the flightless birds, Genyornis (giant emu) and Dromornis, which matched the great Moa in size
Aboriginal stories which have been recorded throughout Australia indicate clearly that the animals were a part of the environment of early man on this continent, remembered with both fear and awe for generations.
Pleistocene 300,000 - 15,000 BP
Time line and position of the continents during formation
of the Naracoorte Fossil Chamber deposit
Throughout this period Australia was virtually in the same position that it is in today (red). The continent is still moving northwards and will collide with South East Asia within the next 30 million years. The Pleistocene Epoch lasted from 2 million years ago to 10,000 years ago.
Tourists and pleasure-seekers had visited the spectacular limestone formations in Naracoorte Caves for over a century, unaware that within nearby hidden chambers a detailed record of the local fauna had been steadily accumulating for more than 3,000 centuries. Cave explorer Grant Gartrell and palaeontologist Rod Wells of Flinders University were exploring Victoria Cave, hoping to find fossil bones, when they broke through to a concealed passageway. In the unexplored caverns beyond they discovered the largest, most diverse and best-preserved Pleistocene vertebrate fossil assemblage in Australia, in what is now known as the Fossil Chamber.
The Naracoorte fauna includes elements of the extinct Australian megafauna. During the Late Tertiary there was a trend of increasing body size in animal species. The ancestors of modern species were larger then, and some species that are now extinct were very big. Zygomaturus trilobus and the marsupial 'tapir' Palorchestes azael were large marsupial herbivores. They browsed alongside kangaroos such as Macropus titan, a giant form of the grey kangaroo, and Procoptodon goliah, a hoof-toed giant short-faced kangaroo that could reach 3m. Wonambi naracoortensis, a gigantic snake, searched for prey along with Thylacinus cynocephalus, the Tasmanian tiger, Sarcophilus harrisii, the Tasmanian devil and Thylacoleo carnifex, the leopard-sized marsupial lion.
Key stages in the evolution of the Australian climate and biota are included in the time span represented by the Naracoorte assemblage, including the period during which humans first arrived in Australia. The continent was becoming increasingly cool and dry, with occasional periods of warmer, wetter climate towards the Late Pleistocene. The dry and wet periods correspond to glacial and interglacial periods respectively on the other continents. These climatic changes, in particular increasing aridity, had profound effects on the Australian fauna and flora. By 15,000 years ago a significant number were extinct.
