| Type: | protected |
| Talbragar fossil site | |
| State: | nsw |
| Image Upright: | 1.5 |
| Relief: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | -32.1667°N 197°W |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in New South Wales |
| Url: | australianmuseum.net.au/talbragar |
| Footnotes: | [1] |
| Designation1: | RNE |
| Designation1 Offname: | Talbragar Reserve, Wonga Roo Rd, Ulan, NSW, Australia |
| Designation1 Type: | Natural |
| Designation1 Date: | 28 September 1982 |
| Designation1 Number: | 465 |
The Talbragar fossil site is a paleontological site of Late Jurassic (Tithonian) age in the central west of New South Wales, Australia. It lies about north-east of the town of Gulgong, and north-west of Sydney. The site has been known for over a century during which it has been extensively excavated to the point of near exhaustion. It is now registered as a Crown Land Reserve for the preservation of fossils; access is by permit, and the collection of rocks and fossil specimens is prohibited.[2] [3] The 4ha reserve is listed on the (now defunct) Register of the National Estate.
The fossil-bearing rocks are fine-grained siltstones and mudstones that are part of the Purlawaugh Formation. They occur mainly as loose blocks and weathered shales over an area of about 300by, with a thickness of no more than . They are thought to be the remnants of sediments from a small freshwater lake, surrounded by forest, which existed about 160 million years ago when Australia was part of Gondwana. The site is the only Jurassic fish site known in New South Wales.[2]
The fossil material consists principally of the fishes that lived in the lake, as well as plants from the forest, whose remains accumulated in the sediments on the lake bed and were preserved. Among the many species discovered are sixteen kinds of plant, such as the conifer Agathis jurassica, eight kinds of fish, several insects, and a spider.[2]
| Flora of the Talbragar fossil site | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images | |
| "Agathis" | "A." jurassica | Conifer, most common plant in assemblage. Dubiously placed in Agathis, has subsequently been placed in Podozamites, though this combination is not validly published. | |||||
| Elatocladus | E. australis | Conifer | |||||
| Brachyphyllum | Indeterminate | ||||||
| Allocladus | A. cribbii, A. milneanus | ||||||
| ?Rissikia | ?Rissikia talbragarensis | ||||||
| ?Pagiophyllum | ?Pagiophyllum peregrinum | ||||||
| Rintoulia | R. pinnata | Seed fern | |||||
| Komlopteris[4] | K. purlawaughensis | ||||||
| Nilssonia | N. compta | ||||||
| Pentoxylales | Multiple | Represented by leaves (Taeniopteris), pollen organs (Carnoconites) and seed bearing organ (Sahnia) | |||||
| Vertebrates of the Talbragar fossil site | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images | |
| Aetheolepis[6] | A. mirabilis | A dapediid | |||||
| Aphnelepis | A. australis | An archaeomaenid | |||||
| Archaeomaene | A. tenuis | An archaeomaenid | |||||
| Cavenderichthys | C. talbragarensis | A orthogonikleithrid crown-group teleost. | |||||
| "Coccolepis" | "C." australis | A coccolepidid paleopterygian, not closely related to type species of genus | |||||
| Temnospondyli[7] | Indet | Tooth | |||||
| Uarbryichthys | U. incertus, U. latus | A rare macrosemiiform actinopterygian. | |||||
| Arthropods of the Talbragar fossil site | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Genus | Species | Location | Stratigraphic position | Material | Notes | Images | |
| Talbragaraneus | T. jurassicus | Uloborid spider | |||||
| Protochares | P. brevipalpis | Hydrophilid beetle | |||||
| Wongaroo | W. amplipectorale | Cerophytid beetle | |||||
| Talbragarocossus | T. jurassicus | Palaeontinid bug | |||||
| Beattieellus | B. jurassicus | Eucnemid beetle | |||||
| Talbragaria | T. australis | Notonemourid stonefly | |||||
| Rhopalomma | R. stefaniae | Ommatid beetle | |||||
| Calosargus | C. (Calosargus) talbragarensis | Archisargid fly | |||||
| Gulgonga | G. beattiei | Praeaulacid wasp | |||||
| Juroglypholoma | J. talbragarense | Rove beetle | |||||
| Protachinus | P. minor | Rove beetle | |||||
| Talbragarus | T. averyi | Nemonychid weevil | |||||
| Austroprotolindenia | A. jurassica | Protolindeniid dragonfly | |||||