Riversleigh

Oh, Australia is a paleontological goldmine.

The first site is Riversleigh in remote northwestern Queensland.

Riversleigh preserves a remarkably rich record of mammal life stretching from about twenty-five million to two million years ago.

What makes it a jackpot compared to normal sites?

It's the sheer continuity.

Exactly.

You can trace the gradual evolution of modern kangaroos right alongside terrifying extinct oddities like giant flightless thunderbirds and the marsupial lion Thylacoleo.

So Riversleigh gives us this beautiful continuous story of relatively recent mammalian evolution.