Palaeontologia Electronica palaeo-electronica.org Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous chondrichthyans from the Fairfield Group, Canning Basin, Western Australia Brett Roelofs, Milo Barham, Arthur J. Mory, and Kate Trinajstic ABSTRACT Teeth from 18 shark taxa are described from Upper Devonian to Lower Carbonif- erous strata of the Lennard Shelf, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Spot samples from shoal facies in the upper Famennian Gumhole Formation and shallow water car- bonate platform facies in the Tournaisian Laurel Formation yielded a chondrichthyan fauna including several known species, in particular Thrinacodus ferox, Cladodus thomasi, Protacrodus aequalis and Deihim mansureae. In addition, protacrodont teeth were recovered that resemble formally described, yet unnamed, teeth from Tournaisian deposits in North Gondwanan terranes. The close faunal relationships previously seen for Late Devonian chondrichthyan taxa in the Canning Basin and the margins of north- ern Gondwana are shown here to continue into the Carboniferous. However, a reduc- tion in species overlap for Tournaisian shallow water microvertebrate faunas between the Canning Basin and South China is evident, which supports previous studies docu- menting a separation of faunal and terrestrial plant communities between these regions by this time. The chondrichthyan fauna described herein is dominated by crushing type teeth similar to the shallow water chondrichthyan biofacies established for the Famennian and suggests some of these biofacies also extended into the Early Carboniferous. Brett Roelofs. Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987 Perth, WA 6845, Australia. [email protected] Milo Barham. Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987 Perth, WA 6845, Australia. [email protected] Arthur J. Mory. Geological Survey of Western Australia, Mineral House, 100 Plain Street, East Perth, WA 6004, Australia/Centre for Energy Geoscience, University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Hwy, Crawley WA 6009, Australia. [email protected] Kate Trinajstic*. Department of Environment and Agriculture, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, WA 6845, Australia. [email protected] *Corresponding author Key words: Famennian; Tournaisian; microvertebrate; teeth; biogeography; biofacies Submission: 2 July 2015 Acceptance: 25 November 2015 Roelofs, Brett, Barham, Milo, Mory, Arthur J., and Trinajstic, Kate. 2016. Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous chondrichthyans from the Fairfield Group, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Palaeontologia Electronica 19.1.4A: 1-28 palaeo-electronica.org/content/2016/1365-d-c-boundary-sharks Copyright Government of Western Australia, Department of Mines and Petroleum, January 2016 ROELOFS ET AL.: D-C BOUNDARY SHARKS INTRODUCTION chondrichthyan genera from a trench across the Devonian-Carboniferous boundary, approximately The Late Devonian saw an increase in the 45 km north-west of Fitzroy Crossing (Figure 1). cosmopolitanism of many vertebrate taxa across Despite the paucity of published material, some parts of North and East Gondwana, and extending similarity of the shark fauna between north-western into South China and south-east Asia (Young et al., and eastern Australia was recognised by Turner 2010). A shallow seaway along the northern mar- (1982). Here we aim to show the extent of the fau- gins of Gondwana is thought to have, at least in nal links between the Canning Basin and the mar- part, facilitated large scale faunal exchanges gins of Palaeo-Tethys along North and East during this period (Lebedev and Zakharenko, Gondwana and southern Laurussia. 2010). At that time, the Canning Basin was located In addition to providing information on faunal on the north-west corner of the East Gondwanan ties, the rich chondrichthyan assemblage (Table 1), margin, which was contiguous with the North comprising 16 taxa from the Laurel Formation, Gondwanan margin, with South China and south- allows a detailed analysis of a shark fauna from east Asian landmasses further north (Golonka, Tournaisian shallow water facies. The association 2007; Metcalfe, 2011). The Canning Basin was between chondrichthyan taxa and the environ- thus situated at the junction of major terranes and ments they inhabited has been analysed by Ginter is therefore an ideal study area to evaluate Late (2000, 2001), who established three shark biofa- Devonian faunal exchanges between these land- cies based on the percentages of shark teeth in masses. Common faunal components between the Famennian pan-tropical regions. This biofacies Canning Basin and areas in South China and model has been applied to a shallow water Famen- south-east Asia are known for several vertebrate