172 MEMOIRS OF THE QUEENSLAND MUSEUM. 
CONCLUSION. 
In Scleropages and Epiceratodus , Queensland possesses two freshwater 
fishes whose only living relatives are found in parts of Africa, South America, 
and. in the case of Scleropages, in the East Indies. To account for such a 
peculiar distribution, land connections, either continuous at one period or 
progressively developed throughout the Tertiary, must be postulated In older 
Tertiary times the freshwater fish faunas of North America and Europe were 
remarkably similar. The present communication has shown that in Australia, 
too, the lower Tertiary freshwater fishes conform, in a general way, to the 
types found in those continents, and in the East Ifidies. If the present and 
past distribution of freshwater fishes is considered, the case for the former 
existence of land connections, in moderately low latitudes, between the chief 
continental masses is greatly strengthened. The evidence of the Redbank 
Plains fishes is particularly clear as to the existence of a pre-Oligocene land 
connection, bridging the Pacific Ocean, between Eastern Australia and North 
America. 
KEY TO LETTERING USED IN THE PLATES. 
a 
. . anal fin. 
p. ab. 
post abdominal bone (s). 
ar(t) 
. . articular. 
par. 
parasphenoid. 
b. r . 
branchiostegal rays. 
p. b. 
pelvic girdle. 
ch(y) 
. . cerato-hyal. 
pel. 
pelvic fin 
c(f) 
caudal fin. 
V ■ /■ 
pectoral fin. 
cl. 
. . cleithrum. 
p. mx. 
pre -maxi 11a. 
d ( en ) 
dentary. 
p. o. 1 , 
2 . . first and second post-orbitals. 
d.f. 
dorsal fin. 
p. op. 
pre -operculum. 
eh (y) 
epi-hyal. 
pt. 
ecto -pterygoid. 
hyo. 
hyomandibular. 
qu. 
quadrate. 
fr- 
. . frontals. 
r. 1 
enlarged first pectoral ray. 
i. op. 
. . inter -operculum. 
s. d. 
spinous dorsal. 
m. pt. 
. . meta-pterygoid. 
so. d. 
soft dorsal. 
mx. 
. . maxilla. 
s. op. 
sub - operculum . 
op ■ 
operculum. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY. 
Beaufort, L. F de, 1931. “Pisces, Rept-ilia and Aves [known to occur as Fossils in the 
Indo-Australian Archipelago!.” Leid. Geol. Meded ., Deel V (Festbund. K. Martin) 
461-470. 
Boulenger, G. A., 1895. “ Catalogue of Fishes in the British Museum.” 2nd Edn., Yol I. 
— ■; > 1922. 44 Fishes, Ascidians, etc.” The Cambridge Natural History. Macmillan 
and Cc., London. 
Cope, E. D., 1885. “ Eocene Paddle Fish and Gonorhynchidse.” Amer. Nat., Vol. XIX, 
1090-1091. 
David, T. W. E., 1932. “Explanatory Notes to accompany a new Geological Map of the 
Commonwealth of Australia.” Sydney. 
Dunstan, B., 1901. 6 Geology of the Dawson and Mackenzie Rivers, etc,” Queensland Geol. 
Surv. Pub. No. 155. 
