a near relative of the extant A. leo. The dentition of A. yammal shows some similarities to that of A. flavipes, but its exact phylogenetic position is unclear. A. yammal became extinct coincident with the loss of its rainforest habitat some time between 280 and 205–170 thousand years ago. A. yuna survived somewhat longer, but by the late Pleistocene had been replaced by A. flavipes.

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Late Cenozoic paleomagnetic record of Duck Hawk Bluffs, Banks Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences ◽

10.1139/e90-010 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 27 (1) ◽

pp. 124-130 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

R. W. Barendregt ◽

Jean-Serge Vincent

Keyword(s):

Canadian Arctic ◽

Unconsolidated Sediments ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Gradual Change ◽

Canadian Arctic Archipelago ◽

Late Cenozoic ◽

Precise Position ◽

Banks Island ◽

Late Tertiary

Detailed paleomagnetic investigations have been completed on unconsolidated sediments from Duck Hawk Bluffs on Banks Island, in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, that record some of the oldest late Cenozoic glacial and nonglacial events in Canada. The preglacial Worth Point Formation, the overlying Duck Hawk Bluffs Formation, including marine and glacial deposits laid down during the Banks Glaciation, and the lower part of the interglacial Morgan Bluffs Formation have magnetically reversed directions and therefore are of Matuyama age (>790 ka). Upper Morgan Bluffs Formation organic beds and deposits of the younger Thomsen Glaciation, Cape Collinson Interglaciation, and Amundsen Glaciation are normally magnetized and therefore of Brunhes age (<790 ka). The Brunhes–Matuyama boundary is recorded in the upper portion of the Morgan Bluffs Formation. Its precise position within the interglacial sequence can be identified, since the sediments document the gradual change from reversely inclined directions to normally inclined ones. These results confirm that the preglacial Worth Point Formation is at least Early Pleistocene in age and that the Banks Glaciation (the oldest and strongest continental glaciation recorded in the western Arctic) and a good part of the Morgan Bluffs Formation are of Early Pleistocene age. The study also documents a rare site in Canada where terrestrial sediments record the Brunhes–Matuyama transition and in doing so permits a precise correlation of part of the Banks Island stratigraphy with other key late Tertiary and Early to Middle Pleistocene arctic terrestrial and marine sequences.

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Drainage evolution in the Polish Sudeten Foreland in the context of European fluvial archives

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1017/qua.2018.77 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 91 (2) ◽

pp. 493-519 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Dariusz Krzyszkowski ◽

David R. Bridgland ◽

Peter Allen ◽

Rob Westaway ◽

Lucyna Wachecka-Kotkowska ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Drainage System ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Variscan Orogeny ◽

Left Bank ◽

Late Cenozoic ◽

Drainage Pattern ◽

Provenance Data ◽

Northern Edge ◽

Fluvial Archives

AbstractDetailed study of subsurface deposits in the Polish Sudeten Foreland, particularly with reference to provenance data, has revealed that an extensive preglacial drainage system developed there in the Pliocene–Early Pleistocene, with both similarities and differences in comparison with the present-day Odra (Oder) system. This foreland is at the northern edge of an intensely deformed upland, metamorphosed during the Variscan orogeny, with faulted horsts and grabens reactivated in the Late Cenozoic. The main arm of preglacial drainage of this area, at least until the early Middle Pleistocene, was the Palaeo–Nysa Kłodzka, precursor of the Odra left-bank tributary of that name. Significant preglacial evolution of this drainage system can be demonstrated, including incision into the landscape, prior to its disruption by glaciation in the Elsterian (Sanian) and again in the early Saalian (Odranian), which resulted in burial of the preglacial fluvial archives by glacial and fluvioglacial deposits. No later ice sheets reached the area, in which the modern drainage pattern became established, the rivers incising afresh into the landscape and forming post-Saalian terrace systems. Issues of compatibility of this record with the progressive uplift implicit in the formation of conventional terrace systems are examined, with particular reference to crustal properties, which are shown to have had an important influence on landscape and drainage evolution in the region.

