Snowy Plains Formation

Snowy Plains Formation
Stratigraphic range: Mississippian (Tournaisian), 358.8–354 Ma
TypeGeological formation
Unit ofMansfield Group
OverliesDevonian rocks
ThicknessBetween 250 m (820 ft) to 500 m (1,600 ft) (Home Station Sandstone Member)
Lithology
PrimarySiltstone, mudstone, sandstone
Location
LocationMansfield, Victoria
Coordinates37°03′0″S 146°05′0″E / 37.05000°S 146.08333°E / -37.05000; 146.08333
RegionVictoria
CountryAustralia
Snowy Plains Formation is located in Australia
Snowy Plains Formation
Snowy Plains Formation (Australia)
Snowy Plains Formation is located in Victoria
Snowy Plains Formation
Snowy Plains Formation (Victoria)

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 epoch.

Although the Snowy Plains Formation is most notable for its body fossils of various fish, it has also been the discovery site of several ichnotaxa.

The formation consists of the following members, in descending order (youngest to oldest):

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 erroneous. 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

Color key
Taxon Reclassified taxon Taxon falsely reported as present Dubious taxon or junior synonym Ichnotaxon Ootaxon Morphotaxon

Notes
Uncertain or tentative taxa are in small text
crossed out taxa are discredited.

Actinopterygians of the Snowy Plains Formation
Genus Species Clade Images
Mansfieldiscus M. sweeti
(Formerly Elonichthys sweeti)		 Palaeonisciformes,
Palaeoniscoidea
?M. sp.
Novogonatodus N. gibbus
(Formerly Elonichthys gibbus)		 Palaeonisciformes,
Palaeoniscoidea
N. kasantsevae
Chondrichthyans of the Snowy Plains Formation
Genus Species Clade Images
Acanthodes A. australis Acanthodiformes,
Acanthodidae
Restoration of Acanthodes lopatini.
A. sp.
Ageleodus A. altus Elasmobranchii
incertae sedis
Tooth of Ageleodus pectinatus.
Ctenacanthus C. sp. Euselachii,
Ctenacanthidae
Life restoration of Ctenacanthus sp.
Eupleurogmus E. creswelli Acanthodiformes,
Acanthodidae
Gyracanthides G. murrayi Climatiiformes,
Gyracanthidae
Restoration of Gyracanthides murrayi.
?Tristychius ?T. sp. Euselachii,

Tristychiidae
Acanthodii indet. sp. indet. Acanthodii
incertae sedis
Hybodontoidea

gen. et sp. indet.

 sp. indet. Euselachii
(Hybodontiformes incertae sedis)
Sarcopterygians of the Snowy Plains Formation
Genus Species Clade Images
Barameda B. decipiens Rhizodontida,
Rhizodontidae
Reconstruction of the rhizodontiform fish, Barameda decipiens.
B. mitchelli
Delatitia D. breviceps

(Formerly Ctenodus breviceps)

 Dipnoi incertae sedis
Ichnotaxa of the Snowy Plains Formation
Genus Species Notes Images

Cruziana

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.

Fuersichnus

F. commerfordi

Possibly made by insect larvae.

Margaritichnus

M. mansfieldi

Likely to have been made by a bivalve.

Palaeophycus

P. tubularis

Branching tubular burrows, possibly by an arthropod.

Platicytes

P. lioparadus

Unbranched 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.

Sagittichnus

S. lincki

Possibly made by an ostrocod.

References

  1. 1 2 Long, J. A.; Campbell, K. S.W. (1985). "A new lungfish from the Lower Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. 97 (1–2): 87–93. ISSN 0035-9211.
  2. 1 2 3 Warren, Anne; Currie, Bryan P.; Burrow, Carole; Turner, Susan (2000-06-27). "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). Taylor & Francis: 225–242. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2000)020[0225:ARAROG]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
  3. ↑ Long, John A.; Niedźwiedzki, Grzegorz; Garvey, Jillian; Clement, Alice M.; Camens, Aaron B.; Eury, Craig A.; Eason, John; Ahlberg, Per E. (2025-05-29). "Earliest amniote tracks recalibrate the timeline of tetrapod evolution". Nature. 641 (8065): 1193–1200. doi:10.1038/s41586-025-08884-5. ISSN 0028-0836. PMC 12119326. PMID 40369062.
  4. 1 2 Garvey, Jillian M.; Hasiotis, Stephen T. (2008-02-27). "An ichnofossil assemblage from the Lower Carboniferous Snowy Plains Formation, Mansfield Basin, Australia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 258 (4): 257–276. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.11.002. ISSN 0031-0182.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Garvey, Jillian M.; Hasiotis, Stephen T. (2008). "An ichnofossil assemblage from the Lower Carboniferous Snowy Plains Formation, Mansfield Basin, Australia". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 258 (4): 257–276. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2007.11.002.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "On a Carboniferous fish fauna from the Mansfield district, Victoria | Collections & research". Museums Victoria. doi:10.24199/j.mmv.1906.1.01. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  7. ↑ Basden, Alison M.; Young, Gavin C. (2001-12-14). "A primitive actinopterygian neurocranium from the Early Devonian of southeastern Australia". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. 21 (4). Taylor & Francis: 754–766. doi:10.1671/0272-4634(2001)021[0754:APANFT]2.0.CO;2. ISSN 0272-4634.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Garvey, Jillian M.; Turner, Susan (2006). "Vertebrate microremains from the presumed earliest Carboniferous of the Mansfield Basin, Victoria". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 30 (1): 43–62. doi:10.1080/03115510608619344. ISSN 0311-5518.
  9. 1 2 Turner, Susan; Long, John (2016). "The Woodward factor: Arthur Smith Woodward's legacy to geology in Australia and Antarctica". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 430 (1): 261–288. doi:10.1144/SP430.15. ISSN 0305-8719.
  10. ↑ Long, John. "New Palaeoniscoid fishes from the Late Devonian - Early Carboniferous of Victoria, Australia". Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists.
  11. ↑ Holland, 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;2