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• Wildlife at the Watering Hole - June 2025 - Dr Matthew McCurry

  • When
    16 June 2025
  •  
    6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
  • Location
    Rose of Australia Hotel, 1 Swanston St, Erskineville NSW 2043

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  McGrath's Flat: fossils from the Miocene of New South Wales
  

  Dr Matthew McCurry

  The recent discovery of McGraths Flat, an exceptionally well-preserved fossil deposit from New South Wales, has provided new insight into the palaeoecology of Miocene mesic ecosystems. This talk will provide an overview and update of the discoveries being made at McGraths Flat. This Konservat-Lagerstätte hosts a rich diversity of microfossils, plants, fungi, insects, spiders, and vertebrate remains. The age of the deposit (16–11 Ma) has been determined using SEM imaging of microfossils on the surface of the goethite-rich sediments. We also used a combination of automated electron microscopy imaging and citizen science for the analysis of microfossils. The replacement with goethite has resulted in exceptional preservation of internal soft tissues and structures. Examples of fossils from the deposit (including a mygalomorph spider, a retropinnid fish and a bee) will be used to showcase the value of exceptionally preserved fossils for our understanding of the recent past.

  
  

  Meet Dr McCurry: 

  

  Dr Matthew McCurry is a palaeontologist and functional morphologist whose research explores the behaviour, ecology, and evolution of extinct species through the fossil record. By combining fieldwork, descriptive palaeontology, comparative anatomy, and cutting-edge techniques such as 3D scanning and biomechanical modelling, Dr McCurry uncovers how ancient organisms lived and interacted with their environments.

  He currently works at the Australian Museum Research Institute and UNSW, and has previously held research fellowships at Monash University and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Dr McCurry is a strong advocate for the role of museum collections in advancing science and public understanding of deep time.

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• RZS NSW Forum 2025: Monotreme Marvels

  • When
    30 August 2025
  •  
    8:00 AM - 5:00 PM
  • Location
    Australian Museum
  • Spaces left
    50

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  Monotremes, as the only living non-therian mammals, are an ancient group that has existed in Australia, New Guinea, South America and Antarctica since at least the Cretaceous. Although represented by very few species today, they were far more diverse in Australia when dinosaurs ruled the roost, but soon became less diverse and more specialised in the shadow of the expanding marsupial and placental mammal dynasties throughout the Cenozoic. Despite this long-term decline, they continued to thrive in Australia and New Guinea after the geographic isolation of the Australian continent but subsequently went extinct in Antarctica and South America. Why they survived in Australia and New Guinea but not South America remains a mystery.

  Today, the aquatic platypus and terrestrial short-beaked echidna are the only monotremes left in Australia, with three additional long-beaked echidna species found only in New Guinea. All these enigmatic egg-laying mammals are highly specialised invertebrate eaters, each with its own highly specialised morphology suited to specific diets and lifestyles. Although an important part of Australia’s globally unique wildlife and the focus of considerable ongoing conservation efforts, much is still unknown about monotreme evolution, taxonomy, morphology, behaviour and ecology.

  This Forum will significantly expand current understanding about monotremes with new research presented about the living species as well as the fossil record of South America, Australia and New Guinea. This should provide, among other things, important insights into the best ways to develop conservation strategies to ensure these fascinating but too often threatened mammals survive into the future.

  Registration

  Registration is now open, with early bird discounts (until 10 August) as well as discounts for RZS NSW Members. 

  RZS NSW members must be logged in at rzsnsw.org.au to access the member rates.

  Not an RZS NSW Member? - join now and get access to the discount registration rates.

  Forum Flyer

  RZS NSW 2025 Forum Flyer (V2. 27 May 2025).

  Forum Program

  Program for RZS Forum 2025 (V5. 01 June 2025).

  
  

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