She said the creature would have been the largest animal climbing trees at the time.
“(It) probably looked a bit like a long-legged wombat,” she said.
The existence of the cave came to light in 2010. Black said it appeared animals plunged to their deaths through a vertical entrance that was obscured by vegetation.
The site is scientifically important because it documents a critical time in the evolution of Australia’s flora and fauna when lush greenhouse conditions were giving way to a long, slow drying out.
“The cave and its fossils are providing a rich legacy of clues about the environment 15 million years ago,” she said.
Black was recognised for her work Thursday when the Australian Academy of Science gave her the 2012 Dorothy Hill Award for female researchers in the earth sciences.
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