Figure 1.
Plan view of the distribution of the two skeletal deposits in relation to the trackways at the Victorian Volcanic Plains site.
Table 1.
Body fossil deposit dimensions.
Figure 2.
Fossil footprints from the VVP site.
(a) large macropodid tracks, identified in [12] as probably belonging to the extinct macropodid Protemnodon, illustrating deformational characteristics that give clues as to the paleoenvironment of the trackway surface; (b) diprotodontid pes print, identified in [12] as belonging to Diprotodon; (c) a diprotodontid pes print overprinting a vombatid trackway; (d) possible Thylacoleo prints, black arrows point to digital impressions; all scale bars equal 100 mm, yellow arrows point to marginal ridges, red arrows to ejecta and white arrows to adhesion ridges.
Figure 3.
Ripple and bone orientation at the VVP site.
(a) Rose diagram showing generally NNE-SSW alignment of elongate bones from skeletal accumulation 2. The mean (arrowed) of 48 measurements is 14° (95% confidence interval ±35°). (b) Rose diagram showing generally westward transport direction of straight-crested and linguoid ripples. The mean transport direction (arrow) is to 278° (95% confidence interval ±4°). The steeper face of each ripple is the lee slope. In the small proportion of ripples that are symmetrical, it is assumed that they were formed by waves travelling westward (onshore). Software used is Holcombe's GEOrient.
Figure 4.
Bite marks on bones from the VVP skeletal deposits.
(a) MV P231884 small Macropus ilium with paired v-shaped incisions cf. Thylacoleo; (b) MV P231885 Macropus 4th metatarsal with v-shaped incisions cf. Thylacoleo; (c) MV P231886 distal Macropus giganteus tibial shaft with rodent gnawing, arrows indicate root etching; (d) MV P231887 M. giganteus tibial shaft with possible dasyurid bite marks; (e) MV P230123 macropodid limb fragment with depressed punctures cf. Sarcophilus; (f) MV P231888 chewed Macropus proximal 4th metatarsal cf. Sarcophilus; (g) MV P230103 Macropus distal 4th metatarsal with paired ?Sarcophilus canine or ?Thylacoleo incisor punctures; (h) MV P230090 small Macropus proximal 4th metatarsal with bite marks and digestion damage cf. Sarcophilus. All scale bars equal 10 mm.
Figure 5.
Relative abundance of taxa represented by trace and skeletal fossils.
Graph displaying the number of individuals represented by trackways and body (skeletal) fossils at the VVP site. Taxa are arranged by approximate body mass, largest to smallest. † indicates extinct taxa, ∧ the taxa responsible for the macropodid and vombatid tracks at the site may be extinct.
Figure 6.
Proportional representation of taxa by trace and body fossils.
Proportions of organisms represented by body (skeletal) fossils (a) and trace (footprint) fossils (b).
Table 2.
Taxa represented in the VVP fossil deposits.