The order Peramelemorphia includes the bandicoots and bilbies. All members of the order are endemic to Australia-New Guinea and most have the characteristic bandicoot shape: a plump, arch-backed body with a long, delicately tapering snout, very large upright ears, relatively long, thin legs, and a thin tail. Their size varies from about 140 grams up to 4 kilograms, but most species are about one kilogram.
Anseranatidae, the magpie-geese, is a biological family of waterbirds. The only living species, the magpie goose, is a resident breeder in northern Australia and in southern New Guinea.
Riversleigh World Heritage Area is Australia's most famous fossil location, recognised for the series of well preserved fossils deposited from the Late Oligocene to more recent geological periods. The fossiliferous limestone system is located near the Gregory River in the north-west of Queensland, an environment that was once a very wet rainforest that became more arid as the Gondwanan land masses separated and the Australian continent moved north. The approximately 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) area has fossil remains of ancient mammals, birds, and reptiles of the Oligocene and Miocene ages, many of which were discovered and are only known from the Riversleigh area; the species that have occurred there are known as the Riversleigh fauna.
Mekosuchinae is an extinct clade of crocodilians from the Cenozoic of Australasia. They represented the dominant group of crocodilians in the region during most of the Cenozoic, first appearing in the fossil record in the Eocene of Australia, and surviving until the arrival of humans: the Late Pleistocene on the Australian continent and during the Holocene in the Pacific islands of Fiji, New Caledonia and Vanuatu.
Dromornis is a genus of large to enormous prehistoric birds native to Australia during the Oligocene to Pliocene epochs. The species were flightless, possessing greatly reduced wing structures but with large legs, similar to the modern ostrich or emu. They were likely to have been predominantly, if not exclusively, herbivorous browsers. The male of the largest species, Dromornis stirtoni, is a contender for the tallest and heaviest bird, and possibly exhibited aggressive territorial behaviour. They belong to the family Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds known as mihirungs.
Barawertornis tedfordi was a dromornithid (mihirung), a large flightless fowl hailing from Late Oligocene to Early Miocene. The only species in the genus Barawertornis, its fossil remains are found in strata of the Riversleigh deposits located at two sites in Northwestern Queensland, Australia.
Pengana, also referred to as flexiraptor, is an extinct bird of prey that lived during the late Oligocene in what is now Queensland, Australia. It is known only from a fragment of the tibiotarsus that was collected from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. The tibiotarsus is unusual in that it allowed for the leg to be swivelled backwards and sideways, making it well adapted to reaching into holes and crevices and extracting prey. The genus is only known from a single species, Pengana robertbolesi.
Ciconia is a genus of birds in the stork family. Six of the seven living species occur in the Old World, but the maguari stork has a South American range. In addition, fossils suggest that Ciconia storks were somewhat more common in the tropical Americas in prehistoric times.
Wakaleo is an extinct genus of medium-sized thylacoleonids that lived in Australia in the Late Oligocene and Miocene Epochs.
The genus Nimbacinus contains two species of carnivorous, quadrupedal marsupials in Australia both of which are extinct:
Emuarius is an extinct genus of casuariiform flightless bird from Australia that lived during the early Miocene and late Oligocene. It is one of two known genera of emu. There are two known species in the genus, Emuarius gidju and Emuarius guljaruba. The birds in this genus are known as emuwaries. This name comes from a combination of emu and cassowary. This is due to its cassowary-like skull and femur and emu-like lower leg and foot. Because of these similarities it is phylogenetically placed between cassowaries and emus.
Muribacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid that lived during the middle Miocene in what is now northwestern Queensland, Australia. It was described in 1995 from remains collected at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area. Only one species is known, M. gadiyuli.
Ngamalacinus is an extinct genus of thylacinid that lived in Australia from about 26 to 16 million years ago. Its fossils are solely known from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Queensland. Two species are currently known, the Early Miocene N. timmulvaneyi and the Late Oligocene N. nigelmarveni. In appearance it resembled a dog with a long snout. Its molar teeth were specialized for carnivory, the cups and crest were reduced or elongated to give the molars a cutting blade.
Wabulacinus is a poorly known genus of thylacinid marsupial from Early Miocene and possibly Late Oligocene deposits at the Riversleigh World Heritage Area in Queensland. It consists of two species, the type species W. ridei and W. macknessi. The snout of W. ridei was relatively broad, while W. macknessi had a noticeably elongated skull. Both species are thought to have been hypercarnivorous.
The Macropodidae are an extant family of marsupial with the distinction of the ability to move bipedally on the hind legs, sometimes by jumping, as well as quadrupedally. They are herbivores, but some fossil genera like Ekaltadeta are hypothesised to have been carnivores. The taxonomic affiliations within the family and with other groups of marsupials is still in flux.
Australlus is an extinct genus of birds in the rail family. It was described from a series of Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene fossil material found at Riversleigh in north-western Queensland, Australia. The genus was erected following reassessment of the relationships of the previously described species Gallinula disneyi Boles 2005 when new material became available. The genus name comes from the Latin australis (“southern”), and rallus (“rail”). It contains two described flightless species:
Eoanseranas handae, also sometimes referred to as Hand's dawn magpie goose, is an extinct genus and species of bird. Allied to the family Anseranatidae, which are represented by modern magpie geese, it existed during the Late Oligocene or Early Miocene of northern Australia. It was described from fossil material found at a Carl Creek Limestone site at Riversleigh, in the Boodjamulla National Park of northwestern Queensland. It was slightly smaller than its perceived descendant, the extant magpie goose Anseranas semipalmata.
Collocalia buday is an extinct species of large swiftlet from the Late Oligocene to Early Miocene of Australia. It was described in 2001 by Walter Boles from fossil material found at Riversleigh, in the Boodjamulla National Park of north-western Queensland.
Orthonyx kaldowinyeri is an extinct species of logrunner from the Late Oligocene to the Miocene of Australia. It was described by Walter Boles from fossil material found at the Last Minute Site of Riversleigh, in the Boodjamulla National Park of north-western Queensland. It was a relatively small logrunner. The specific epithet kaldowinyeri is an Aboriginal term for “old”, referring to the Miocene age of the species which is earlier than that of other members of the genus.
Cookeroo is a genus of extinct kangaroos from the Late Oligocene and Early Miocene found in fossil deposits from the Riversleigh World Heritage Area, in Australia. The genus includes two species, C. bulwidarri and C. hortusensis.
