Riversleigh
Riversleigh in the northwest of the Australian state Queensland is one of the most important fossil sites in Australia and since 1994 a place of UNESCO - World Heritage Site .
The area covers about 100 km². It is an important site for fossils of mammals of the Oligocene and Miocene and is part of the Boodjamulla National Park .
The fossils at Riversleigh are trapped in limestone that formed in lime-rich freshwater pools and caves when the ecosystem transformed from tropical rainforest to semi-arid grassland . 35 fossil bat species have been identified here, which is a world record. The skull and the almost complete set of teeth of the 15 million year old monastery Obdurodon dicksoni are an important link in the evolution of this order, which only occurs in Australia and New Guinea. Rare fossils from the extinct thylacine family have been identified in Riversleigh.
Fossil finds
- Yalkaparidon , a bizarre marsupial
- Ekaltadeta , a carnivorous kangaroo-like marsupial
- Silvabestius , a giant wombat
- Balbaroo , a relative of the musk rat kangaroo with large canine teeth
- Wakaleo , a marsupial lion
- Priscileo , a marsupial lion
- Fossils of the genus Burramys that rezent nor the mountain pygmy possum found
- Nimbacinus , a forerunner of the thylacine
- Obdurodon , a giant platypus
- Brachipposideros , a leaf-nosed bat
- Nimiokoala , a koala
- Yarala , a nasal bagger
- Paljara , a small possum
- Pengana , a bird of prey
- Menura tyawanoides , a prehistoric Lyrebird
- the first fossil record of the Orthonychidae family
- Trilophosuchus , a crocodile
- Baru , a crocodile
- Montypythonoides (= Morelia ), the Riversleigh python
- Yurlunggur , Nanowana, and Wonambi , extinct snakes from the Madtsoiidae family
Web links
- Entry on the UNESCO World Heritage Center website ( English and French ).
- Website about Riversleigh (English)
- World Heritage: Australian fossil mammal sites (English)
- Information about fossils from Riversleigh (English)
- The Riversleigh Society supports research in Riversleigh (English)
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- M. Archer et al .: Riversleigh: the Story of Australia's Inland Rainforests , Sydney: Reed Books, 1991.
Heritage: Royal Exhibition Building and Carlton Gardens (2004) | Sydney Opera House (2007) | Australian Prison Camps (2010) | Budj Bim cultural landscape (2019)
Natural Heritage: Great Barrier Reef (1981) | Lord Howe Archipelago (1982) | Gondwana Rainforests of Australia (1986) | Wet Tropics in Queensland (1988) | Shark Bay (1991) | Fraser Island (1992) | Riversleigh and Naracoorte Fossil Sites (1994) | Heard and McDonald Islands (1997) | Macquarie Island (1997) | Greater Blue Mountains Area (2000) | Purnululu National Park (2003) | Ningaloo Coast (2011)
Cultural / Natural Heritage: Kakadu National Park (1981) | Willandra Lake Region (1981) | Tasmanian Wilderness (1982) | Uluṟu Kata Tjuṯa National Park (1987)