Chance Finding in Museum Drawer Leads to Million-Year-Old Scientific Revelation

Giant Echidnas Once Roamed Australia, New Fossil Discovery Reveals

An Echidna foraging for ant colonies. Credit: Leo / Flickr / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 A fossil stored in a museum collection for more than a century has revealed that giant echidnas once lived in Victoria, expanding their known range across Australia. The specimen belongs to Owen’s giant echidna, known scientifically as Megalibgwilia owenii. This extinct species lived during the Pleistocene epoch, which began about 2.5 million years ago. Researchers say …

An Extinct Giant Echidna Roamed Ice Age Victoria, Filling a Huge Gap in its Australian Range

Learn more about a Megalibgwilia owenii fossil, found around 120 years ago, that today fleshes out the extinct echidna’s extent.

Scientists identify giant echidna from fossil hiding in drawer for decades

Scientists have unlocked a mystery after rediscovering a giant echidna fossil that had been gathering dust in a museum drawer more than 100 years after its discovery.Paleontologist Tim Ziegler spotted the artefact while rummaging through a drawer of unidentified fossils at Melbourne Museum in 2021."One day I was working through our collection of fossils from Buchan and in a tray of unsorted bones, it sort of just leapt out at me," Ziegler said.R…

Chance finding in museum drawer leads to million-year-old scientific revelation

Scientists have unlocked a mystery after rediscovering a giant echidna fossil that had been gathering dust in a museum drawer for more than 100 years.

Giant echidna fossil rewrites understanding of Victoria's prehistoric past

A fossil hidden in a museum collection for 119 years has revealed giant echidnas once roamed Victoria's east, filling a major gap in Australia's prehistoric record.

An extinct echidna the size of a small child once roamed Victoria, new fossil shows

More than a hundred years after it was found in Foul Air Cave in Victoria, the fossil is granting us new insights into deep time.