‘It’s a history lesson’: fossil fish up to 16m years old found perfectly preserved in central NSW

<p>Fossils retain microscopic structural features including stomach contents and provide first detailed evidence in Australia for fish called Osmeriformes</p><ul><li><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/mar/18/australia-news-live-trade-tariffs-budget-jim-chalmers-economy-inflation-cost-of-living-election-anthony-albanese-peter-dutton-ntwnfb">Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates</a></li><li>Get our <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/email-newsletters?CMP=cvau_sfl">breaking news email</a>, <a href="https://app.adjust.com/w4u7jx3">free app</a> or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/series/full-story?CMP=cvau_sfl">daily news podcast</a></li></ul><p>Fossil fish so exquisitely preserved that scientists have been able to reconstruct their final days from up to 16m years ago have been discovered in central New South Wales.</p><p>Several fossils of small freshwater fish, embedded in an iron-rich mineral called goethite at the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jan/08/a-rosetta-stone-australian-fossil-site-is-a-vivid-window-into-15m-year-old-rainforest">McGraths Flat fossil site</a>, have retained microscopic structural features including their stomach contents and the outlines of cells that determine colour.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2025/mar/18/osmeriformes-fish-fossil-mcgraths-flat">Continue reading...</a>