The leptolepid fish Cavenderichthys talbragarensis (Woodward, 1895) from the Talbragar Fish Bed (Late Jurassic) near Gulgong, New South Wales

WA Museum Records and Supplements | Updated 7 years ago

ABSTRACT – "Leptolepis" talbragarensis Woodward, 1895, is the most common fish species in the Talbragar Fish Bed near Gulgong, New South Wales. The genus Cavenderichthys Arratia, 1997, has this species as its type. The three species originally proposed by Woodward (1895) for "Leptolepis" are a single species. A detailed comparison of Cavenderichthys talbragarensis with members of the genus Leptolepis, and also with the Late Jurassic forms Tharsis dubius and Leptolepides sprattiformis, indicates that Cavenderichthys talbragarensis is most closely related to Late Jurassic members of the Family Leptolepididae. Analysis of zircons for geochronology showed that the sediment just below the richest fish layer has a youngest component of 151.55 ± 4.27 Ma, corresponding to the Kimmeridgian Stage of the Late Jurassic. Thin sections of the upper prolific fish layer show preservation in tuffaceous sediments, indicating that the fish population was killed by ash falls of felsic tuff that filled the pond they inhabited.