Hidden beneath farmland in the central tablelands of New South Wales lies one of Australia's most extraordinary fossil sites – McGraths Flat . It dates back between 11 million and 16 million years into the Miocene epoch, a time when many of today's familiar plants and animals evolved.

It is here that palaeontologists and geologists from the Australian Museum Research Institute have made remarkable fossil discoveries . Where dust and drought now dominate, a lush rainforest once flourished. In stunning ecological detail, fossils at McGraths Flat reveal this ancient ecosystem.

Strikingly red in appearance, the sedimentary rocks here are composed entirely of goethite – a fine-grained mineral that contains iron. This iron has preserved a range of plants, insects, spiders, fish and feath

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