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.
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 wetter past
00:12in thousands of exceptional fossils, including trapdoor spiders,
00:16giant cicadas, tiny fish, and a feather
00:20from an ancient bird. Mate, this is 10 kilos.
00:24Good work. I need both
00:28hands to hold it. Paleontologists discovered the fossil treasure trove
00:32in New South Wales, in a region so dry that more than
00:36100 years 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
01:04creatures such 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'
01:20last meals, like fish, larvae, and a partially
01:24digested dragonfly wing preserved inside fish's bellies.
01:28There was even a feather from a bird that was about the size of a modern sparrow.
01:32This is the missing part of the vertebra, and that's the missing part of the stem.
01:36This rich collection of fossils in one spot offers a
01:40unique snapshot of ancient Australian biodiversity, and work on the
01:44fossil site is just beginning.
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