__NOTOC__ The Alcoota Fossil Beds are an important paleontological

Lagerstätte A Lagerstätte (, from ''Lager'' 'storage, lair' '' Stätte'' 'place'; plural ''Lagerstätten'') is a sedimentary deposit that exhibits extraordinary fossils with exceptional preservation—sometimes including preserved soft tissues. These for ...

in the

Northern Territory of Australia The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

located on

Alcoota Station __NOTOC__ The Alcoota Fossil Beds are an important paleontological Lagerstätte in the Northern Territory of Australia located on Alcoota Station in the locality of Anmatjere about north-east of Alice Springs in the Central Australia re ...

in the locality of Anmatjere about north-east of

Alice Springs Alice Springs ( aer, Mparntwe) is the third-largest town in the Northern Territory of Australia. Known as Stuart until 31 August 1933, the name Alice Springs was given by surveyor William Whitfield Mills after Alice, Lady Todd (''née'' Al ...

in the

Central Australia Central Australia, also sometimes referred to as the Red Centre, is an inexactly defined region associated with the geographic centre of Australia. In its narrowest sense it describes a region that is limited to the town of Alice Springs and i ...

region. It is notable for the occurrence of well-preserved, rare,

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and means "less recen ...

vertebrate fossils, which provide evidence of the evolution of the Northern Territory’s fauna and climate. The Alcoota Fossil Beds are also significant as a research and teaching site for palaeontology students. The Alcoota deposit is a series of intermittently interconnected lakes within a large basin. Evidence suggests that the concentration of fossils is due to a phenomenon called ‘waterhole-tethering’: During dry periods, animals concentrated in the immediate area of the continually shrinking, spring-fed lake, resulting in the death of many animals. The Alcoota and Bullock Creek fossil faunas provide evidence that aridification was in progress in northern Australia during the mid-

geological time period.

History

The Alcoota Fossil Beds are one of only three known vertebrate fossil sites in the Northern Territory, along with Bullock Creek and the Kangaroo Well site. Although locals had known about the existence of fossils at Alcoota for a long time, the first serious studies were not conducted until 1962. Further excavations were conducted sporadically until 1984 when the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory commenced an annual excavation program. In 1988, a permanent field station was erected on-site and the valuable Alcoota Beds were fenced to provide them with some protection. The Alcoota fauna is about 8 million years old and has a rich concentration of vertebrate fossils. This makes it especially interesting, as it lies between the older faunas of Kutjamarpu (Southern Australia) and

Bullock Creek (Northern Territory) The Bullock Creek Fossil site is one of three known vertebrate fossil sites in the Northern Territory of Australia, along with the Alcoota Fossil Beds and the Kangaroo Well site on Deep Well Station. It is located about south-southeast of Dar ...

and the younger deposits of Riversleigh (Queensland) and

Beaumaris Beaumaris ( ; cy, Biwmares ) is a town and community on the Isle of Anglesey in Wales, of which it is the former county town of Anglesey. It is located at the eastern entrance to the Menai Strait, the tidal waterway separating Anglesey from ...

(Victoria). Because of its intermediate age, remote ancestors of the well-studied

Australian megafauna The term Australian megafauna refers to the megafauna in Australia during the Pleistocene Epoch. Most of these species became extinct during the latter half of the Pleistocene, and the roles of human and climatic factors in their extinction are ...

as well as of some existing forms can be recognised.

Fossils

Two sites are associated with the area, the species found at these are described as the Alcoota Local Fauna and

late Miocene The Late Miocene (also known as Upper Miocene) is a sub-epoch of the Miocene epoch (geology), Epoch made up of two faunal stage, stages. The Tortonian and Messinian stages comprise the Late Miocene sub-epoch, which lasted from 11.63 Ma (million ye ...

