Age constraints on Pleistocene megafauna at Tight Entrance Cave in southwestern Australia
Date
2008
Authors
Ayliffe, Linda
Prideaux, Gavin
Bird, Michael
Grun, Rainer
Roberts, Richard
Gully, Grant
Jones, Rhys
Fifield, L Keith
Cresswell, Richard
Journal Title
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Volume Title
Publisher
Pergamon-Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
A well-stratified succession of fossiliferous sediments occurs in Tight Entrance Cave, southwestern Australia. These infill deposits contain the remains of megafauna and have accumulated intermittently since the Middle Pleistocene: >137, 137-119 and 50-29 ka, according to the results of14C, U-Th, ESR and OSL dating techniques. Megafaunal species richness was highest in the latest part of the penultimate glacial maximum and during the subsequent last interglacial (137-119 ka), but remains are less abundant following an apparent ∼70 ka depositional hiatus in the sequence. Most megafaunal specimens from the upper (<44 ka) units are fragmentary, and reworking from older strata cannot yet be ruled out. However, one specimen of Simosthenurus occidentalis (a large extinct kangaroo), a pair of articulated dentaries showing no signs of secondary transportation, was found within a sedimentary layer deposited between 48 and 50 ka. This represents one of the youngest demonstrably in situ occurrences of an Australian megafaunal taxon. Crown
Description
Keywords
Keywords: Landforms; Sedimentation; Australia; Megafauna; Pleistocene; Vehicular tunnels; age structure; dating method; depositional sequence; fauna; infill; interglacial; marsupial; Pleistocene; sedimentary structure; species richness; Australasia; Australia
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Source
Quaternary Science Reviews
Type
Journal article
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2037-12-31