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Amazing collection of animal fossils found in Australia |
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Thursday, 25 January 2007 |
Amazing collection of animal fossils found in AustraliaSouthern Australia is the location where scientists, led by Dr Gavin Prideaux, have reported in Nature magazine that they found an amazing “treasure trove” of fossilised animals, with many examples in an incredibly good state of preservation.
As many as 69 separate vertebrate species have been identified in three chambers that the scientists are now calling the Thylacoleo Caves, named after Thylacoleo carnifex, an extinct marsupial lion that they discovered a complete specimen of.
 Limestone caves under the Nullabor Plain, which date from about 400,000-800,000 years ago, are where the discovery was made, and the collection includes 23 kangaroo species, eight of which have not been found before. The scientists believe that the animals fell to their deaths through pipes in the surface of the plain and these entrances to the caverns opened and closed over the very long periods of time. Many of the creatures would have been killed by the fall but others would have died from starvation and lack of water.
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 31 January 2007 )
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