ABC North West Qld

Fossils

Wednesday, 24 June 2026, 10:58 am

A picture of Phantasmodon travouilloni, a marsupial from 18 million years ago.

In short:

Fossils found in Riversleigh, Queensland, show a new group of insect-eating marsupials.

This helps us understand how marsupials evolved in Australia.

What's next?

More discoveries in central Australia may help us learn if these marsupials came before the Australian continent.

Old teeth found in the outback have changed what we thought about marsupial evolution.

Teeth and jaw pieces from 18 million years ago show three new types of marsupials that eat insects.

The discovery was made by UNSW Sydney researchers and published in the Journal of Palaeontology.

Tim Churchill says the teeth are important for understanding marsupial families.

The teeth fill a big gap in the marsupial fossil record from 25 to 55 million years ago.

We don't know which early marsupials led to the groups we see today.

Seeing these old marsupials after a 30 million year gap shows they survived longer than we thought.

This finding changes what we thought about marsupial lineages and their history.

Oldest known lineage

Marsupials came to Australia from South America before it broke apart 55 million years ago.

The new fossils have teeth like Djarthia murgonensis, Australia's oldest known marsupial.

The shape and size of the teeth are different from other known marsupials.

There's a unique cusp on the upper molars of these marsupials.

If we saw these animals 13 million years ago, we'd call them living fossils.

The central cusp on the upper teeth helps us identify these marsupials.

30 million years ago, Australia's interior was a lush rainforest.

The small marsupials, weighing 25 to 200 grams, lived in wet environments.

As the continent warmed, the rainforests disappeared, and modern carnivorous marsupials took over.

When these old marsupials went extinct, it may have given room for modern dasyurids to thrive.

The Julia Creek dunnart is a dasyurid that lives in the arid plains of Queensland.

Future discoveries may show that Keeunamorphia evolved in South America and is older than other Australian marsupials.

We may find that Keeunamorphia is not part of the group we thought it was.

I think Keeunamorphia was established before Australia became an island.

Fossil sites in South America may hold the key to understanding Keeunamorphia's history.

The Western Australian Museum's curator agrees that the findings are a breakthrough.

The Riversleigh fossils show us the diversity of marsupials that once lived in Australia.

This study reveals how little we know about the fossil record and how much is still to be discovered.

The discovery of a new order of marsupials is rare and helps us understand some puzzling species.

Melting ice and new opportunities

We may never know the exact path that led to Australia's marsupial diversity.

As global warming opens up new areas, we may find new fossils and breakthroughs.

Palaeontologists are excited to explore new fossil deposits that were previously inaccessible.

We're just starting to understand the big story of marsupial evolution.

Collaboration between Australian and South American palaeontologists is necessary to solve this problem.

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Wednesday, 24 June 2026, 10:58 am

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