Cainozoic and Pleistocene Reptiles.—
The later Cainozoic deposits of Queensland contain remains of Crocodiles referred to Pallymnarchus pollens (from Maryvale Creek) and Crocodilus porosus (from Chinchilla and Arcola, near Brisbane, Queensland). The former species has also occurred at Clunes, whilst Crocodilus porosus is recorded from the Loddon Valley, both in Victoria. Another late Tertiary reptile is the remarkable Horned Turtle, Miolania oweni, which is found in Queensland in Pleistocene deposits ([Fig. 134 D]), and in the Pliocene (Deep Leads) of Gulgong, New South Wales; whilst a second species of the same genus, M. platyceps, is found in coral sand at Lord Howe Island, 400 miles distant from Australia. This genus has a skull with large bony protuberances, giving it a horned appearance, and the tail is encased in a bony sheath. A species of Miolania is also described from Patagonia. The Cave deposits of Wellington Valley, New South Wales, as well as the fluviatile deposits of Queensland, have, yielded the bones of several genera of lizards, including the Giant Lizard (Megalania), which, in its length of 20 feet exceeded that of most living crocodiles.
Birds.—
BIRDS (AVES).—These warm-blooded animals are closely related to Reptiles in many essential particulars; and are generally considered to more nearly approach the Deinosaurs than any other group. The Ratitae (“Raft-breasted” or keel-less birds) and Carinatae (with keeled breast-bones), a sub-class including most modern birds, were probably differentiated before the Cainozoic period.
Jurassic Bird.—
The oldest recorded bird, the remarkable Archaeopteryx, of the Upper Jurassic of Bavaria in Europe, belonging to the Saururae (Reptilian-tailed) is, so far, restricted to the beds of that age.
Miocene Bird, New Zealand.—
The earliest known birds in Australasia occur in the Miocene rocks (Oamaru Series), of New Zealand. In this series, in the Marawhenua Greensands, a Giant Penguin, Palaeeudyptes antarcticus is found at Kakanui near Oamaru, at Curiosity Shop near Christchurch and at Brighton near Nelson, New Zealand: this interesting occurrence shows that these restricted antarctic birds had already become an established type as early as the Miocene.
Victorian Cainozoic Bird.—