Growth series of Nimbadon skulls (image credit: Karen Black). |
World-wide interest in Riversleigh fossilsBy Phil Creaser Following the publication of a paper in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, there has been media interest from around the globe in the ground-breaking study by Dr Karen Black and the team from the Palaeosciences Group at UNSW. As reported on the UNSW Science website, her study of the skulls of 26 different-aged individuals ranging from pouch-young to adults, belonging to Nimbadon lavarackorum. This sheep-size marsupial herbivore had weird and wicked-looking recurved claws that suggest it may have spent time browsing leaves in trees, perhaps more like enormous arboreal koalas than terrestrial wombats. This addition to the extraordinary biodiversity of Australia’s prehistoric creatures demonstrates again the reasons why Riversleigh was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1994. Work at the Riversleigh site is supported by the mining company Xstrata North Queensland and the Australian Research Council. |
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Main research program: Cape York amberFragments of precious amber found on the remote beaches of Cape York contain the remains of plants and tiny animals millions of years old. Main research program: RiversleighThe rocks at Riversleigh are rich in well-preserved fossil remains of the ancestors of the modern Australian fauna and entirely new kinds of animals previously unknown to science. Main research program: Lightning RidgeDeposits at Lightning Ridge in northern New South Wales yield some of the rarest, most beautiful and valuable fossils in the world. |