The vertebrate fossil collection record from the Chinchilla Sand, South–East Queensland, 1844-2021

Abstract

Since the mid-1840s a diverse fossil vertebrate assemblage, referred to as the Chinchilla Local Fauna, has been collected from the Pliocene deposits of the Chinchilla Sand on the western Darling Downs of South-East Queensland. In large part because of this long history and the numerous collectors who have worked fossil deposits in the area, much ambiguity regarding site and locality names and their specific coordinates exists. Here, we review the vertebrate fossil collection records in the Queensland Museum Fossil, Donor, Collector and Locality Registers, correspondence, and field notes in an effort to pinpoint the location of each named locality and site and develop a digital map which highlights the historical collecting sites at one significant locality in the Chinchilla area. To ensure that a systematic framework for all future collecting from the main collecting area (Chinchilla Rifle Range) is maintained, we recommend the use of consistent nomenclature for sites so that spatial information of the highest possible quality is captured into the future. We recommend future collections include detailed recordings of stratigraphic contexts as well as GPS coordinates.

Coal, Bees and Fossils: The History and Significance of the Redbank Plains Formation Fossil Sites, South East Queensland

“…Fossil sites are today sometimes recognised by local communities, particularly if they have been studied over many years (e.g. the Chinchilla Local Fauna in southern Queensland (Wilkinson et al, 2021)). Sometimes they are managed to advance the economic and tourism interests of the community: for example, Ulladulla in New South Wales, or the Winton and Eromanga dinosaur sites in outback Queensland, all now popular palaeo-tourism destinations.…”

Crocodile Tooth Histology from a Pliocene Deposit in Chinchilla, Queensland

“…Chinchilla Sand (previously 'Chinchilla For mation ' Woods, 1956) is a collective of fluviatile deposits that extend for approximately 65 km between Nangram Lagoon and Warra, being predominately exposed along the Condamine River in Queensland (Price, 2012). Most, if not all known fossil deposits recovered from this region date to the Pliocene (Bartholomai & Woods, 1976;Wilkinson et al, 2021). Palaeontological surveys and collection from the Chinchilla Sand have recovered at least 63 taxa of fauna spanning fish, reptiles, birds and mammals (Louys & Price, 2015).…”