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Leichhardt River DiprotodonBy Phil Creaser Prior to the 2010 annual field trip to Riversleigh, a few days were spent along the Leichhardt River near Burketown looking for fossils in the river sands and gravels which have yielded a wide range of fossils up to about 2 million years old. The highlight of the trip was a skeleton of a Diprotodon discovered in a dry gully. Fossils of this huge herbivorous marsupial - the largest that ever lived - had been found previously but this may be one of the very few complete skeletons known. Preliminary work has already begun with recovery of a giant upper arm bone—the humerus, with many more bones showing. Further work is planned to recover the rest of the skeleton which still remains buried under metres of sediment. Samples of the sediment surrounding the fossil were recovered in order to try to determine the age of this Diprotodon. Other fossil sites in area were visited and a number of specimens collected ranging from small rodent teeth up to large Diprotodon jaws with teeth found weathering out of the sediments. Work in the region is supported by Xstrata North Queensland, through their Community Program. |
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