Alcoota facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Alcoota Fossil Beds
Latz's pit, Alcoota fossil site, NT
Location	Anmatjere, Northern Territory, Australia
Area	48.88 hectares (120.8 acres)

The Alcoota Fossil Beds are a really important place in the Northern Territory of Australia. It's about 115 kilometers (71 miles) north-east of Alice Springs. This site is famous for having amazing, well-preserved Miocene fossils of animals with backbones.

These fossils help us understand how animals and the climate in the Northern Territory have changed over millions of years. Alcoota is also a great place for students to learn about palaeontology, which is the study of fossils.

The Alcoota area used to have many lakes that were sometimes connected. Scientists think that during dry times, animals gathered around the shrinking lakes. Many animals died there, which is why so many fossils are found together. The fossils from Alcoota and Bullock Creek show that northern Australia started getting much drier during the middle of the Miocene period.

Discovering Alcoota's Past

The Alcoota Fossil Beds are one of only three known places in the Northern Territory where we find fossils of animals with backbones. The other two are Bullock Creek and Kangaroo Well. Local people knew about the fossils at Alcoota for a long time. But serious studies didn't start until 1962.

More digs happened now and then until 1984. That's when the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory began digging there every year. In 1988, a permanent field station was built at the site. The valuable Alcoota Beds were also fenced to help protect them.

The animals found at Alcoota lived about 8 million years ago. This makes the site very special because it's like a missing link. It sits between older fossil sites like Kutjamarpu and Bullock Creek, and younger ones like Riversleigh and Beaumaris. Because of its age, we can find ancient relatives of the huge Australian megafauna (giant animals) that lived much later. We also find ancestors of some animals that are still alive today.

Amazing Fossils Found Here

The fossils at Alcoota are found in layers of bone-filled dirt. These layers are about 1 meter (3 feet) wide and stretch for 170 meters (558 feet). There are so many bones and teeth packed together that it can be hard to dig one out without breaking another!

The fossils show that a complex community of animals lived here. This included marsupials (like kangaroos and wombats), birds, and crocodiles. Alcoota has the largest variety of Diprotodontidae species ever found. These were large, plant-eating marsupials.

Some of the incredible animals found include:

• Stirton's thunderbird (Dromornis stirtoni), one of the largest birds that ever lived.
• Other giant birds like Ilbandornis lawsoni and Ilbandornis woodburnei.
• The powerful thylacine (Thylacinus potens), which was about the size of a wolf.
• The large Alcoota marsupial lion (Wakaleo alcootaensis), about the size of a leopard.

Scientists also found fossils of herds of wombat-like animals called Kolopsis torus and Plaisiodon centralis. There were also trunked animals like Palorchestes painei, Pyramios alcootense, and other kangaroos. Crocodiles, bandicoots, possums, and small birds have also been discovered at Alcoota.

Protecting the Site

In 1995, the Alcoota Fossil Beds were added to the Northern Territory Heritage Register. This means the area, which covers about 48.88 hectares (120.8 acres), is now officially protected. This helps make sure these important fossils are preserved for future generations to study and enjoy.

See also

In Spanish: Alcoota para niños