Yurlunggur sp.

Louys, Julien & Price, Gilbert J., 2015, The Chinchilla Local Fauna: An exceptionally rich and well-preserved Pliocene vertebrate assemblage from fluviatile deposits of south-eastern Queensland, Australia, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 60 (3), pp. 551-572 : 557

Yurlunggur sp.

Material.— QM F30560 (cast of a vertebra) from Chinchilla Rifle Range, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks. — Mackness and Scanlon (1999) referred the first snake fossil described from the Chinchilla Sand to Yurlunggur sp. While assigned a QM number, the specimen has never been received by the museum.

Class Aves Linneaus, 1758

Order Casuariiformes Sclater, 1880

Family Casuariidae Kaup, 1847

Genus Dromaius Vieillot, 1816

Type species: Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) , Syndey, New South Wales, Recent .

Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790) Fig. 5K .

Material.—QM F56203 (third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus) likely from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks. — De Vis (1892: 446) described several specimens (QM F1121, QM F56202 [originally QM F1143, in part], QM F56204 [originally QM F1143, in part] and a “calcaneal region of another metatarse” [specimen missing] which he referred to Dromaius patricius . De Vis (1892) also erected a new species of emu, D. gracileps (QM F1142) and kiwi, Metapteryx bifrons (QM F1135) . All three species were synonymised with the modern emu D. novaehollandiae by Patterson and Rich (1987). These authors described an additional specimen, also originally numbered QM F1143—a third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus (QM F56203)—and assigned it to D. novaehollandiae . Confusingly, three D. novaehollandiae specimens were registered, in addition to a specimen referred to Leipoa (Progura) gallinacea , as QM F1143. In order to avoid further confusion, all the D. novaehollandiae specimens have now been assigned new, individual QM F numbers (QM F56202–F56204).

De Vis (1892) did not give a location for any of these specimens, but it is likely that all his specimens came from Chinchilla, following Olson’s (1975) inference regarding the origin of the specimens described by de Vis (1888c) (see Remarks for Gallinula morterii ). It is unclear why Patterson and Rich (1987) only identified one of the original QM F1143 specimens (the third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus, QM F56203) as coming from Chinchilla, the other two being ascribed to the eastern Darling Downs. That designation is reflected on both specimen labels, and yet the QM registry book records all four specimens originally registered as QM F1143 as coming from the “Darling Downs”. We accept a “Darling Downs” provenance (inclusive of both the Pleistocene eastern Darling Downs and the Pliocene western Darling Downs), although we consider it likely that all four specimens (three D. novaehollandiae and one L. gallinacea) originally registered as QM F1143, are from Chinchilla.

Finally, it does not appear that de Vis (1892) mentioned the third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus (QM F56203) described by Patterson and Rich (1987); however, de Vis probably recorded this specimen as a “calcaneal region of another metatarse” ( de Vis 1892: 446). If correct, this would: (i) explain why all three QM F1143 emu specimens were given the same registration number; (ii) account for the missing “calcaneal region” specimen; and (iii) resolve the disparity in locations recorded for the different specimens.

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to Pleistocene; Australia.

Order Galliformes Temmink, 1820

Family Megapodiidae Lesson, 1831

Genus Leipoa Gould, 1840

Type species: Leipoa ocellata Gould, 1840 , Australia, Recent .

Leipoa gallinacea (de Vis, 1888) Fig. 5B .

Material.—QM F1132 (partial carpometacarpus) and QM F5558 (partial scapula) from Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene.

Remarks.—These two Chinchilla specimens, one assigned to Chosornis praeteritus by de Vis (1889a) and the other to Otididae sp. indet. by de Vis (1888c) were subsequently referred to Progura gallinancea by van Tets (1974). Progura was subsumed into Leipoa by Boles (2008).

Stratigraphic and geographic range.—Pliocene to Pleistocene; eastern Australia.

Order Anseriformes (Wagler, 1831)

Family Anatidae (Leach, 1819)

Genus Biziura Stephens, 1824

Type species: Biziura lobata Shaw, 1796 , Australia, Recent .

Figures

Fig. 5. Birds from unspecified localities near Chinchilla, Australia, Pliocene. A. Aythya australis Eyton, 1838, QM F1124, left tibiotarsus. B. Leipoa gallinacean (de Vis, 1888), QM F1132, partial carpometacarpus. C. Biziura lobata Shaw, 1796, QM F1125, partial left humerus. D. Anas superciliosa Gmelin, 1789, QM F5550, left coracoid. E. Fulica atra Linneaus, 1758, QM F1129, proximal right humerus. F. Gallinula morterii du Bus, 1840, QM F1138, distal right humerus.G. Charadriiformes gen.et sp.indet., QM F5543, proximal left femur.H. Necrastur alecer de Vis, 1892, QM F1136, proximal right humerus. I. Microcarbo melanoleucos Vieillot, 1817, QM F1130, right humerus. J. Ciconia nana (de Vis, 1888), QM F1131, distal right tibiotarsus. K. Dromaius novaehollandiae (Latham, 1790), QM F56203, third trochlea of the tarsometatarsus. Scale bars 10 mm.