The mammalian fauna of Madura Cave, Western Australia.
By: Ernest L. Lundelius, Jr. --, William D. Turnbull --.
Contributors: Turnbull, William D.
Series: Fieldiana -- new ser., no. 11; Field Museum of Natural History. Publication -- 1332; Publication (Field Museum of Natural History) -- 1332.
Publisher: Field Museum of Natural History
Published: 1982
Place of publication: Chicago
Subjects: Mammals, Fossil.; Paleontology -- Pleistocene.; Paleontology -- Australia -- Western Australia.
Description: Five species of the Order Diprotodonta are reported from the deposits of Madura Cave. -- The vombatid Lasiorhinus c.f. latifrons is represented by teeth from mostly juvenile individuals from Levels 2 through 4-5 in Trenches 1, 3, and 4. Some indeterminate juvenile specimens may represent another vombatid taxon. They are present throughout the excavated sequence (7,500-38,000 years B.P.). Several specimens are noteworthy for the preservation of some of the original tooth crown features. -- Three teeth of Phascolarctos cinereus from a level in Trench 4 dated 20,000 y B.P. imply more mesic conditions than exist at present. -- One tooth each of Trichosurus vulpecula and Pseudocheirus peregrinus was recovered from units dated 20,000 y B.P. and 15,600 y B.P., respectively. Today these taxa live in more humid environments than are found on the Nullarbor. -- Sixteen mandible and eight isolated teeth of Cercartetus concinnus came from the Pleistocene units (15,000-38,000 y B.P.), but none were found in Unit 1, the Holocene unit. -- At present none of these taxa are found in the area of Madura Cave, although Lasiorhinus latifrons occurs in similar habitats in nearby South Australia and Cercartetus concinnus is found at the eastern and western edges of the Nullarbor Plain. Phascolarctos cinereus, Pseudocheirus peregrinus, and Trichosurus vulpecula are restricted to more mesic environments, and they occur only in the 15,000- to 20,000-y B.P. interval.