The Hunter Siltstone Formation is a geological unit of the Hervey Group, located near Grenfell, New South Wales, Australia. The formation dates back to the Famennian stage Late Devonian epoch, with the Grenfell fish fauna representing the youngest known Devonian non-marine assemblage of eastern Australia.Young, G. C. (1999). Preliminary report on the biostratigraphy of new placoderm discoveries in the Hervey Group (Upper Devonian) of central New South Wales. Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement No. 57, 139–150.
It records several sarcopterygians, such as the tristichopterid ‘cf. Eusthenodon sp. indet.’, formerly known as Eusthenodon gavini.Downs, J. P., Osatchuck, M. M., Goodchild, O. A., & Daeschler, E. B. (2023). Second species of Eusthenodon (Tristichopteridae, Sarcopterygii) from the Upper Devonian (Famennian) Catskill Formation of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., and a review of global Eusthenodon occurrence. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 42(5), e2201627., and the rhipidistian Grenfellia meemannae.Johanson, Z., & Ritchie, A. (2000). Rhipidistians (Sarcopterygii) from the Hunter Siltstone (Late Famennian) near Grenfell, NSW, Australia. Fossil Record, 3(1), 111–136. There are also antiarch placoderms like Bothriolepis and Remigolepis,Johanson, Z. (1997). New antiarchs (Placodermi) from the Hunter Siltstone (Famennian) near Grenfell, N.S.W. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 21(3), 191–217. and the lungfish Adelargo schultzei,Johanson, Z., & Ritchie, A. (2000). A new Late Famennian lungfish from New South Wales, Australia, and its bearing on Australian–Asian terrane relations. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 24(2), 99–118. among other species. It also records the only known occurrence of a sinolepid, Grenfellaspis branagani, from outside Asia.
Fossil content
Placodermi GenusSpeciesCladeImagesBothriolepisB. grenfellensisAntiarchi, BothriolepididaeGrenfellaspisG. branaganiA. Ritchie; Wang Shitao; Gavin C. Young; Zhang Guorui (1992). The Sinolepidae, a family of antiarchs (placoderm fishes) from the Devonian of South China and eastern Australia. Records of the Australian Museum, 44(3), 319–370.Antiarchi, SinolepidaeGroenlandaspisG. sp.Ritchie, A. (1975). Groenlandaspis in Antarctica, Australia and Europe. Nature, 254, 569–573.Arthrodira, GroenlandaspididaeRemigolepisR. redcliffensisAntiarchi, Remigolepidae
Sarcopterygii GenusSpeciesCladeImagesAdelargoA. schultzeiDipnoi incertae sedisGrenfellacanthusG. zerinaeLong, J. A., Burrow, C. J., & Ritchie, A. (2004). A new Late Devonian acanthodian fish from the Hunter Formation near Grenfell, New South Wales. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology, 28(1), 147–156.Ischnacanthiformes, IschnacanthidaeGrenfelliaG. meemannaeRhipidistia incertae sedisHoloptychiusH. sp.Porolepiformes, HoloptychiidaeYambiraY. thomsoniOsteolepiformes, Osteolepididaecf. Eusthenodon (formerly Eusthenodon gavini)sp. indet.Tetrapodomorpha, TristichopteridaeHoloptychiidae gen. sp.Holoptychiidae sp.Porolepiformes, Holoptychiidae
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