A spectacular new fossil trove has been reported in New South Wales, Australia. Located in the Central Tablelands regions, about 25 miles from the 19th century gold rush town of Gulgong, and named McGraths Flat after the person who discovered the fossil cache, the site is a window into the wetter and forest dominated past of Australia.
The fossil cache includes thousands of beautifully preserved specimens of flowering plants, ferns, spiders, insects and fish dating to the Miocene (23.03 to 5.33 million years ago) era. Climactic upheaval during the Miocene dried the rainforests that once covered Australia. At the time of the fossil cache’s formation the rainforest that had once covered the site had changed into temperate forest around a small lake. A fine goethite (an iron hydroxide mineral) matrix acted to help preserve plants and insects in the water. A diverse array of flowers, ferns, arachnids, insects and other soft bodied animals have been found in the fossil cache.
Image is illustrative of fossilized fern Dennstaedtia americana. Image by James St. John – https://www.flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/39373225554/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=97215903
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