Bluff Downs fossil site
The Bluff Downs fossil site is a paleontological site of Pliocene age in northern Queensland, Australia, and is the most significant fossil site of the Pliocene age in Australia. The fossil site lies on the banks of Allingham Creek on the pastoral property of Bluff Downs Station.[1]
Fossil fauna
The Bluff Downs fossils are about four million years old, dating from the Pliocene period. Geologically they come from the Allingham Formation which comprises a sequence of terrigenous clays, silts, sands, calcareous sands and limestones.[2] In the Pliocene the site was a wetland environment containing a diverse fauna, including fish, reptiles, birds and mammals. Examples are the:[1]
- Bluff Downs giant python (Liasis dubudingala), which grew up to 10 m in length
- Bluff Downs giant goanna (Megalania sp.)
- Bluff Downs bandicoot (Perameles allinghamensis)
Dating
Precise dating of vertebrate fossil sites in Australia is rare, and many tertiary sediments remain undated.[3] However, the Bluff Downs Local Fauna can be attributed a minimum age due to the presence of a basalt layer overlying the fossiliferious deposit, known as the Bluff Downs Flow. This basalt flow has been dated to 3.62 ±0.5 million years old by Mackness et al.[3]
References
Notes
- ^ a b Australian Museum
- ^ Rich et al. (1982).
- ^ a b Mackness, B. S.; Whitehead, P. W.; McNamara, G. C. (2000-08-XX). "New potassium‐argon basalt date in relation to the Pliocene Bluff Downs Local Fauna, northern Australia". Australian Journal of Earth Sciences. 47 (4): 807–811. doi:10.1046/j.1440-0952.2000.00812.x. ISSN 0812-0099.
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Sources
- Rich, T.H.; Archer, M.; Plane, M.; Flannery, T.F.; Pledge, N.S.; Hand, S. & Rich, P.V. (1982). Australian Tertiary mammal localities. In: "The Fossil Vertebrate Record of Australasia", (ed P.V. Rich & E.M. Thompson). Melbourne: Monash University. pp. 525–572. ISBN 0-86746-153-5.
- "Bluff Downs". Fossil sites of Australia. Australian Museum. 11 August 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2011.
19°41′S 145°33′E / 19.683°S 145.550°E
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