133 WA Science—Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 97: 133–151, 2014 © Royal Society of Western Australia 2014 Devonian vertebrates from the Canning and Carnarvon Basins with an overview of Paleozoic vertebrates of Western Australia K TRINAJSTIC 1* , B ROELOFS 2 , C J BURROW 3 , J A LONG 4,5 & S TURNER 3 1 TIGeR/Applied Chemistry, Curtin University, WA 6102, Australia. 2 Department of Geology, Curtin University, WA 6102, Australia. 3 Queensland Museum, Ancient Environments, 122 Gerler Road, Hendra, Qld 4011, Australia. 4 School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, POB 2100, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. 5 Museum Victoria, PO Box 666, Melbourne, Vic 3001, Australia. * Corresponding author  K.Trinajstic@curtin.edu.au A diverse vertebrate fauna, comprising both micro- and macrovertebrate remains, is known from the Paleozoic of Western Australia. However, it is the Late Devonian fauna of the Gogo Formation that shows exceptional preservation and which is the best known. Advances in tomographic techniques, both micro-CT and synchrotron, have revealed new histological data providing information on bone growth, muscle attachments and the evolution of teeth. The fishes from the Gogo Formation have also revealed new information on the evolution of reproductive structures and live birth in early vertebrates. Recent work on the Frasnian reefs that crop out along the Lennard Shelf and mineral drillcore through Paleozoic sedimentary rocks have yielded scales of agnathan thelodonts, and the bones, teeth and scales of sharks, acanthodians and osteichthyans, all of which have increased our knowledge of Ordovician–Late Devonian microfaunas in the Canning Basin, contributing to our understanding of biostratigraphy and correlation within Australian and globally. Less work has been undertaken in the Carnarvon Basin, although like the Canning Basin this has concentrated on Late Devonian strata. More recently, work has commenced on describing Early Carboniferous faunas from the Canning, Carnarvon and Bonaparte basins. All this work is providing information on faunal patterns and exchange of vertebrates through the Paleozoic. However, the paleogeographic evidence provided by the vertebratesis sometimes at odds with palaeogeographic reconstructions based on palaeomagnetic evidenceand further investigation is required to resolve these differing interpretations. KEYWORDS: biostratigraphy, early vertebrates,East Gondwana, Lagerstätten, paleogeography, Paleozoic. INTRODUCTION Paleozoic fossil fishes of Western Australia, particularly those from the Gogo Formation Lagerstätten located in the Canning Basin, have been invaluable for investigating major evolutionary transitions due to the exceptional preservation and diversity of the fauna. The gnathostomes (jawed vertebrates) recovered from the Gogo Formation in the Kimberley region comprise members of all the major groups and demonstrate key evolutionary shifts from the development of jaws and teeth, the first expression of live-young bearing in vertebrates, to the emergence of stem tetrapods. However, and unlike many other sites in the State, to date no jawless vertebrates have been recovered from this site. In contrast to the excellent preservation found in the fossils of the Gogo Formation, those from the more southerly Carnarvon Basin are disarticulated but show high faunal diversity. In Western Australia the fossil record of Paleozoic fishes includes both microvertebrate and macrovertebrate remains (Long & Trinajstic 2000, 2010; Burrow et al. 2010). The majority of the research conducted to date has been on Devonian, especially Late Devonian marine faunas, with studies on Ordovician, Silurian, Carboniferous and Permian fossils less common. There are no reports of Cambrian vertebrate fossils from Western Australia. Although rare, purported vertebrate fossils of this age are known from deposits in central Australia (Young et al. 1996). Studies on Western Australian Ordovician to Early Devonian taxa are restricted to microvertebrate faunas recovered from mineral drillcore. However, the extensive outcrops of Devonian reefs in the Canning Basin are rich in both macro- and microvertebrate faunas and numerous studies on both have been undertaken. In the early 20th century predominantly morphological descriptions and taxonomic studies were undertaken. In the latter part of the 20th century research began to focus on biostratigraphy, particularly in the areas of marine–non-marine correlation under the UNESCO:IUGS IGCP328 Paleozoic Microvertebrates project led by Alain Blieck, Sue Turner and Gavin Young (Blieck & Turner 2000). Unlike many of the currently used invertebrate zone fossils including conodont elements, Paleozoic fish species often occur in transitional environments, with the same species inhabiting marine, nearshore and/or non-marine facies. Some marine units bearing microvertebrates are extremely well dated through tying the vertebrate faunas to standard conodont zonations (Trinajstic & George 2009). In continental rocks microvertebrates are often the only age indicators preserved. Since 1980 there has been a systematic effort