Coral Fossils from Silurian New South Wales and Devonian Western Australia

Western Australian Devonian coral faunas from the West Kimberleys, East Kimberleys, and Carnarvon Basin, including 30 described species from the West Kimberleys. The dataset also includes fragmentary Silurian coral material from near Kiandra in southern New South Wales. It was published by Geoscience Australia Data and last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Biostratigraphic correlation based on described coral species and their geological formations.
• Studying faunal provincialism between eastern and western Australian basins during the Devonian period.
• Analyzing taxonomic composition and dominance of genera like Disphyllum within specific limestone units.

Strengths

• Describes 30 species from the West Kimberley region, with 22 from the Pilbara Limestone.
• Includes taxonomic descriptions and illustrations, and introduces a new genus, Catactotoechus.
• Provides specific geological context, correlating faunas with Givetian and Frasnian age stages.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data is presented in PDF/HTML formats, which may require extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Geoscience Australia Data

Collection Method

Scientific description and illustration of fossil specimens.

Time Range

Silurian (likely Wenlockian to Ludlovian) and Devonian (Givetian to Famennian) periods.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-20 02:02:17.412661; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales (Silurian) and Western Australia (Devonian), including the Kimberley and Carnarvon Basin regions.