Bullock Creek (Northern Territory) facts for kids

The Bullock Creek Fossil site is a really cool place in the Northern Territory of Australia. It's one of only a few spots where scientists have found vertebrate (animals with backbones) fossils in this part of Australia. It's located about 550 kilometers south-southeast of Darwin, on a big property called Camfield Station.

The Bullock Creek site is super important because it helps us learn about how animals and the climate in the Northern Territory have changed over millions of years.

What is the Bullock Creek Fossil Site?

This site is part of a larger area called the Camfield Fossil Beds. These beds stretch for about 50 kilometers! The fossils found at Bullock Creek are from a time called the mid Miocene period, which was about 12 million years ago.

The rocks where the fossils are found are mostly light-colored sandstone, siltstone, and limestone. Sometimes, the fossils are just small broken pieces. But other times, scientists find amazing things like almost complete skeletons and even whole skulls with tiny, delicate parts still perfect!

What Amazing Fossils Are Found Here?

The Bullock Creek site is special because it has some of the best-preserved marsupial fossils in Australia. Marsupials are animals like kangaroos and koalas that carry their babies in a pouch.

Scientists have found some incredible new animals at Bullock Creek, including:

• A new type of crocodile called Baru (specifically, Baru darrowi).
• A very old, primitive kangaroo called Nambaroo. This kangaroo had special teeth for chewing tough plants.
• A new kind of giant horned tortoise, Meiolania. Imagine a tortoise with horns!
• Fossils of ancient marsupial lions, thylacines (also known as Tasmanian tigers), and other small meat-eating marsupials called dasyurids.

They've also found many bones from a large plant-eating marsupial called Neohelos. Studying these bones helps scientists understand how these big animals lived and evolved.

Why is This Site So Important?

The fossils at Bullock Creek, along with those from another site called Alcoota, show us how animal groups and their communities stayed connected in northern Australia from the mid to late Miocene period.

The fossils also give us clues about the ancient climate. For example, finding small fish trapped in dried-up puddles suggests there were wet and dry seasons. Other clues in the rocks show that there were long periods with little rain and probably very hot temperatures. This tells us that northern Australia was becoming drier during the Miocene period.

History of the Site

Because of its natural importance, the Bullock Creek Fossil site was officially listed on the Northern Territory Heritage Register on August 3, 1996. This helps protect the site so that future generations can continue to learn from its amazing discoveries.