Queensland museum explores Australia’s prehistoric era

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Marsupial lions, Tasmanian tigers and giant koalas are just some of the animals that roamed through central Queensland thousands of years ago. Now their remains could hold the key to better understanding climate change.

Transcript

00:00 Tiny fossils painting a prehistoric picture.

00:05 The Capricorn Caves were once part of a barrier reef,

00:08 but over 400 million years it transformed into a rainforest

00:13 and became home for some of Australia's most peculiar wildlife.

00:17 Dozens of species of animals, from tiny little ring-tailed possums

00:21 up to gigantic megafauna.

00:23 These included land-dwelling crocodiles, giant koalas,

00:27 giant possums, tree kangaroos.

00:29 This bone deposit here is actually quite a unique bone deposit.

00:33 It's the only faunal record for rainforest species

00:36 for this time period in Australia.

00:38 Scientists are keen to learn more,

00:40 with these recent discoveries teaching how the climate

00:43 has changed over time.

00:45 It's one of the most important sites in Australia

00:47 because it actually tracks past climatic changes

00:50 that impacted rainforests.

00:52 It's the only site of its kind in Australia.

00:55 These changes are an indication of what's coming next.

00:58 Because if we know how they adapted to major changes in the past,

01:01 we can use that to help us predict what's going to happen

01:05 with global warming currently.

01:07 Explorers first stumbled across the caves in the 1880s,

01:10 and since then it's not only been a playground for paleontologists,

01:14 but for punters to make their own discoveries.

01:16 You can only really find them in caves like this.

01:19 It's just a really cool preservation environment.

01:21 Around 40,000 visitors from around the globe come here each year.

01:26 I'm from New Zealand and just having a look around this part of Queensland,

01:30 and everybody told me you have to check out the caves.

01:33 And with only 5% of the site explored, there is still a lot to learn.

01:38 Just today as I was getting prepared for this interview,

01:41 I found a tooth that I can't even identify yet.

01:44 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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