Silurian to Early Devonian stratigraphy faunas and depositional history of central Victoria

Four, 1:63,360 geologic maps covering an area of over 5,800 sq. km. of the Melbourne Trough are presented. Seven formations are recognised, spanning»without a break,the time interval Early Silurian to Early Devonian. 110 From these formations/brachiopod species are identified of which thirty-seven are described. One superfamily, one family, two subfamilies, four genera, twelve species and one subspecies are new. The brachiopod faunas from the Early Silurian formations are spar se and only spiriferide and strophomenide species are described. In the Late Silurian-Early Devonian, however, benthic faunas become progressively more diverse, and of these, the brachiopod faunas including representatives of the spiriferide, strophomenide and chonetidine groups are described. Several species from the Dundas Trough, Tasmania, and the Yass Basin are redesribed for comparative purposes.