Scientific Reserve is a fossil deposit located north east of Alice Springs, NT. Here, the remains of thousands of individual animals, known as megafauna, occur in a massive jumble of bone amidst the remains of what some scientists think may have been an ancient waterhole. The Alcoota fossil beds have produced some of the best, most diverse, and complete examples of some of the larger extinct Australian animals from the Late Miocene (~6-8 million years ago), such as marsupial “rhinos” (diprotodontids), marsupial “tapirs” (palorchestids), giant flightless birds (dromornithids), crocodylians and marsupial “wolves” (thylacines). This era was known as “the age of mammals”, and Alcoota is the most extensive fossil deposit of its age anywhere in Australia.
Fossilised bones at Alcoota are difficult to excavate as they occur in fine but tightly packed sediment and are highly fractured due to the expansion and contraction of the clay-rich sediment over millions of years. The density of fossils also mean that each bone has to be carefully removed from other bones around, above and below it, while mimimising any damage. Every bone is chemically consolidated while still in the ground before it can be moved at all, before being packed for transport for final preparation in our lab at Megafauuna Central, Alice Springs. It is a very difficult and time-consuming process, and quite an art!
The Alcoota fossil dig experience will include getting up close and personal with the giant Thunderbird, Dromornis stirtoni, an eight million year old giant flightless bird. Like emus, these birds were vegetarians but they are not closely related. In fact, despite being flightless, they are more like ducks and geese. Both the emu and the cassowary evolved from a different group of flightless birds. The dromornithids were among the largest birds that ever lived, rivalling the Malagasy Elephant bird and the largest the Moa birds from New Zealand. But you may also uncover the osteoderm of an ancient crocodile, a jaw of a giant wombat or the limb of one of the many species of mammals and birds waiting in the ground to be discovered.
Experience Central Australia like never before
MAGNT palaeontologists have been visiting the Alcoota megafauna fossil site for over 30 years, uncovering mysteries of megafauna that tell the story of the drying out of our continent. In 2024 we will open the site to a new model of volunteer program.
Our team of palaeontologists and partners from across Australia will host you for a six day experience on the Alcoota Scientific Reserve. You will contribute to palaeontological exploration and learn how fossil digs run while being part of a team whose discoveries form a world-class scientific and cultural resource. You will:
- Learn about the geological history and megafauna at the Alcoota Scientific Reserve,
- Learn to distinguish fossilised bones from geological specimens,
- Search for fossils in siftings from various different pits,
- Learn how to label, describe and document megafauna fossils excavated from Alcoota pits,
- Mend, reassemble or prepare fossils,
- Experience fireside conversation with scientists and locals,
- Listen to talks on the Alcoota region,
- Participate in insect collections for the MAGNT entomology collection,
- Help document the extant fauna of the Alcoota Scientific Reserve,
- Visit the Engawala Art Centre in the community whose people have lived on the land for thousands of years,
- Receive a free ticket for the Alcoota Discovery Day on Sunday the 21st of July.
Contribute to science, seize opportunities for experiences not available outside this fossil dig, make lasting friendships and enjoy the extraordinary sights, sounds and beauty of the Central Australian outback.
Your hosts
Dig participants will be guided by our highly experienced team of experts from MAGNT and Flinders University:
- Dr Adam Yates, MAGNT Senior Curator of Earth Sciences
- Dr Sam Arman, MAGNT Collection Technical Officer, Earth Sciences
- Dr Kirsti Abbott, MAGNT Head of Science
- Flinders University palaeontologists
