A Trove Of Exceptional Fossils In NSW Australia

Live Science

Buried in Australia's so-called dead heart, a trove of exceptional fossils, including those of trapdoor spiders, giant cicadas, tiny fish and a feather from an ancient bird, reveal a unique snapshot of a time when rainforests carpeted the now mostly-arid continent.  Scientists found thousands of preserved plants, spiders and insects dating to the Miocene Epoch.

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00:00It's definitely a new species of plant. I don't think we've found this one before.

00:04Australia's lush rainforests vanished millions of years ago,

00:08but scientists recently found rare evidence of the continent's

00:12wetter past in thousands of exceptional fossils, including trapdoor

00:16spiders, giant cicadas, tiny fish, and a feather

00:20from an ancient bird. Mate, this is 10 kilos.

00:24Good work. I need both hands

00:28to hold it. Paleontologists discovered the fossil treasure trove

00:32in New South Wales, in a region so dry that more than 100

00:36years ago, British geologist John Walter Gregory called it

00:40the dead heart of Australia. The site's location on private land

00:44was kept secret to protect it from illegal fossil collectors.

00:48Meanwhile, scientists worked to excavate plants and soft-bodied animals

00:52that were estimated to be between 11 million and 16 million years old.

00:56What the researchers found was unique in the Australian fossil

01:00record for the Miocene epoch, because fossils of small and delicate creatures

01:04such as spiders and insects are exceedingly rare.

01:08By examining the well-preserved fossils with scanning electron microscopy,

01:12the study authors could image details as fine as fungal spores

01:16and grains of pollen. Some of the fossils included animals' last

01:20meals, like fish, larvae, and a partially digested

01:24dragonfly wing preserved inside fish's bellies.

01:28There was even a feather from a bird that was about the size

01:30of a modern sparrow.

01:32This is the missing part of the vertebra, and that is the missing part of the snake.

01:36This rich collection of fossils in one spot offers a unique snapshot

01:40of ancient Australian biodiversity, and work on the fossil site is just beginning.

01:46This was the missing part of the wild.

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01:52the species of earth is so far, I wanted to get into it.

01:53This is the very commonially, it seems that we have to get intoŞing.

01:54But we all are simply found that we have to get into the species

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