.639 
CHAPTER XXXVII. 
THE ORGANIC REMAINS OF THE POST-TERTIARY PERIOD. 
We have seen that during the Cretace. us Period in Queensland, vertebrate 
remains were confined to those of Enaliosaurian and Chelonian Reptilia, and fragmentary 
remains of Fish. From this lime onward, the geological record, palajontologically 
speaking, is a blank. No fossiliferous Tertiary beds have been discovered— certainly 
none of a marine origin. The “raised beaches” near Brisbane and Townsville, which my 
Colleague* says “have been classed as Tertiary ,”t are doubtless simply of Post-Tertiary 
age; whilst the existence of the Tertiary plant-beds described by the Hon. A. C. Gregory 
as met with on Darling Downs,! requires confirmation, notwithstanding the presence of 
“woody seed-vessels {Conehotheca turpda)." But, of the forerunners of the present 
Avi, Reptilian, and Mammalian Faun® ample and wonderful evidence exists in the 
remains of the extinct, and frequently colossal vertebrates met with in the Post-Tertiary 
or Quaternary Fluviatile Drifts of Queensland. So little geological knowledge appears 
to have been displayed in the collection of these fossils, as to render them useless to the 
geologist, for any but the broadest stratigraphical generalisations. . , 
The only important attempt at a detailed description of these drifts is by Mr. 
Gregory, under the name of “ Older Alluvial or Fossil Drift,” but further information, 
with the view of an attempted classification of these fluviatile deposits, is very desirable. 
On several occasions Mr. C. W. De Vis has hinted at his belief that some portion 
at least of the so-called Post-Tertiary Fauna should be regarded as appertaining to an 
older geological period— for instance, the Pliocene. I am not aware that Mr. De \ is 
has fully enunciated his views, but, no doubt, very much can be said in support of his 
suggestion. . n v ■ 
The fresh-water Mollusca accompanying the ossiferous remains are all living 
species, so far as we know, but sufficient attention has not been paid by collectors to 
thi. impo,t.nt poiBt. OP THE SPECIES. 
Kingdom — ANIMALIA. 
Sub-kingdom — AN NULO S A. 
Class — Crustacea. 
Order— DECAPODA. 
Family — THALASSINIDAl. 
Qenus — TSALA8SINA, Latreille, 1806. 
(Gen. Crust, et Insect., i., p. 51.) 
That^assitva Emeeii, Bell, PI. 36, fig. 6. 
Thalazsina Emerii, Bell, Proo. Geol. Soo., 1844, iv., p. SCO. 
„ Etheridgefil., Cat. Australian Foss., 1878, p. 197 (/or si/noni/my)- 
Ols. The original specimen was described simply as coming fr^ ** 
Holland,” without any further indication of precise locality or horizon. Prof. Bell 
found some difficulty in fixing upon valid distinguishing characters between this species 
and the recent form Thalassina anomala, Herhst. (T. scorpioides). 
* Handbook Queensland Geology, 1886, p. 78. .uni T V,nrl an unTior 
+ They were so described to me by the late Professor Denton, but from the first time I h pp 
tunity of seeing them I regarded them as comparatively recent “ raised-beaoh ‘deposits (Ri. •> _ 
t Report on the Geological Features of the South-eastern District of Queensland, p. 2. l 
by Authority: 1879 
