Mammoth Cave is a large

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms w ...

cave A cave or cavern is a natural void in the ground, specifically a space large enough for a human to enter. Caves often form by the weathering of rock and often extend deep underground. The word ''cave'' can refer to smaller openings such as sea ...

south of the town of

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. ...

in south-western

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

, and about south of

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

. It lies within the

Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park is a national park in the South West region of Western Australia, south of Perth. It is named after the two locations at either end of the park which have lighthouses, Cape Leeuwin and Cape Naturaliste. It is ...

and is surrounded by

karri ''Eucalyptus diversicolor'', commonly known as karri, is a species of flowering plant in the family Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tall tree with smooth light grey to cream-coloured, often mottled bark ...

and marri forest. There have been extinct animal fossils found in Mammoth Cave.

Exploration

The cave is long and deep. It has been known from about 1850 to European settlers of the Margaret River district, but it was not explored until 1895. Its first explorer, Tim Connelly, who was appointed caretaker of the cave, conducted tours by lamplight until 1904 when electric lighting was installed.

Fossils

The cave has been studied for over a century. It has yielded

fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological Epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fina ...

fauna over 35,000 years old, including those of

thylacine The thylacine ( , or , also ) (''Thylacinus cynocephalus'') is an extinct carnivorous marsupial that was native to the Australian mainland and the islands of Tasmania and New Guinea. The last known live animal was captured in 1930 in Tasma ...

s and the giant marsupial herbivore ''

Zygomaturus ''Zygomaturus'' is an extinct genus of giant marsupial belonging to the family Diprotodontidae which inhabited Australia from the Late Miocene to Late Pleistocene. Description It was a large animal, weighing 500 kg (1100 lbs) or ...

''.

Notes

External links

* Show caves in Australia Pleistocene paleontological sites of Australia Margaret River, Western Australia Limestone caves Caves of Western Australia Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park {{Australia-geology-stub