Ancient Australian marsupial fossils discovered


This 2017 video is called Marsupial Lion || Lion Of Australia || Facts & Photos.

From the BBC:

19 July 2010

Cave yields marsupial fossil haul

Fossil hunters in Australia have discovered a cave filled with the 15-million-year-old remains of prehistoric marsupials.

The rare haul of fossils includes 26 skulls from an extinct, sheep-sized marsupial with giant claws.

The finds come from the Riversleigh World Heritage fossil field in north-west Queensland.

The beautifully-preserved remains have been described in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

“It’s extraordinarily exciting for us,” said University of New South Wales palaeontologist Mike Archer, co-author of the research.

“It’s given us a window into the past of Australia that we simply didn’t even have a pigeonhole into before.

“It’s an extra insight into some of the strangest animals you could possibly imagine.”

The giant-clawed, wombat-sized marsupial is named Nimbadon lavarackorum; researchers discovered the first of the Nimbadon skulls in 1993.

The palaeontologists have been stunned at how well preserved the fossils were – and by how many were found.

Discovering such a large assemblage suggests the animals may have travelled in herds – like modern-day kangaroos, said palaeontologist Karen Black, who led the research team.

See also here.

The characteristic koalas, kangaroos, possums and wombats of Australia share a common American ancestor, according to genetic research from Germany: here.

Road Killed: Australia’s common wombat could soon be uncommon: here.

The evolution of kangaroos is intricately tied to Australia’s changing climate, according to new research: here.

Scientists have unearthed a fossil in Queensland of a previously unknown sabre-toothed bandicoot. Read more: here.

AUSTRALIA’S BILBIES AND BANDICOOTS are gentle little marsupials. But the discovery of a 20-million-year-old skull of a carnivorous marsupial shows they had a fearsome ancestor: here.

Exploring the ability of marsupials to deconstruct and ferment fibre may be a key to understanding the workings of complex microbes: here.

Marsupial carnivores ‘as diverse as other mammals once’: here.

3 thoughts on “Ancient Australian marsupial fossils discovered

  1. Australia wild life now is fierce enough! We deal in antique prints and have some great old pictures of australian animals as illustrated by the scientists and artist who visited Australia in the 1700 and 1800s. One of the most fascinating is of the now extinct Tasmanian Tiger

    Like

  2. Pingback: Kangaroo evolution and climate change in Australia | Dear Kitty. Some blog

  3. Pingback: Kangaroos are left-handed, new study | Dear Kitty. Some blog

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