The Snowy Plains Formation is a fossiliferous formation of the Mansfield Group, which had yielded most of the historically described Carboniferous fish taxa in Australia, located near Mansfield, Victoria. Specifically, it is of early Tournaisian age, the oldest subdivision of the Mississippian.Warren, Anne; Currie, Bryan P.; Burrow, Carole; Turner, Susan. (2000). A redescription and reinterpretation of Gyracanthides murrayi Woodward 1906 (Acanthodii, Gyracanthidae) from the Lower Carboniferous of the Mansfield Basin, Victoria, Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 20(2), 225–242. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0225:ARAROG]2.0.CO;2 Long, J.A., Niedźwiedzki, G., Garvey, J. et al. Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution. Nature 641, 1193–1200 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-08884-5
Although the Snowy Plains Formation is most notable for its fossils of various fish, it has also been the discovery site of several ichnotaxa.Jillian M. Garvey; Stephen T. Hasiotis. (2008). An ichnofossil assemblage from the Lower Carboniferous Snowy Plains Formation, Mansfield Basin, Australia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 258(4), 0–276. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.11.002
The formation consists of the following members, in descending order (youngest to oldest): Devil's Plain Siltstone, Hearns Mudstone, Lanky Creek Sandstone, Buttercup Sandstone, Home Station Sandstone, Ashwin Siltstone, and Dungeon Gully Sandstone.Garvey, Jillian & Hasiotis, Stephen. (2008). An ichnofossil assemblage from the Lower Carboniferous Snowy Plains Formation, Mansfield Basin, Australia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 258. 257-276. 10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.11.002.
History The age of the Mansfield fish fauna of the formation was once determined to be of Late Devonian age by George Sweet in 1889 and Frederick McCoy in 1890, on the basis that the lithology of the rock strata was similar to the Old Red Sandstone of the Late Devonian in Scotland, and that the fossil taxa were similar. However, it was later determined by Arthur S. Woodward in 1906 that the fauna were actually of Carboniferous age, due to similarities with other Carboniferous fish faunas of Europe and America, and concluded that McCoy's account was mostly erroneous.Woodward, Arthur Smith. (1906). On a Carboniferous fish fauna from the Mansfield district, Victoria. Memoirs of the National Museum, Melbourne, 1, 1--32. https://doi.org/10.24199/j.mmv.1906.1.01 In more recent decades, it appeared that Eupleurogmus creswelli could no longer be substantiated due to insufficient material, and Acanthodes australis could not be identified at the species level. However, later works continue to include E. creswelli and A. australis.
Fossil Content
Actinopterygii GenusSpeciesCladeImagesMansfieldiscusM. sweeti(Formerly Elonichthys sweeti)Basden, Alison & Young, Gavin. (2001). A primitive actinopterygian neurocranium from the Early Devonian of Southeastern Australia. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology - J VERTEBRATE PALEONTOL. 21: 754–766 (p. 757). 10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0754:APANFT]2.0.CO;2.Palaeonisciformes,Palaeoniscoidea?M. sp.Garvey, Jillian & Turner, Susan. (2006). Vertebrate microremains from the presumed earliest Carboniferous of the Mansfield Basin, Victoria. Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 30. 43-62. 10.1080/03115510608619344.NovogonatodusN. gibbus(Formerly Elonichthys gibbus)Palaeonisciformes,PalaeoniscoideaN. kasantsevaeLong, John. (1988). New Palaeoniscoid fishes from the Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia.. Memoirs of the Australasian Association of Palaeontologists. 7. 1-64.
Chondrichthyes GenusSpeciesCladeImagesAcanthodesA. australisAcanthodiformes,AcanthodidaeA. sp.AgeleodusA. altusElasmobranchiiincertae sedisCtenacanthusC. sp.Euselachii,CtenacanthidaeEupleurogmusE. creswelliAcanthodiformes,AcanthodidaeGyracanthidesG. murrayiClimatiiformes,Gyracanthidae?Tristychius?T. sp.Euselachii, TristychiidaeAcanthodii indet.sp. indet.Acanthodiiincertae sedisHybodontoidea gen. et sp. indet.sp. indet.Euselachii(Hybodontiformes incertae sedis)
Sarcopterygii GenusSpeciesCladeImagesBaramedaB. decipiensJohanson, Z., Barrett, P. M., Richter, M. & Smith, M. (eds) Arthur Smith Woodward: His Life and Influence on Modern Vertebrate Palaeontology. Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 430, http://doi.org/10.1144/SP430.15Rhizodontida,RhizodontidaeB. mitchelliHolland, T., Warren, A., Johanson, Z., Long, J., Parker, K., & Garvey, J. (2007). A new species of Barameda (Rhizodontida) and heterochrony in the rhizodontid pectoral fin. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 27(2), 295–315. https://doi.org/10.1671/0272-4634(2007)27[295:ANSOBR]2.0.CO;2Delatitia D. breviceps (Formerly Ctenodus breviceps)J. A. Long & K. S. W. Campbell. (1985). A new lungfish from the Lower Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 97. 87-93.Dipnoi incertae sedis
Ichnotaxa GenusSpeciesNotesImagesCruziana C. problematica Varies in size and surficial morphology due to animal behaviour. Possibly a result of an arthropod ploughing into the sandy sediment to feef.FuersichnusF. commerfordiPossibly made by insect larvae.MargaritichnusM. mansfieldiLikely to have been made by a bivalve.PalaeophycusP. tubularisBranching tubular burrows, possibly by an arthropod.PlaticytesP. lioparadusUnbranched tubular burrows, possibly by an arthropod. Rusophycus R. biloba Likely to have been produced by a non-trilobite arthropod. R. eutendorfensis R. jenningsi R. sp.SagittichnusS. linckiPossibly made by an ostrocod.
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