The Mount Howitt fossil site is a fossil locality, part of the Bindaree Formation of the Avon River Group. It is located in the Alpine National Park in eastern Victoria, Australia. Its fossils date back to the Givetian stage of the Middle Devonian epoch, though it was once considered Frasnian in age. The fauna of Mount Howitt represents a well-preserved and quite diverse Middle Devonian fish assemblage, among the best of any single area in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been an important key for correlating the biostratigraphy of the region.Long, J. A. & Clement, A. M. (2009). The postcranial anatomy of two Middle Devonian lungfishes (Osteichthyes, Dipnoi) from Mt. Howitt, Victoria, Australia. Memoirs of Museum Victoria, 66(2), 189–202.
The site presents remarkable fossil species diversity, and preserves fish fossils across a wide range of life stages from larvae to mature fish. Mount Howitt contributes an important record of the evolution of fish across a freshwater lacustrine environment,O'Halloran, G. J. & Gaul, A. (1997). Sedimentary responses to sub-aerial felsic volcanism from the Late Devonian-Early Carboniferous northern Macalister Synclinorium, southeastern Australia. Sedimentary Geology, 109(3–4), 209–232. and the development of features that allowed vertebrates to depart from the water to colonize terrestrial environments for the first time in Earth's history.Commonwealth of Australia. (2008). Inclusion of a Place in the National Heritage List: Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves. Commonwealth of Australia Gazette: Special, No. S237, 7 November 2008.
Some of the fossil taxa discovered at Mount Howitt include the canowindrid Beelarongia patrichae,Long, J. A. (1987). An unusual osteolepiform fish from the Late Devonian of Victoria, Australia. Palaeontology, 30(4), 839–852. the placoderms Austrophyllolepis ritchiei,Long, J. A. (1984). New phyllolepids from Victoria and the relationships of the group. Proceedings of the Linnean Society of New South Wales, 107(3), 263–308. three species of Bothriolepis: B. cullodenensis, B. fergusoni and B. gippslandiensis,Long, J. A. (1983a). New bothriolepid fish from the Late Devonian of Victoria, Australia. Palaeontology, 26(2), 295–320, pl. 42. as well lungfishes such as Barwickia downunda and Howidipterus donnae and the coelacanth Gavinia syntrips.Long, J. A. (1999). A new genus of fossil coelacanth (Osteichthyes: Coelacanthiformes) from the Middle Devonian of southeastern Australia. Records of the Western Australian Museum Supplement, 57, 37–53. These fossils collectively possess outstanding heritage value for the nation in their place of the evolution of vertebrates during what is known as the 'Age of Fishes'.
Fossil content
Actinopterygii GenusSpeciesCladeImagesHowqualepisH. rostridensLong, J. A. (1988). New palaeoniscoid fishes from the Late Devonian and Early Carboniferous of Victoria. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, 7, 1–64.Palaeonisciformes (Palaeoniscoidei incertae sedis)
Chondrichthyes GenusSpeciesCladeImagesCulmacanthusC. stewartiLong, J. A. (1983b). A new diplacanthoid acanthodian from the Late Devonian of Victoria. Memoirs of the Association of Australasian Palaeontologists, 1, 51–65.Diplacanthiformes, CulmacanthidaeHowittacanthusH. kentoniLong, J. A. (1986). A new Late Devonian acanthodian fish from Mt. Howitt, Victoria, Australia, with remarks on acanthodian biogeography. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 98(1–2), 1–17.Acanthodiformes, Acanthodidae
Placodermi +GenusSpeciesCladeImagesAustrophyllolepisA. ritchieiArthrodira, PhyllolepididaeBothriolepisB. cullodenensisAntiarchi, BothriolepididaeB. fergusoniB. gippslandiensisGroenlandaspisG. howittensisFitzpatrick, A. N., Clement, A. M. & Long, J. A. (2024). Unique dental arrangement in a new species, Groenlandaspis howittensis (Placodermi, Arthrodira) from the Middle Devonian of Mount Howitt, Victoria, Australia. PeerJ, 12, e18759.Arthrodira, Groenlandaspididae
Sarcopterygii GenusSpeciesCladeImagesBarwickiaB. downundaDipnoi, FleurantiidaeBeelarongiaB. patrichaeTetrapodomorpha, CanowindridaeGaviniaG. syntripsCoelacanthiformes, MiguashaiidaeHowidipterusH. donnaeDipnoi, FleurantiidaeHowittichthysH. warrenaeLong, J. A. & Holland, T. (2008). A possible 'elpistostegalid' fish from the Devonian of Gondwana. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, 120(1), 184–193.?Elpistostegalia incertae sedisMarsdenichthysM. longioccipitusLong, J. A. (1985). The structure and relationships of a new osteolepiform fish from the Late Devonian of Victoria, Australia. Alcheringa, 9(1), 1–22.Holland, T., Long, J. A. & Snitting, D. (2010). New information on the enigmatic tetrapodomorph fish Marsdenichthys longioccipitus (Long, 1985). Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(1), 68–77.Tetrapodomorpha incertae sedis
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