66 



The Tintinara bore is located in the Ninety-mile Desert in 

 near proximity to a station of that name on the railway line 

 connecting Adelaide and Melbourne, Its site is sixty-two feet 

 above sea level, and the main fossiliferous deposits extend in 

 depth from 60 to 100 feet, though marine shells appear at 26 feet 

 and at 154 to 244 ft. The deposits to 154 ft. in depth consist 

 essentially of loose shell debris, with varying admixture of sand ; 

 viewed as a whole, the shell debris is, by its nature and the 

 species of molluscs represented, analogous to shell banks which 

 occur between tide-marks on sheltered beaches of to-day, such 

 for example as Hardwicke Bay. 



The majority of the species, though not living between tide- 

 marks, are those either frequent or not uncommon among the 

 accumulation of shells on many of our beaches. The accompany- 

 ing list of species is based on the examination of about two pints 

 of material, 'belonging to the School of Mines, in three equal 

 parts from 60 to 70, 70 to 80, and 90 to 100 ft. in depth ; and 

 about half-a-pint in the aggregate from depths ranging from 154 

 to 244 ft. received from the Conservator of Water. All the 

 commoner species occur at all the depths to 100 ft., so that a 

 record of the position of the rarer forms was not considered 

 necessary, but I have added the occurrences below that depth in 

 support of my contention that the containing beds are Newer 

 Pleistocene and not Eocene. 



Some of the identifications in the subjoined list, either from 

 the fragmentary, juvenile, or rolled condition of the specimens 

 on which they have been based, are not certain though approx- 

 imately correct ; these are indicated in the list by a sign of doubt 

 after the author's name. 



All the determined species, as a result of comparison with 

 authenticated specimens, are with three exceptions living in our 

 seas. The exceptions are : — Strigilla sp., this is represented by 

 very little more than the hinge-line of a medium-sized left valve 

 and by a right valve, 6 by 5 mm.; there can be no doubt as to 

 the generic location, but the incomplete outline of the fragment 

 and the very juvenile size of the perfect valve do not permit with 

 safety an identity with the only Australian species of the genus, 

 S. Senegalensis, occurring in North Queensland (Port Douglas, 

 ex Brisbane Museum). The very much finer and closer sculp- 

 ture does not agree with that on an equal area of the umbonal 

 region of the Queensland shell. A minute Erycinid, genus and 

 species yet to be determined, and Syrnola Jonesiana are the other 

 exceptions, both occur in abundance. These I cannot associate 

 with any Australian species known to me either by actual speci- 

 mens or figures. 



