Devil fossils in Pilbara show they roamed outback 47,000 years ago
First confirmed Tasmanian devil remains found in Western Australia's Pilbara, dated to 42,500 to 47,100 years old.
Tasmanian devils once lived across mainland Australia, but fossil evidence had been missing from one major region: the Pilbara. A new study published in Archaeology in Oceania reports the first unequivocal proof they were there.
The remains were discovered at Juukan 2 rockshelter in the Hamersley Plateau. The strongest evidence is a tooth fragment found in sediment dated to between 42,500 and 47,100 years ago.
People were also using the shelter at least 47,000 years ago. A second jaw bone with molars dates to about 6,900 to 7,300 years ago.
Researchers examined more than 8,000 animal bones from the site. They found at least ten with tooth marks matching Tasmanian devil bites.
These marks appear in deposits spanning from roughly 47,000 to 26,000 years ago through to recent times. This shows devils repeatedly scavenged at the shelter over thousands of years.
- 42,500 to 47,100 years old
- Tooth fragment age
- 6,900 to 7,300 years old
- Jaw bone age
- more than 8,000
- Animal bones examined
- at least 10
- Bones with devil bite marks
Why it mattersIt fills a gap in Australia's prehistoric record and shows how animal ranges shifted dramatically over tens of thousands of years.
AustraliaThis changes what we know about Australia's ancient wildlife distribution and the ecosystems Aboriginal people lived in across the continent.
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