The identification of Oligo-Miocene mammalian palaeocommunities from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, Australia and an appraisal of palaeoecological techniques.

Troy J Myers,Michael Archer,Karen H Black,Suzanne J Hand

doi:10.7717/peerj.3511

Abstract

Fourteen of the best sampled Oligo-Miocene local faunas from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, north-western Queensland, Australia are analysed using classification and ordination techniques to identify potential mammalian palaeocommunities and palaeocommunity types. Abundance data for these faunas are used, for the first time, in conjunction with presence/absence data. An early Miocene Faunal Zone B and two middle Miocene Faunal Zone C palaeocommunities are recognised, as well as one palaeocommunity type. Change in palaeocommunity structure, between the early Miocene and middle Miocene, may be the result of significant climate change during the Miocene Carbon Isotope Excursion. The complexes of local faunas identified will allow researchers to use novel palaeocommunities in future analyses of Riversleigh’s fossil faunas. The utility of some palaeoecological multivariate indices and techniques is examined. The Dice index is found to outperform other binary similarity/distance coefficients, while the UPGMA algorithm is more useful than neighbour joining. Evidence is equivocal for the usefulness of presence/absence data compared to abundance.

Highlights

Over 200 fossil localities spanning the late Oligocene to late Pleistocene have been identified from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in north-western Queensland (Fig. 1; Archer et al, 1989; Archer, Hand & Godthelp, 1995)
Of evolution biocorrelation: (Archer et al, 1989; Archer, Hand & Godthelp, 1995; Archer et al, 1997; Black, 1997a, 1997b; Myers & Archer, 1997; Myers et al, 2001; Arena, 2004; Travouillon et al, 2006; Black, 2010, 2013; Arena et al, 2015) Faunal Zone A spans the late Oligocene, FZ B the early Miocene and FZ C the middle Miocene, while FZ D possibly represents the start of the late Miocene
New number of identified specimens (NISP) abundance distributions derived from POIS generalised linear models (GLMs) responses were used as datasets for all analyses requiring abundance data

Summary

Introduction

Over 200 fossil localities spanning the late Oligocene to late Pleistocene have been identified from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in north-western Queensland (Fig. 1; Archer et al, 1989; Archer, Hand & Godthelp, 1995). Of evolution biocorrelation: (Archer et al, 1989; Archer, Hand & Godthelp, 1995; Archer et al, 1997; Black, 1997a, 1997b; Myers & Archer, 1997; Myers et al, 2001; Arena, 2004; Travouillon et al, 2006; Black, 2010, 2013; Arena et al, 2015) Faunal Zone A spans the late Oligocene, FZ B the early Miocene and FZ C the middle Miocene, while FZ D possibly represents the start of the late Miocene. Ongoing radiometric (U-Pb) dating of speleothems has provided absolute dates for ten Riversleigh assemblages to date (Woodhead et al, 2011, 2016)

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Discussion

Conclusion