Murgon fossil site

Murgon fossil site

The Murgon fossil site is a paleontological site of early Eocene age in south-eastern Queensland, Australia. It lies near the town of Murgon, some 270 km north-west of Brisbane. The Murgon site is important as the only site on the continent with a diverse range of vertebrate fossils dating from the early Tertiary Period (55 million years ago, only 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs), making it a crucial period in mammal evolution. It is also important in demonstrating Australia's Gondwanan links with South America in the form of similar fossils from the two continents.[1]

Contents

Fossil fauna

Fossils from Murgon include the world's oldest songbirds, the oldest Australian marsupials, the only known fossils of leiopelmatid frogs, and the only Australian fossil salamanders. Evidence of the Gondwanan connection comes with the appearance of a madstoiid snake in the genus Alamitophis, also found in Argentina, and of microbiotheriid marsupials, otherwise only known from South America. Other notable examples of the Murgon fauna are:[1]

  • Thylacotinga bartholomaii – a strange marsupial omnivore
  • Tingamarra porterorum – a condylarth and Australia's oldest placental land mammal
  • Australonycteris clarkae – Australia’s earliest known bat species

References

Notes

  1. ^ a b Australian Museum

Sources

Coordinates: 26°14′S 151°57′E / 26.233°S 151.95°E / -26.233; 151.95


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