Location:

Alcoota Station is located 200km north-east of Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

Fossils found:

The animals include the gigantic thunder bird Dromornis stirtoni, the wolf-sized Powerful Thylacine (Thylacinus potens) and the large leopard-sized Alcoota Marsupial Lion (Wakaleo alcootense). There are also wombat-like diprotodontoids Kolopsis torus and Plaisiodon centralis, the trunked Palorchestes painei, as well as kangaroos, crocodiles, bandicoots, possums and small birds.

Geological time scale

Significance of Alcoota

The site is significant because of its well-preserved, rare, Miocene 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 sites for palaeontology students.

Fossils found at Alcoota

Bibliography

ABC News. (2017). Alcoota Scientific Reserve excavations. [online] Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-07-30/alcoota-scientific-reserve-excavations/4164262 [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].

En.wikipedia.org. (2017). Alcoota. [online] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcoota [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].

Musser, A. (2017). [online] Available at: https://australianmuseum.net.au/alcoota [Accessed 26 Apr. 2017].