nian shark assemblage from the Canning Basin groups from the Late Devonian, including placo- (Roelofs et al., 2015). Here we test if the Famen- derms (Young, 1984; Young et al., 2010) and chon- nian shark biofacies model is applicable for the drichthyans (Trinajstic and George, 2009; Roelofs Carboniferous. This is in light of the Late Devonian et al., 2015). In addition, the jawless thelodonts are mass extinction that caused significant niche reor- known from the uppermost Devonian in Iran ganisations in which the placoderms, the dominant (Hairapetian et al., 2015) North Gondwana and faunal component of the Devonian (Young, 2010) north-western Australia (Trinajstic, 2001; Hairape- and the last of the thelodonts, which had survived tian et al., 2015). Of these groups, only the sharks into the Famennian only in Western Australia and survived the Devonian-Carboniferous extinctions Iran (Hairapetian et al., 2015), became extinct. (Janvier, 1996). Whether the same chondrichthyan taxa persisted into the Carboniferous in intermedi- GEOLOGICAL SETTING ate regions between the Canning Basin and areas surrounding South China and the northern margin Extensive carbonate platforms with associ- of Gondwana, is difficult to resolve. This is partly ated slope and basin facies developed along the due to a significant faunal overturn in the Early northern margin of the Canning Basin, northern Carboniferous with subsequent radiations of many Western Australia from the late Givetian to late groups including osteichthyans, chondrichthyans Famennian (Playford et al., 2009). Outcrops of and tetrapods (Janvier, 1996; Sallan and Coates, these deposits extend along the Lennard Shelf for 2010). In addition, Early Carboniferous tectonic approximately 350 km and are amongst the world’s movements, such as the northwards migration of best preserved examples of a Devonian reef com- the South China block, led to increased separation plex (Hocking et al., 2008; Playford et al., 2009). between this terrane and East Gondwana (Scotese Near the end of the Famennian an abrupt regres- and McKerrow, 1990). sion along the northern margin of the basin led to Recent studies on Carboniferous shark fau- exposure, erosion and minor karstification of the nas of Western Australia have been limited. Earlier reef platform prior to a change to ramp facies works (Thomas, 1957, 1959) described a rich including carbonate, mudstone and sandstone, of shark assemblage from the Lower Carboniferous the Fairfield Group (Druce and Radke, 1979; Laurel Formation that included both “cladodont” Southgate et al., 1993) (Figure 2). Along the south- and “bradyodont” teeth (for a review see Trinajstic ern, basin-ward margin of the Lennard Shelf and et al., 2014). In addition, Turner (1982) described a throughout much of the Fitzroy Trough, deposition species of ctenacanthiform, Cladodus thomasi of mostly fine-grained siliciclastic facies with minor Turner, 1982, and attributed associated teeth to the carbonate appears to have been continuous into genus Helodus. Edwards (1997) detailed further the Tournaisian. These southern basin-ward facies 2 PALAEO-ELECTRONICA.ORG FIGURE 1. Simplified geological map of the Upper Devonian and Lower Carboniferous Fairfield Group outcrop, Len- nard Shelf, northern Canning Basin, showing sampled sites at Oscar Hill and Laurel Downs (after Druce and Radke, 1979). are only known from the subsurface and are largely west-northwest of Fitzroy Crossing (Druce and attributed to the Upper Famennian Luluigui and Radke, 1979). Within the Horseshoe Range and Clanmeyer formations (Willmott, 1962). However, Red Bluffs, the Gumhole Formation overlies a bird- this part of the succession needs revision (Jones, seye limestone likely to be the uppermost facies of 1987) given the somewhat arbitrary formation des- the Nullara Limestone, whereas Druce and Radke ignations for petroleum wells in Druce and Radke (1979) and Edgell (2004) claim the Gumhole For- (1979). mation overlies the Luluigui Formation in the The oldest stratigraphic unit of the Fairfield Napier and Oscar Ranges. The overlying Yellow Group, the Gumhole Formation, consists mostly of Drum Formation (Figure 2) consists of a series of bioclastic and oolitic sandy limestone with interbed- massive calcareous sandstone and carbonate ded carbonate, siltstone and shale. The formation beds, with minor mudstone, breccia and evaporitic is best exposed at Oscar Hill, approximately 19 km facies. 3 ROELOFS ET AL.: D-C BOUNDARY SHARKS TABLE 1. Distribution and abundance of Devonian and Carboniferous chondrichthyan teeth from the Lennard Shelf, Canning Basin, Western Australia. Oscar Hill Laurel Downs Localities (Famennian) (Tournaisian) Taxa Sample OH-2 OH-4 LG-1 198404 198480 TS-1 Ageleodus sp. ---1-3 Phoebodus cf. turnerae -1---- Thrinacodus