Cooper's Dune
Basic information
Sample name: Cooper's Dune
Sample aka: Cooper's Dune, Dempsey Lake
Reference: R. Grün, R. Wells, S. Eggins, N. Spooner, M. Aubert, L. Brown, and E. Rhodes. 2008. Electron spin resonance dating of South Australian megafauna sites. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences 55:917-935 [ER 3746]
Geography
Country: Australia
State: South Australia
Coordinate: -32.466679° S, 137.700012° E
Latlng basis: stated in text
Time interval: Late Pleistocene
Max Ma: 0.061
Min Ma: 0.047
Age basis: ESR
Geography comments: Cooper's Dune is an eroding sand dune located on the shore of Dempsey Lake, near Port Augusta, South Australia.
Robust closed system U-series ESR (CSUS-ESR) age estimates on megafauna from the Cooper's Dune deposit range from 61-47 ka.
Robust closed system U-series ESR (CSUS-ESR) age estimates on megafauna from the Cooper's Dune deposit range from 61-47 ka.
Environment
Lithology: sandstone
Taphonomic context: aeolian deposit
Habitat comments: "The eroded surface of Cooper's Dune is covered by a lag of bones, stones and stone artefacts, that have derived from wind deflation of the bed of Dempsey Lake, which is now an ephemeral lake".
"There are two stratigraphic horizons beneath the modern sand drift. The upper is a reddish-brown sand containing the remains of burrowing marsupials as well as evidence of human occupation. The lower horizon was a carbonate-cemented light-brown sand containing carbonate-encrusted shells of land snails and bones of extinct megafauna. The megafaunal remains are thus not contemporaneous with the artefacts".
"Coring of the dune revealed several carbonate-cemented horizons indicating that the dune represented a series of intermittent aeolian events rather than a single period of intense aeolian activity. Some articulated vertebrate remains have been collected in situ, but most are fragmentary and widely scattered. Sand movement has probably contributed to this dispersal, but there is also evidence of scavenger activity".
"There are two stratigraphic horizons beneath the modern sand drift. The upper is a reddish-brown sand containing the remains of burrowing marsupials as well as evidence of human occupation. The lower horizon was a carbonate-cemented light-brown sand containing carbonate-encrusted shells of land snails and bones of extinct megafauna. The megafaunal remains are thus not contemporaneous with the artefacts".
"Coring of the dune revealed several carbonate-cemented horizons indicating that the dune represented a series of intermittent aeolian events rather than a single period of intense aeolian activity. Some articulated vertebrate remains have been collected in situ, but most are fragmentary and widely scattered. Sand movement has probably contributed to this dispersal, but there is also evidence of scavenger activity".
Methods
Life forms: rodents, other large mammals, other small mammals, lizards, snakes
Sample size: 754 specimens
Sampled by: D. L. G. Williams
Years: 1979
Net or trap nights: 0
Basal area status: not applicable
Sampling comments: No specific excavation details are available. The faunal counts were collected by the sample enterer during a collections visit to the South Australian Museum in September 2022.
In addition to the counts below, numerous gastropod shells and eggshell fragments (mostly of Genyornis newtoni) were also present. Counts of these specimens were not obtained due to time constraints.
In addition to the counts below, numerous gastropod shells and eggshell fragments (mostly of Genyornis newtoni) were also present. Counts of these specimens were not obtained due to time constraints.
Metadata
Sample no: 3994
Contributor no: Benjamin Carter
Enterer: Benjamin Carter
Modifier no: John Alroy
Created: 2022-09-09 14:09:24
Modified: 2025-11-22 06:40:45
Abundance distribution
Each square represents a species. Square sizes are proportional to counts. Values are logged.
Statistics
22 species
4 singletons
total count 754
geometric series index: 30.8
Fisher's α: 4.242
geometric series k: 0.7573
Hurlbert's PIE: 0.7526
Shannon's H: 1.9573
Good's u: 0.9947
Register
| †Diprotodon optatum | 6 | |
| also around 700 tooth enamel shards | ||
| †Phascolonus gigas | 22 | |
| Lasiorhinus latifrons (southern hairy-nosed wombat) | 103 | 24.0 kg |
| Sarcophilus harrisii (Tasmanian devil) | 29 | 7.5 kg |
| Dasyurus viverrinus (eastern quoll) | 1 | |
| also 9 Dasyurus sp. | ||
| Dasycercus cristicauda (crest-tailed mulgara) | 7 | |
| †Macropus cf. ferragus (kangaroo) | 55 | |
| also 17 Macropodinae indet. | ||
| Notamacropus eugenii (tammar wallaby) | 1 | |
| Osphranter rufus (red kangaroo) | 40 | |
| "Megaleia rufa" | ||
| Osphranter robustus (common wallaroo) | 3 | |
| †Onychogalea lunata (crescent nail-tail wallaby) | 23 | |
| also 1 Onychogalea sp. | ||
| †Protemnodon brehus (giant kangaroo) | 72 | |
| †Protemnodon cf. roechus (giant kangaroo) | 10 | |
| †Sthenurus atlas (short-faced kangaroo) | 16 | |
| †Sthenurus tindalei (short-faced kangaroo) | 3 | |
| also 7 Sthenurus sp. | ||
| Bettongia lesueur (boodie) | 343 | |
| Bettongia penicillata (woylie) | 1 | |
| Pseudomys sp. | 1 | |
| australis or gouldii | ||
| Leporillus apicalis | 7 | |
| Leporillus cf. conditor | 3 | |
| Aspidites ramsayi | 4 | |
| Tiliqua rugosa | 4 | |
| "Trachydosaurus rugosa" | ||