Ongeva Local Fauna. The fossil deposit consists of a series of bone-bearing lenses on a single horizon. The individual lenses are about 1 m across and extend for 170 m. Bones and teeth are so abundant and often tightly packed, excavating one fossil without breaking the one below it can be difficult. The fossils indicate the existence of a complex community of

marsupial Marsupials are any members of the mammalian infraclass Marsupialia. All extant marsupials are endemic to Australasia, Wallacea and the Americas. A distinctive characteristic common to most of these species is that the young are carried in a po ...

bird Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...

s, and

crocodile Crocodiles (family (biology), family Crocodylidae) or true crocodiles are large semiaquatic reptiles that live throughout the tropics in Africa, Asia, the Americas and Australia. The term crocodile is sometimes used even more loosely to inclu ...

s, including the greatest variety of species of

Diprotodontidae The Diprotodontidae are an extinct family of large herbivorous marsupials, endemic to Australia and New Guinea during the Oligocene through Pleistocene periods from 28.4 million to 40,000 years ago. The family consisted of large quadrupedal te ...

that has ever been described. The species found include one of the largest birds that ever lived, Stirton's thunderbird (''

Dromornis stirtoni ''Dromornis'' is a genus of large to enormous prehistoric birds. The species were flightless, possessing greatly reduced wing structures but with large legs, similar to the modern ostrich or emu. They were likely to have been predominantly, if ...

''), the giant birds ''

Ilbandornis lawsoni ''Ilbandornis'' was a genus of ostrich-sized dromornithid. It was far more lightly built than other members of the family, indicating a more cursorial lifestyle. The majority of researchers consider Dromornithids to be herbivorous; this is borne o ...

'' and ''

Ilbandornis woodburnei ''Ilbandornis'' was a genus of ostrich-sized dromornithid. It was far more lightly built than other members of the family, indicating a more cursorial lifestyle. The majority of researchers consider Dromornithids to be herbivorous; this is borne o ...

'', the wolf-sized powerful thylacine (''

Thylacinus potens ''Thylacinus potens'' ("powerful pouched dog") was the largest species of the family Thylacinidae, originally known from a single poorly preserved fossil discovered by Michael O. Woodburne in 1967 in a Late Miocene locality near Alice Springs, N ...

''), and the large leopard-sized Alcoota marsupial lion (''

Wakaleo alcootaensis ''Wakaleo alcootaensis'' was a species of marsupial lion of the genus ''Wakaleo'', that lived during the late Miocene, about 10 million years ago. Taxonomy The first description was given in an examination of material discovered at Alcoota in ...

''). Also found at Alcoota are fossils of herds of the wombat-like diprotodontoids ''Kolopsis torus'' and ''Plaisiodon centralis'', the trunked '' Palorchestes painei'','' Pyramios alcootense'' and other

kangaroo Kangaroos are four marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

s, crocodiles,

bandicoot Bandicoots are a group of more than 20 species of small to medium-sized, terrestrial, largely nocturnal marsupial omnivores in the order Peramelemorphia. They are endemic to the Australia–New Guinea region, including the Bismarck Archipelago t ...

possums Possum may refer to: Animals * Phalangeriformes, or possums, any of a number of arboreal marsupial species native to Australia, New Guinea, and Sulawesi ** Common brushtail possum (''Trichosurus vulpecula''), a common possum in Australian urban a ...

, and small birds.

Heritage listing

In 1995, land described as "Northern Territory Portion 4075" and covering an area of was added under the name "Alcoota Fossil Beds" to the

Northern Territory Heritage Register The Northern Territory Heritage Register is a heritage register, being a statutory list of places in the Northern Territory of Australia that are protected by the Northern Territory statute, the ''Heritage Act 2011''. The register is maintained b ...

References

*Murray, P. and Megirian, D. 1992. ''Continuity and Contrast in middle and late Miocene Vertebrate Communities from the Northern Territory.'' The Beagle 9:195–218.

External links

{{Commons category, Alcoota fossil beds
''Australia's Lost Kingdoms''
– Late Miocene period – About Alcoota
''Alcoota Fossil Beds''
– Government of the Northern Territory
Giant fossil claw may be from ancient reptile
– By Caddie Brain – Australian Broadcasting Corporation Miocene paleontological sites Cenozoic Geology of the Northern Territory Cenozoic paleontological sites of Australia Northern Territory Heritage Register

History

Fossils

Heritage listing

See also

References

External links