17-million-year-old fossil of large extinct songbird discovered in Australia

Lauren Liebhaber, Miami Herald on Sep 19, 2025

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Fossil remains of a large, now-extinct bird species have been discovered in Australia’s Boodjamulla National Park.

The ground-dwelling species — Menura tyawanoides — is an ancient ancestor of Australia’s native lyrebird, according to a Sept. 17 news release from Queensland’s Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

Lyrebirds have the remarkable ability to imitate almost any sound, even “chainsaws, horns, alarms and ... trains,” according to wildlife experts.

Scientists believe the mimicry helps them to vocally establish their territory and “defend it from other lyrebirds,” according to experts.

The fossil wrist bone of Menura tyawanoides is believed to be between 17 million and 18 million years old, according to the release.

The structure of the wrist suggests that, unlike the lyrebird, the Menura tyawanoides was a large and “mainly terrestrial bird” with the reduced ability to fly, officials said.

The extinct species likely lived in the dense understory of ancient tropical rainforests, according to the release.

Officials said the find “provides key evidence that the roots of Australia’s unique songbirds run deep.”

“As one of the four most significant fossil sites in the world, Riversleigh has revealed hundreds of extraordinary extinct species that were challenged by previous cycles of climate change,” Mike Archer, professor at the University of New South Wales, said in the release.

“This record is providing us with insights into how today’s ecosystems are likely to change in the future and what we might be able to do to avoid climate-change-driven extinctions threatening the living animals of Australia — many of which, like lyrebirds, had ancestors at Riversleigh that faced and survived similar challenges,” Archer said.

Boodjamulla National Park is in the far northwestern corner of Queensland.

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