Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area

The lakes of the reserve lie to the right of Lake Eyre below the centre of the map

The Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area is a fossil protection reserve in the Tirari Desert, in the eastern part of the Far North region of South Australia. Some 3500 ha in area, it is about 70 km east of Lake Eyre and 100 km north-north-east of Marree, off the Birdsville Track near Etadunna Station. The site was listed on the Australian Register of the National Estate (No.5905) on 21 October 1980 and on the South Australian Heritage Register on 11 December 1997.^[1][2]

Description

The reserve comprises four dry salt lakes surrounded by extensive areas of sand dunes in a flat, arid landscape. The lake beds are largely unvegetated and usually dry. Low cliffs on the western margins of the lakes have produced a variety of Tertiary vertebrate fossils ranging in age from the late Oligocene to the Pleistocene.^[1]

Lakes

• Lake Palankarinna 28°46′S 138°24′E / 28.767°S 138.400°E^[3]
• Lake Kununka 28°23′S 138°18′E / 28.383°S 138.300°E^[3]
• Lake Pitikanta 28°21′S 138°18′E / 28.350°S 138.300°E^[3]
• Lake Ngapakaldi 28°17′S 138°17′E / 28.283°S 138.283°E^[3]

Further reading

• Pledge, Neville S.; & Prideaux, Gavin John. (1996). The natural history of the Lake Palankarinna fossil reserve. South Australian Museum: Adelaide.
• Monroe, M.H. "Australia: The Land Where Time Began. A biography of the Australian continent". Author. Retrieved 2011-03-09.

See also

• List of fossil parks

References

Notes

1. Australian Heritage Database.
2. "Lakes Kanunka, Pitikanta and Ngapakaldi (Lake Ngapakaldi partly located within Lake Eyre National Park) Tertiary Vertebrate Fossil Sites (designated place of palaeontological significance)". South Australian Heritage Register. Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
3. Rich et al. (1982).

Sources

• Rich, T.H.; Archer, M.; Plane, M.; Flannery, T.F.; Pledge, N.S.; Hand, S.; & Rich, P.V. (1982). Australian Tertiary mammal localities. In: "The Fossil Vertebrate Record of Australasia", (ed P.V. Rich & E.M. Thompson). Melbourne: Monash University. pp. 525–572. ISBN 0-86746-153-5.
• "Lake Ngapakaldi to Lake Palankarinna Fossil Area". Australian Heritage Database. Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. 2009-09-22. Retrieved 2011-03-09.