A Review of the Tertiary Fossil Cetacea (Mammalia) Localities in Australia
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Memoirs of Museum Victoria 61(2): 183–208 (2004) ISSN 1447-2546 (Print) 1447-2554 (On-line) http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/memoirs/index.asp A review of the Tertiary fossil Cetacea (Mammalia) localities in Australia ERICH M. G. FITZGERALD School of Geosciences, P.O. Box 28E, Monash University, Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia ([email protected]) and Geosciences, Museum Victoria, GPO Box 666E, Melbourne, Victoria 3001, Australia ([email protected]) Abstract Fitzgerald, E.M.G. 2004. A review of the Tertiary fossil Cetacea (Mammalia) localities in Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria 61(2): 183–208. The stratigraphy, age, lithology, and vertebrate fauna of all 56 pre-Pleistocene fossil Cetacea-bearing localities in Australia are reviewed. The majority of these localities occur in the state of Victoria, and are Miocene in age. The most complete cetacean fossils have been recovered from coastal exposures of the Upper Oligocene Jan Juc Formation, south- west of Torquay in the Torquay Basin (Victoria). The inadequately known fossil record of cetaceans in Australia is due to a lack of research, and not a lack of potentially fossiliferous rock outcrop. Keywords Cetacea, Archaeoceti, Mysticeti, Odontoceti, Australia, localities, fossil record, Tertiary, Oligocene, Miocene, Pliocene Introduction The Australian fossil record of cetaceans is so poorly known because little systematic prospecting has been carried out. All Australia has an incompletely known fossil record of cetaceans significant fossil cetaceans have been discovered by accident, (whales, dolphins, and porpoises; Order Cetacea). The oldest often by amateur palaeontologists or members of the public. fossil cetaceans from Australia are Early Oligocene, with the Initial steps to advance research are: 1, to identify where fossil fossil record being best known from the Late Miocene–Early cetaceans have previously been discovered in Australia; 2, Pliocene (Fig.1 for correlation of cetacean-bearing strati- determine the faunal compositions of these localities based on graphic units). The majority of Australian fossil cetaceans fossils in museum and other collections; 3, conduct a census of described (but not necessarily published) have been derived the sedimentary geology of these localities; and 4, determine from only a few locations. These fossil sites occur within the the geological age of the fossil-bearing localities. Paleogene–Neogene marine sedimentary basins along the This review aims to document localities in Australia from southern margin of Victoria. Other described fossil cetaceans which pre-Pleistocene fossil cetaceans have been recovered. have been collected from South Australia and Tasmania, Because this review is principally based on museum and although fossil cetaceans from these states are less well university collections, it is unlikely that all localities have been represented in museums. recognised. Several large private collections exist that include Mahoney and Ride (1975) provided a synopsis of fossil significant material. If accurate locality and stratigraphic data cetacean genera and species described from Australia with occur with these specimens, it is likely that the real number information on the history of collection and study. They did not of fossil cetacean localities is much larger. This review is include all cetaceans in institutional palaeontology collections. intended to serve as a companion to Rich and co-workers’ Fordyce (1982a, 1982b) published important taxonomic (1991) review of Tertiary terrestrial mammal localities. reviews of Australian fossil cetaceans based on museum col- lections. Bearlin (1987, 1988) continued studies on Australian Overview of localities and the fossil record fossil Cetacea, with analyses of Neogene mysticete specimens and their provenance. In all of these studies, research was con- The fossiliferous localities in Australia that have yielded ducted primarily on specimens in Museum Victoria, Melbourne cetaceans occur within the offshore and onshore marine, and in (NMV), and to a lesser extent on fossils in the South Australian one case freshwater, sedimentary basins in south-eastern and Museum and the School of Earth Sciences, University of southern central Australia. These areas of Paleogene–Neogene Melbourne. The fossil cetaceans in the palaeontology collec- sedimentation correspond to the: Otway, Torquay, Port Phillip, tions of the Tasmanian Museum, Hobart and Queen Victoria and Gippsland basins in Victoria; St Vincent, Murray, Gambier Museum, Launceston remain largely unknown. and Lake Eyre basins in South Australia; and the Bass Basin in 184 E. M. G. Fitzgerald Ma Chronostratigraphy Planktonic SE Australian Victoria-Otway Basin Victoria-Torquay/Port Victoria-Gippsland South Australia Tasmania Foram Regional Stages Phillip Basins Basin Standards 2 Piacenzian N21 Dry Creek Sand Cameron Inlet 3 Werikooian Late Fmn 4 N19-20 Whaler's Zanclean Kalimnan Bluff Fmn Loxton Sand Grange Jemmys Point Fmn Bookpurnong Fmn PLIOC. 