Middle Devonian rugose corals from the Fanning River Group, North Queensland, Australia

Abstract

Rich coral faunas occur within a major transgressional-regressional cycle of latest Eifelian to Givetian age at the base of the Burdekin Basin, north Queensland. This sequence is represented by the tripartite Fanning River Group, with the initial Big Bend Arkose comprising non-marine to near-shore siliciclastic deposits, followed by the predominantly carbonate Burdekin Formation developed in shallow shelf environments, and at the top, the Cultivation Gully Formation of sandstones and shales representing the concluding regressive phase. Thirty-three species and subspecies of rugose corals are described from the Fanning River Group including the following 11 new taxa: Lekanophyllum fultum zonophylloides subsp. nov., L. hillae sp. nov., Centristela speciosa sp. nov., Endophyllum columna giganteum subsp. nov., Grypophyllum crassum sp. nov., Sunophyllum simplex sp. nov., S. proteum sp. nov., Charactophyllum (Charactophyllum) burdekinense sp. nov., Temnophyllum (Temnophyllum) etheridgei sp. nov., Chostophyllum minus sp. nov., and Planetophyllum succinctum sp. nov. Three coral faunas are recognized and form the biostratigraphic framework for regional correlation of the Group. The lower coral fauna, Charactophyllum-Sunophyllum fauna, is of latest Eifelian to early Givetian age. This is succeeded by the Aphyllum salmoni fauna of early to middle Givetian age. The upper is the Endophyllum columna of middle to late Givetian age. Occurrences of Sunophyllum, Stringophyllum, Temnophyllum, Chostopbyllum, Charactophyllum, Ch. (Spinophyllum) and Centristela in the Fanning River Group suggest correlation with coral faunas of similar age from south China, central Asia, Europe and northwestern Canada.