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New Quaternary records of Conilurus (Rodentia: Muridae) from eastern and northern Australia with the description of a new species

Zootaxa ◽

10.11646/zootaxa.2634.1.3 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2634 (1) ◽

pp. 41 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

JONATHAN CRAMB ◽

SCOTT HOCKNULL

Keyword(s):

New Species ◽

Late Pleistocene ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Recent Time ◽

Mount Etna ◽

Northern Australia ◽

Additional Species ◽

The North ◽

Uncertain Knowledge ◽

A New Species

Since European arrival in Australia the murid genus Conilurus Ogilby has suffered severe decline, the causes of which are still uncertain. Knowledge of the distribution of the genus during the Quaternary may be useful in understanding why Conilurus has declined and thus inform efforts to conserve remaining populations. The late Quaternary distribution of species of Conilurus is here revised with the extension of the known ranges of two species, C. albipes and C. penicilattus, to the north and east of their previously known ranges, respectively. An additional species, C. capricornensis sp. nov., is described on the basis of Pleistocene and Holocene dental remains. Conilurus capricornensis is large for the genus and can be distinguished from C. penicillatus and C. albipes by molar dimensions, a posteriorly narrow anterior palatal foramina, the presence of a T3 and anterior cingulum on M 1 , and small or absent posterior cingula on M 1-2 . The southern-most occurrence of C. capricornensis overlaps the northern-most record of C. albipes. The temporal ranges of C. capricornensis and C. penicillatus overlap, but they have not been found in sympatry. Recently recovered fossil and subfossil specimens from the Broken River area, near Townsville, Queensland and Mount Etna (eastern Queensland) indicate that C. capricornensis had a temporal range from the late Pleistocene to very recent time. Preservation of some specimens from the Broken River area indicates that C. capricornensis may still be extant in that area.

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PRELIMINARY CHEMOSTRATIGRAPHY OF CAVE DEPOSITS IN THE PANTANAL WETLANDS (BRAZIL): INSIGHTS INTO LATE QUATERNARY ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE

10.1130/abs/2018se-312353 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Michael M. McGlue ◽

◽

Valdir Felipe Novello ◽

Francisco W. Cruz ◽

Rudney de Almeida Santos ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Environmental Change ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Cave Deposits

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The Cuban Crocodile (Crocodylus rhombifer) from Late Quaternary Underwater Cave Deposits in the Dominican Republic

American Museum Novitates ◽

10.1206/3916.1 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2018 (3916) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Gary S. Morgan ◽

Nancy A. Albury ◽

Renato Rímoli ◽

Phillip Lehman ◽

Alfred L. Rosenberger ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Dominican Republic ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Cave Deposits

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Late Quaternary Fluvial Sedimentation in the Voidomatis Basin, Epirus, Northwest Greece

Quaternary Research ◽

10.1016/0033-5894(91)90098-p ◽

1991 ◽

Vol 35 (1) ◽

pp. 103-115 ◽

Cited By ~ 52

Author(s):

John Lewin ◽

Mark G. Macklin ◽

Jamie C. Woodward

Keyword(s):

Mediterranean Basin ◽

Late Quaternary ◽

Radiometric Dating ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

The Mediterranean ◽

Fluvial Sedimentation ◽

The Mediterranean Basin

AbstractDetailed morpho- and lithostratigraphic investigations, allied with radiometric dating, in the Voidomatis basin, Epirus, northwest Greece, have identified four Quaternary terraced alluvial fills that range from middle Pleistocene to historic in age. Major-periods of alluviation during the late Quaternary were associated with valley glaciation (ca. 26,000–20,000 yr B.P.) and subsequent deglaciation (ca. 20,000–15,000 yr B.P.) in the Pindus Mountains during Late Würmian times, and more recently linked to overgrazing sometime before the 11th century AD. The late Quaternary alluvial stratigraphy of the Voidomatis River is more complex than the “Older Fill” and “Younger Fill” model outlined previously, and it is suggested that these terms should no longer form the basis for defining alluvial stratigraphic units in the Mediterranean Basin.

