Australian Bryozoa Fossils from Ordovician to Devonian Periods

A study investigates early Palaeozoic Bryozoa skeletal structures and species distribution across Australian stratigraphic successions. The work compiles findings from areas in central-western New South Wales and the Fitzroy Basin where bryozoan faunas were located. The dataset is provided by the Australian Ocean Data Network and was last updated in April 2026.

Use Cases

• Analyzing species distribution patterns across different stratigraphic successions like the Yass-Taemas and Tamworth districts.
• Studying the development of skeletal structures in zoaria from described bryozoan samples.
• Investigating faunal abundance and discontinuity in sequences such as the Middle and Upper Devonian of the Fitzroy Basin.
• Cataloging isolated species occurrences where only two or three species have been collected from a sample.

Strengths

• Focus on three major geological periods: Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian.
• Data includes specific geographical areas like central-western New South Wales and the Fitzroy Basin.

Limitations

• Bryozoan faunas are not continuously distributed through any considerable thickness of succession.
• Many samples represent isolated occurrences with limited species diversity.
• Primary data formats are PDF and HTML, which may require manual extraction for computational analysis.

Provenance

Source

Australian Ocean Data Network

Collection Method

Field investigation and collection by parties such as the Bureau of Mineral Resources, followed by descriptive study.

Time Range

Covers the Ordovician, Silurian, and Devonian periods.

Freshness

null

Geography

Australia, specifically areas in New South Wales (e.g., Yass-Taemas, Tamworth districts, central-western NSW) and the Fitzroy Basin.