5 Early N18 Burn Fmn Black Rock Sst 6 Messinian Cheltenhamian 7 N17 Tambo River Fmn 8 Mitchellian 9 Late Tortonian N16 10 11 N15 N14 Bairnsdalian 12 N13 Muddy Creek Serravallian N12 Marl Mbr 13 N11 Fyansford Fmn 14 N10 Balcombian Pata Fmn Middle 15 N9 Port Campbell Limestone Bochara Langhian Limestone Mbr 16 N8 Batesfordian Batesford Lst Glenforslan Fmn 17 N7 MIOCENE 18 N6 Burdigalian 19 Lindenow Sst Mbr Longfordian Gellibrand Marl Lst Fmn 20 N5 Gippsland Early Mannum Fmn 21 22 Aquitanian Puebla Clay Namba Fmn Fossil Bluff Sst 23 N4 Maude Fmn 24 25 P22 Clifton Fmn Calder River Lst Chattian Ettrick Fmn Gambier Lst Marl 26 Janjukian Point Waurn Waurn Addis Lst Jan Juc Late 27 Ponds Lst 28 P21 29 30 P19/20 Willungan 31 Rupelian Ruwarung Mbr Buccleuch Fmn Early 32 OLIGOCENE 33 P18 Aldingan Figure 1. Correlation chart of Oligocene–Pliocene Australian fossil cetacean-bearing stratigraphic units. Abbreviations: Fmn=Formation; Lst=Limestone; Mbr=Member; Sst=Sandstone. Broken lines indicate uncertain maximum and minimum age ranges of stratigraphic units. Ages, chronostratigraphy, and planktonic foram zones modified from Alley et al. (1995) and Holdgate and Gallagher (2003). Tasmania (Figs 2, 3). The most abundant and diverse fossil stem-group toothed mysticetes (Berta et al., 2003), the archaic records of cetaceans occur in the Otway, Torquay, and Port baleen-bearing “cetotheres” in the Miocene, early records of Phillip basins of Victoria. However, the most complete and Balaenopteridae in the Mid–Late Miocene (Bearlin, 1988), and best-preserved fossil cetacean material is derived from the the transition to a relatively modern mysticete fauna composed Torquay Basin in central coastal Victoria. of balaenids and balaenopterids in the Late Miocene–early The most northern localities are those in the Lake Frome Pliocene (Bearlin, 1987, 1988; Fordyce, 1991). area in north-eastern South Australia (31˚S), whereas the most The Australian fossil record of Odontoceti is known only in southern localities occur offshore southern Tasmania (45˚S). broad outlines. This reflects the paucity of complete skulls, pre- The stratigraphic record of cetaceans is most complete for the serving diagnostic features, in museum and university collec- Miocene, with several localities in South Australia, Victoria, tions. There are only two records of fairly complete and diag- and Tasmania representing the Early, Middle, and Late nostic fossil odontocete skulls in Australia: an undescribed Miocene (see below). However, most Miocene sites are either squalodontid from Victoria (Bearlin, 1982), and Prosqualodon Middle or Late Miocene in age. The Late Oligocene record is davidis (Flynn, 1923, 1948) from Tasmania. The skull of the becoming better known, with a higher diversity of cetaceans latter specimen is now lost (Mahoney and Ride, 1975) and the than previously recognised (Fitzgerald, 2003, 2004). It is former skull lacks the rostrum and most of the dorsal surface of important to note that most of the Late Oligocene fossil the cranium. However, the remainder of the holotype specimen cetaceans can probably be referred to Mammalodontidae, and a of P. davidis, consisting of much of the postcranial skeleton and new undescribed group of archaic toothed mysticetes. No fos- mandibles, is still extant in the collection of the Department of sil cetaceans have been recorded from the Eocene of Australia Geology, University of Tasmania. Most odontocete fossils are (Fordyce, 1982a, 1991). Other poorly documented stratigraph- represented by isolated mandibles, teeth, periotics and tympan- ic intervals are the Early Oligocene, early Early Miocene and ic bullae. An exception is an incompletely prepared, partially Late Pliocene. articulated, postcranial skeleton from the Late Oligocene of In Australia, the fossil record of mysticetes is much better Victoria (NMV P48861). Although lacking cranial elements known than that for odontocetes (Bearlin, 1987; Fitzgerald, (apart from several teeth), the morphology of the scapula indi- 2004). The Australian Late Oligocene–Late Pliocene record of cates that this specimen may represent a primitive eurhinodel- Mysticeti is particularly informative because it documents phinid odontocete. Tertiary fossil Cetacea localities in Australia 185 140° 144° 148° 129° 131° 133° 135° 137° 139° 141° SOUTH AUSTRALIA NEW SOUTH WALES Adelaide Lake Eyre 28° 28° M Lake ur ray Riv er Eyre Basin 36° 36° VICTORIA SOUTH AUSTRALIA 30° 30° Torquay Basin Port Philip Basin Lake Frome Melbourne Otway Basin Gippsland Basin