RIVERSLEIGH QUEENSLAND - AN EXCURSION THROUGH AUSTRALIA'S MAJOR WORLD HERITAGE FOSSIL SITE

Join in this excursion to the World Heritage fossil site of Riversleigh in outback Queensland. Take your students inside the Interpretive Shelter. See the work of researchers in the reconstructed skeletons; the photographs; the rebuilt animals wandering through the ancient swamps and rainforest. Climb the steps to the to the fossil beds of the bluff area. See the life size depictions of the big bird and the large crocodile - ancestor of the present day salt water crocodiles. Understand how the layers of bones in the swamps were imbedded in the limestone layers near the summit above the Interpretive Shelter.
Most students have an interest in dinosaurs - the mega (large) fauna (animals) of pre-history. Most have seen the films of Jurrasic Park. At Riversleigh a similar story exists of megafauna. In the swamps and rainforest some 22 million years ago a range of animals existed. Some of these animals became extinct as climate change and landscape change occurred. Others, like crocodiles and turtles survived in modified forms. The thylacine almost survived. The last known relative of the early animal died in the 1930’s.
There are worksheets as attachments. The final summary questions indicate the linkage that Riversleigh has with broader issues of continental drift and climate change. This unit can stand alone or it can be used to supplement studies of Australia. Riversleigh is a major World Heritage site.