Introduction
The fossil sites in Australia are highly significant in their own right. Taken together they represent key stages in the development of Australia's fauna. These sites represent extreme diversity and quality of preserved materials. They also represent links through time that unify the biotas of the past with those of today. In addition, they provide a basis for documenting evolutionary change in the lineages and communities that have led to the modern biota. This may be valuable in the development of conservation strategies (Archer, Hand & Godthelp 1992).
Select a Fossil Site
Research on Australian Sites
- diversity in Australia's prehistoric animals;
- changes in the structure of Australia's Cainozoic terrestrial animal communities;
- bio-correlative framework for Australia's Cainozoic animal-bearing sediments;
- palaeo-biogeographic history of Australia's animals;
- correlation of events in the Cainozoic history of Australian animals with those hypothesised on the basis of palaeo-botany and marine invertebrates;
- and understanding the changes through time in communities to determine appropriate conservation strategies.
- the systematics and biogeography of fossil Australasian birds, with some emphasis on ecology.
Research is also being undertaken on geological and geographical processes and aspects of the sites.
Reference Material
|
