While in Sydney, I was able meet with Dr. Stephen Wroe, a palaeontologist at the University of Sydney.  Like myself, he too is fascinated by carnivorous marsupials.  One of his other areas of specific interest is Australia's giant dromornithid birds.  At the university, I was able to get an up-close look at some of the amazing new fossil marsupial discoveries that he has been working with.
 

The skull of Nimbacinus dicksoni, one of several recently discovered thylacine species from the Miocene rocks of Riversleigh in north-west Queensland.  The level of preservation in fossils from this site is often quite remarkable.  Riversleigh's rocks are very dense and solid, and have served well to protect the remains of vertebrates that lived between 5-34 million years ago (Miocene to Oligocene Epochs).

A dorsal view of the same Nimbacinus dicksoni skull.  Other thylacinid genera which have been found at Riversleigh are Badjcinus, Maximucinus, Muribacinus, Ngamalacinus and Wabulacinus.  Along with the Naracoorte Caves of South Australia, Riversleigh was designated a World Heritage Site in 1994.

A close up of the skull's maxilla (upper jaw).  Nimbacinus lacks many of the specializations found in other thylacines, and more closely resembles dasyurids than other thylacinids.  Although the thylacinid family was once known only from T. cynocephalus, the discoveries that have been made at Riversleigh have greatly expanded our understanding of the evolutionary history of this and other marsupial groups.

This is the skull of Barinya wangala, also found in the deposits of Riversleigh.  Barinya is the oldest undoubted member of the family Dasyuridae.  It lived during the Early to Middle Miocene Epoch.  Dasyurids are a branch of the marsupial order Dasyuromorphia, which also includes the thylacinids and myrmecobiids.  The family Myrmecobiidae is represented only by the modern numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus).

A palatal view of Barinya's skull.  Barinya is the Waanyi Aboriginal word for "native cat" (e.g. Dasyurus).  The species name, wangala, is the Waanyi word for "Dreamtime".  Barinya represents a distinct subfamily within the Dasyuridae, the Barinyainae.

Lastly, one more view of the skull of Barinya.  Please be sure to visit Dr. Wroe's website.  There, you can download technical articles (in PDF format) that he has written on Barinya wangala, Nimbacinus dicksoni, and various other fossil marsupial species.

    This concludes the account of my October 2002 trip to Sydney, Australia.  Please come back in the future to read travelogues on my continuing field studies.