A collection of fossils, including those of trapdoor spiders, giant cicadas, tiny fish and a feather from an ancient bird, were found in Australia's dead heart.
The "dead heart of Australia" was dubbed by John Walter Gregory after he discovered the fossil treasure-trove in New South Wales. The location of the Lagersttte's private land was kept a secret to protect it from illegal fossil collectors and scientists excavated the remains of plants and animals that lived there between 16 million and 11 million years ago.
The remains were found in Australia and are unique to the Australian fossil record. Most of the bones and teeth found in Australia in the past were from larger animals, which are often preserved in Australia's dry landscapes. The new cache held fossils of small and delicate creatures such as spiders and insects.
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The study authors were able to see the details of individual cells and subcellular structures with the scanning electron microscope. Some of the images showed animals' last meals, such as fish and a partially digested dragonfly wing. A freshwater mussel was stuck to a fish's fin in a scene from the past.
Matthew McCurry, a curator of paleontology at the Australian Museum, told Live Science in an email that the site gave them "unprecedented insight into what these ecosystems were like." "We now know how diverse the ecosystems were, which species lived in them and how they interacted with each other."
The site was once a lush rainforest that was home to many different plant and animal species. Alex Boermsa is the image credit.
The site was first visited by paleontologists in 2017: after a farmer reported finding leaves in his field. McCurry said that the site yielded a much wider range of fossils, including the remains of insects, spiders and fishes.
The rock layer is between 11,000 and 22,000 square feet, and paleontologists have so far excavated just over 500 square feet. Goethite surrounded the fossils on top of sandstone. Plants and animal remains were encased in iron and other minerals after the water in the pool was drained from the nearby basalt cliffs.
Researchers have begun to piece together the fossils of an extinct Australian rainforest. The study authors reported that they found leaves from flowering plants, a wide diversity of insects and a feather from a bird that was about the size of a sparrow. The average temperature at the time was around 63 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius).
There were traces of ancient life preserved at McGraths Flat. Michael Frese has the credit.
McCurry told Live Science that the spider fossils are the most fascinating. McCurry said that only four fossil spiders were known from Australia.
The soft tissues in the feather and the fishes' eyes and skin were preserved for future use. Scientists can compare the shape, size and stacking patterns in the fossil melanosomes to those in modern animals, even though the color isn't preserved. The colors and patterns of extinct species can be reconstructed by paleontologists, according to study co-author Michael Frese.
McCurry said that "this is really only the beginning of the work on the fossil site." We now know the age of the deposit and how well-preserved the fossils are, but we have a long way to go to describe and name all of the species we are finding. I believe that the importance of McGraths Flat will increase in building a more accurate picture of how Australia has changed over time.
The findings were published in a journal.
Live Science published the original article.
