Fossils formed millions of years ago could give clues on how to conserve Australia’s endangered animals

SAVING MOUNTAIN-PYGMY POSSUMS

From his laboratory, Prof Archer is helping to forge a better understanding of how wildlife existed millions of years ago. 

Thanks to his work on the Riversleigh area of far north Queensland, it was discovered that 20 million or more years ago, a critically endangered Australian marsupial lived in temperate rainforest much further north. 

According to the Australian Conservation Foundation, mountain pygmy-possums were thought to be extinct until they were rediscovered at Mt Hotham, which is nestled amongst the Victorian Alps, in the 1960s.

Today, these mountain pygmy-possums live in alpine areas, which they had to adapt to due to climate change. The possum is Australia’s only hibernating marsupial and hibernates for up to seven months under the snow. 

The foundation added that there are fewer than 2,000 endangered mountain pygmy-possums left in the wild. It said that they continue to be under pressure from threats including lack of food as Bogong moth numbers decline, climate change as their habitat warms, and the development of ski resorts.