Early Carboniferous Benthic Marine Fossil Communities from New South Wales

Australian Ocean Data Network hosts a dataset describing four gradational benthic marine fossil communities from the Early Carboniferous Rhipidomella fortimuscula Zone in New South Wales. The communities were identified using multivariate cluster analysis of bulk samples from fossiliferous horizons. The dataset likely contains species abundance and distribution data for brachiopod and invertebrate filter-feeder populations.

Use Cases

• Analyze gradational community boundaries based on the Whittaker community concept described.
• Compare species diversity and abundance between the four identified communities (Balanoconcha elliptica, Rhipidomella fortimuscula, Tylothyris planimedia, Marginicintus reticulatus).
• Study the impact of environmental parameters like water turbulence and sediment concentration on fossil community composition.
• Investigate the patchy distribution of species populations evident in the fossil record as described.

Strengths

• Identifies four distinct fossil communities using multivariate cluster analysis.
• Based on bulk sampling, which allows identification by distribution and abundance of all species.
• Describes a gradational community model (Whittaker concept) rather than fixed associations.
• Compares the time-averaged nature of fossil communities to modern surveys.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Data may reflect geographic and temporal bias inherent to the specific fossiliferous horizons sampled.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Multivariate (cluster) analysis of bulk samples extracted from fossiliferous horizons.

Time Range

Late Visean (Early Carboniferous)

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-05 01:15:58.944429; freshness should be verified.

Geography

New South Wales, Australia