Table of Contents
Where have Diprotodon fossils been found?
Australia
Diprotodon is known from many sites across Australia, including the Darling Downs in southeastern Queensland; Wellington Caves, Tambar Springs and Cuddie Springs in New South Wales; Bacchus Marsh in Victoria; and Lake Callabonna, Naracoorte Caves and Burra in South Australia.
How old are the fossils in Naracoorte?
The Naracoorte Caves are part of the 800,000 year old Naracoorte East Range. They are World Heritage listed, and one of the world’s most important fossil sites. For half a million years the caves acted as pitfall traps and predator dens.
When did the Diprotodon exist?
2.6 million to 11,700 years ago
Diprotodon lived during the Pleistocene Epoch (2.6 million to 11,700 years ago) in Australia and is a close relative of living wombats and koalas. Its name in Latin means “two forward teeth.”
How did Naracoorte Caves form?
Over time, holes opened up in the limestone, connecting the caves to the land surface. Sand and soil was transported into these cave entrances by water and wind, forming deep layered deposits spanning at least the last 500,000 years of the Quaternary period (2.6 million years to present).
How are Naracoorte Caves formed?
Why did Diprotodon go extinct?
Megaherbivores on many continents became extinct during the late Pleistocene. Diprotodon is thought to have succumbed to hunting pressure related to the expansion of Australia’s human population. The last occurrence of Diprotodon was some 46,000 years ago.
Is a Diprotodon a dinosaur?
Diprotodon, also called giant wombat, extinct genus of marsupial classified in the suborder Vombatiformes and considered to be the largest known group of marsupial mammals.
Why are the Naracoorte Caves considered to be a valuable landform?
Naracoorte Caves, along with the Riversleigh fossil site in far north-west Queensland, form the Australian Fossil Mammal Sites World Heritage Area. Both sites were officially recognised in 1994 for their importance in telling the story of Australia’s unique animal heritage.
How did fossils become apart of the Naracoorte Caves?
At the same time as the sediments were deposited, many types of animals lived in the landscape surrounding the caves. The remains of these animals accumulated in the caves and became buried and preserved in the sediment layers. Some species, such as bats and possums, lived and died in the caves.
Who found Naracoorte?
History. Naracoorte was formed from the merger of two towns, Kincraig, founded in 1845 by Scottish explorer William Macintosh, and Narracoorte, established as a government settlement in 1847.
How was Naracoorte Caves formed?
Where was the oldest Diprotodon fossil found?
The oldest fossils of diprotodon are from the late Pliocene epoch (5.3-2.5 million years ago) at Lake Kanunka, South Australia and Fisherman’s Cliff, New South Wales. But the most complete diprotodon skeleton was found at Tambar Springs, New South Wales and was excavated by the Australian Museum, where it is now on display.
Where can I find a Diprotodon in Australia?
Diprotodon is not known from New Guinea, southwestern Western Australia, the Northern Territory or Tasmania (although it was present on King Island). Diprotodon has been found in a wide variety of fossil deposits that represent forests, woodlands and plains.
Why are the Naracoorte Caves so special?
In the unexplored caverns beyond they discovered the largest, most diverse and best preserved Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage in Australia in what is now known as the Fossil Chamber. Because of the extraordinary richness and potential of these fossil deposits, the Naracoorte Caves were declared a World Heritage site in 1994.
What did the Australian megafauna Diprotodon optatum look like?
They were part of a species group known as “Australian megafauna”, meaning that they are 130% larger in body mass than their closest living relative, the wombat or the koala . Diprotodon optatum – a giant marsupial from Pleistocene of Australia. (Dmitry Bogdanov/ CC BY 3.0 ) They looked like many living herbivores today, except massive.