ABSTRACT

Fossil collections housed in museums are a rich source of data for palaeontologists; however, some early collections lack detailed contextual information. The Naracoorte Caves in South Australia contain World Heritage listed Quaternary vertebrate fossil accumulations, particularly those of large, extinct mammals. The first recorded collection of extinct Pleistocene large mammal fossils from Naracoorte was from Specimen Cave in 1908. Unfortunately, these fossils were collected without stratigraphic and contextual information and so lack the detail required to relate them and their provenance to new excavations in the cave. As a result, the scientific value of this fossil collection is greatly reduced. Here we report on our research into the history of fossil collecting in Specimen Cave and recover information on the stratigraphic provenance and age of the 1908 fossil collection. We analysed newspaper articles, reports, written correspondence and cave inscriptions. Our research confirmed that the 1908 collection originated from the same area as the modern excavation and revealed a history of exploration and excavation work within the cave. Our research also led to the discovery of a cave inscription that contains the name of William Reddan, an important historical figure of the Naracoorte Caves and the first person to report the Specimen Cave fossil material. These findings place the 1908 fossil collection within the current geochronological context for the site and greatly increase the scientific value of this important material.

摘要

博物馆中的化石收藏品是古生物学家的丰富数据来源；然而，一些早期的收藏品缺乏详细的背景信息。南澳大利亚的 Naracoorte Caves 包含列入世界遗产名录的第四纪脊椎动物化石堆积，尤其是大型已灭绝哺乳动物的化石堆积。Naracoorte 的第一个已灭绝更新世大型哺乳动物化石的记录收集于 1908 年来自标本洞穴。不幸的是，这些化石是在没有地层学和背景信息的情况下收集的，因此缺乏将它们及其来源与洞穴中的新发掘联系起来所需的详细信息。结果，这批化石收藏品的科学价值大打折扣。在这里，我们报告了我们对标本洞穴化石收集历史的研究，并恢复了有关 1908 年化石收集的地层来源和年龄的信息。我们分析了报纸文章、报告、书面信件和洞穴铭文。我们的研究证实，1908 年的藏品与现代发掘起源于同一地区，并揭示了洞穴内勘探和挖掘工作的历史。我们的研究还导致发现了一个洞穴铭文，其中包含 William Reddan 的名字，他是 Naracoorte 洞穴的重要历史人物，也是第一个报告标本洞穴化石材料的人。这些发现将 1908 年的化石收藏置于该地点当前的地质年代学背景下，并大大提高了这一重要材料的科学价值。