Riversleigh fauna is the collective term for any species of animal identified in fossil sites located in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area.

Faunal zones

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The presence of the Riversleigh in the Oligo-Miocene has been exceptionally well preserved throughout a number of time periods. These has been classified by four "faunal zones",[1] and may be summarised as,

More recent fossil specimens has also been coded to the period of deposition,

  • Pliocene (PLIO), a period 2.588-5.332 myr
  • Pleistocene (PLEIS), 0.0117-2.588 myr
  • Holocene, noted as (HOLO) to indicate the period dated as following the Pleistocene, from the present day to 11,700 years ago.

Faunal lists

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The following are incomplete lists of mammals, birds, fish, and invertebrate species and genera included in the Riversleigh fauna, according to the compilation of taxa by researchers at the University of New South Wales and Queensland (wakaleo.net).[2] A survey of species-level taxa described in the Riversleigh Fauna in the decades of research preceding 2006, resulted in a total greater than 290 species.[3]

The fauna of Riversleigh includes placental mammals, especially bats, and the various families of marsupials. Due to the novelty of some taxa discovered in the area, some species have been placed in tentative arrangements or unknown lineages placed as sometimes undescribed higher taxa.

The Mammalia discovered at the site includes the Yingabalanaridae (weirdodonta) family, whose classification within the order is currently uncertain.[4]

Bats

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Marsupials and monotremes

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Birds

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Reptiles

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Amphibians

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Fishes

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References

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  1. ^ "Faunal zones". Faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  2. ^ "About wakaleo.net". Faunal encyclopaedia. wakaleo.net. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  3. ^ Archer, M.; et al. (1 January 2006). "Current status of species-level representation in faunas from selected fossil localities in the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, northwestern Queensland" (PDF). Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 30 (sup1): 1–17. doi:10.1080/03115510609506851. ISSN 0311-5518. S2CID 56390817.
  4. ^ "Mammals (Mammalia)". Riversleigh faunal encyclopedia. wakaleo.net. Retrieved 28 May 2019.
  5. ^ Long, J.A.; Archer, M. (2002). Prehistoric Mammals of Australia and New Guinea: One Hundred Million Years of Evolution. UNSW Press. p. 184. ISBN 9780868404356.
  6. ^ "Cave yields marsupial fossil haul". BBC News. 19 July 2010. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  7. ^ a b c Dan Gaffney (19 December 2009). "Loud and lazy but didn't chew gum: Ancient koalas". PhysOrg. PhysOrg.com. Retrieved 5 August 2010.