The
Saint Bathans Fauna, also referred to as the
St Bathans Fauna, is found in the lower Bannockburn
Formation of the Manuherikia Group of
Central Otago, in the
South Island of
New Zealand. It comprises a suite of
fossilised prehistoric animals from the late
Early Miocene (Altonian) period, with an age range of 19–16 million years ago. The layer in which the fossils are found derives from
littoral zone sediments deposited in a shallow, freshwater lake, with an area of 5600 km
2. The lake was bordered by an extensive
floodplain containing
herbaceous and
grassy wetland habitats with
peat-forming
swamp–woodland. At that time the climate was warm and the surrounding vegetation was characterised by
casuarinas,
eucalypts and
palms as well as
podocarps,
araucarias and
southern beeches. The fossiliferous layer has been exposed at places along the
Manuherikia River and at other sites in the vicinity of the historic gold mining town of
Saint Bathans. The fauna consists of a variety of vertebrates, including
fish, a
crocodilian, a
sphenodont,
geckos,
skinks, and several kinds of
birds, especially
waterbirds. A basal form of
kiwi,
Proapteryx, is known from there.