The Early Devonian palaeobiogeography of Eastern Australasia

Abstract

Biogeographical analyses of Devonian Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) have previously presented a narrative approach to the interrelationships of continental faunal provinces. Useful for the creation of biotic hypotheses, similarities and differences between biotic provinces remains untested. This study seeks to propose the first regional faunal provinces allowing a test of geological and biotic hypotheses using Parsimony Analysis of Endemicity. The relationships of eastern Australasian terranes were tested through the hierarchical analysis of faunal composition. Biochorologic sub-provinces were proposed using geo-spatial computer software and analysed through phylogenetic software that resulted in the formalisation of 20 biochorologic sub-provinces. The relationships between these units show a significant holdover of Silurian species, the interactions between convergent terranes and the continental margin, the distinct history of the Lachlan Fold Belt terranes, and offers biotic support for the existence of the Tasmanian microcontinent Vandieland.