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Cosmogenic burial dating of in cave-deposited alluvium: unravelling long-term incision rates and complex speleogenesis in multi-level cave systems

10.5194/egusphere-egu2020-19598 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Gilles Rixhon ◽

Didier L. Bourlès ◽

Régis Braucher ◽

Alexandre Peeters ◽

Alain Demoulin

Keyword(s):

Early Pleistocene ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Fluvial Terrace ◽

Base Level ◽

Cave System ◽

River Incision ◽

Order Of Magnitude ◽

History Of ◽

Multi Level

Multi-level cave systems record the history of regional river incision in abandoned alluvium-filled phreatic passages which, mimicking fluvial terrace sequences, represent former phases of fluvial base-level stability. In this respect, cosmogenic burial dating of in cave-deposited alluvium (usually via the nuclide pair 26Al/10Be) represents a suitable method to quantify the pace of long-term river incision. Here, we present a dataset of fifteen 26Al/10Be burial ages measured in fluvial pebbles washed into a multi-level cave system developed in Devonian limestone of the uplifted Ardenne massif (eastern Belgium). The large and well-documented Chawresse system is located along the lower Ourthe valley (i.e. the main Ardennian tributary of the Meuse river) and spans altogether an elevation difference exceeding 120 m.The depleted 26Al/10Be ratios measured in four individual caves show two main outcomes. Firstly, computed burial ages ranging from ~0.2 to 3.3 Ma allows highlighting an acceleration by almost one order of magnitude of the incision rates during the first half of the Middle Pleistocene (from ~25 to ~160 m/Ma). Secondly, according to the relative elevation above the present-day floodplain of the sampled material in the Manants cave (<35 m), the four internally-consistent Early Pleistocene burial ages highlight an &#8220;anomalous&#8221; old speleogenesis in the framework of a gradual base-level lowering. They instead point to intra-karsting reworking of the sampled material in the topographically complex Manants cave. This in turn suggests an independent, long-lasting speleogenetic evolution of this specific cave, which differs from the per descensum model of speleogenesis generally acknowledged for the regional multi-level cave systems and their abandoned phreatic galleries. In addition to its classical use for inferring long-term incision rates, cosmogenic burial dating can thus contribute to better understand specific and complex speleogenetic evolution.

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GEOLOGICAL AND MAGNETIC SUSCEPTIBILITY MAPPING OF MOUNT GIOUCHTA (CENTRAL CRETE)

Bulletin of the Geological Society of Greece ◽

10.12681/bgsg.11181 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 43 (1) ◽

pp. 289 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

E. Kokinou ◽

E. Kamberis ◽

A. Sarris ◽

I. Tzanaki

Keyword(s):

Magnetic Susceptibility ◽

Spatial Distribution ◽

Stress Field ◽

Magnetic Measurements ◽

Strain Analysis ◽

Geological Structure ◽

Early Pleistocene ◽

Middle Pleistocene ◽

Western Slope ◽

Strain Pattern

Giouchta Mt. is located south of Heraklion city, in Crete. It is an N-S trending morphological asymmetric ridge, with steep western slope whilst the eastern slope represents a smoother relief, composed of Mesozoic limestone and Eocene- lower Oligocene flysch sediments of the Gavrovo -Tripolis zone. The present study focuses on the geological structure of Mt. Giouchta. Field mapping and tectonic analysis is performed for this purpose. The dominant structures are contractional in nature, deformed by normal faulting related to the extensional episodes initiated in Serravallian times. The strain pattern in the area is revealed from strain analysis. It is inferred that the orientation of the stress field in the area has changed several times: the N-S, stress field which was dominant during Late Serravallian times changed to NE-SW (in Late Serravallian? - Early Tortonian) and subsequently to WNW-ESE (Early to Middle Tortonian) to become NW-SE in Late Tortonian. This orientation changed also during the Quaternary times trending from NW-SE (Early Pleistocene) to ENE-WSW (Middle Pleistocene-Holocene). In addition to the above, surface soil samples were collected in the wider area of mount Giouchta and they were analyzed in order to determine the magnetic susceptibility. GIS techniques were used for mapping the spatial distribution of the geological features and the magnetic measurements on the topographic relief of the area. Statistical analysis techniques were also applied in order to investigate the relation of faulting and magnetic susceptibility. Maps representing the spatial distribution of the above measurements were created by using appropriate interpolation algorithms.

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