Community
15 January, 2025
Step back in history
A PREHISTORIC giant wombat the size of a minibus (Diprotodon), a tree climbing crocodile (Mekosuchus), an armour-plated giant land turtle (Meiolania), a giant ferocious duck (Thunder Bird) and a meat-eating, sabre-toothed kangaroo (Fangaroo) are the latest fossilised display items on show at the Cairns Aquarium.
They are part of a new 25m-long, subterranean cave journey experience called the Riversleigh Fossil Trail.
The trail is part of the new $500,000 exhibition which gives visitors a sneak peek into North Queensland’s little known ‘third’ World Heritage-listed site, the Riversleigh Mammal Fossil site.
The life-sized megafauna fossils have been meticulously recreated to represent the now extinct animals that lived in north-west Queensland’s tropical rainforest region between 25 and 50 million years ago.
The life-like cave system comes complete with limestone walls, fossilised remains and stalactites while providing a context for the region’s rich fossil and geological history, dating back over 25 million years ago.
Cairns Aquarium chief executive officer Daniel Leipnik said the project had been developed over several years with specialised craftspeople, plus technical input from palaeontologists, biologists and designers.
“We are so delighted to have been able to create this wonderful display. It provides our visitors with a brand new, immersive experience that doesn’t currently exist anywhere in Australia,” he said.
“The attraction enables visitors to see, interact with and get up close to fossilised examples of megafauna from a part of Australia which many visitors never get to see due to the remoteness of the Riversleigh Fossil site itself.”
The inspiration to create the Riversleigh Fossil Trail was due to a field trip to the Gulf Savannah region by Mr Leipnik and the management team in 2019.
“We were overwhelmed by the incredible landscapes of north Queensland’s Gulf country,” he said.
“The whole area is a journey back in time.”
