Discoveries from Riversleigh include fossils of Australia’s oldest-known elapid (venomous snakes like Brown Snakes), typhlopid (Blind Burrowing Snakes; the only fossils known) and pythonid snakes. A distinct species, Morelia riversleighensis – a large python from Riversleigh’s Oligo/Miocene deposits – is related to living snakes like the Olive Python.

The general term for snake in the Waanyi language is miya. The Olive Python is called bujada, didibuka and kabina in Waanyi. There is a major Dreaming story involving bujada – a Waanyi totem.

Other culturally important snakes include bubina (Black-headed Python), which is connected to a Dreaming site in Riversleigh Country, and kurrana or kurrarrbungku (Water Python) which is linked to bujimala the Rainbow Serpent. In the past, Waanyi people ate bujada (Olive Python) and bubina (Black-headed Python), but they have not been eaten in recent times.

Some of the Miocene deposits at Riversleigh have produced what look to be catfish spines. These potential catfish fossils are likely to be distantly related to living species of catfish, but until studied in more detail it is difficult to make comparisons.

Several kinds of catfish live in the running waters of Waanyi Country, including the Gregory River. Catfish is an important traditional food eaten today. The catfish known in Waanyi as Wirrikajikaji (Neoarius paucus) is a totem and ancestral Dreaming associated with important sites in Waanyi Country. One senior Waanyi man was nicknamed ‘Old Catfish’ because of his close connection to this Dreaming.

Scientists regard goannas as originating from Asia, arriving in Australia perhaps 26 million years ago. A few rare fossils of goannas have been found at Riversleigh and represent some of the earliest known records for the continent. These have not been studied well enough yet to be described as new species, but one has been placed in the modern genus Varanus which contains all of Australia’s living goannas. While it cannot be said that any of the living species of goannas have been found in the fossils, it is possible living species will be discovered as work continues.

Many kinds of goanna are found on Waanyi Country and these animals are depicted in the rock art in the Riversleigh area. Goanna is an important traditional bushfood still hunted today. Jumbuuna (Yellow-spotted Goanna) is a major Waanyi Dreaming associated with important sites in Boodjamulla National Park.

An ancient species of bird found at Riversleigh, Emuarius gidju, is almost certainly an ancestral emu that was also related to the cassowary. Although this species did not survive the Miocene, it could be the common ancestor for modern day emus and cassowaries. For emus, this discovery suggests that despite today being mainly found in dryland country, these birds may have a rainforest ancestry.

Emus are known as kananganja or jakudukudu in the Waanyi language and are the largest bird found on Waanyi Country today. They are more common in remote areas, but are often seen when driving through Waanyi Country.

Kananganja are important in Waanyi culture – they feature in Dreaming stories and their feathers (kilili) can be used for decorating bodies and ritual objects. Its meat and eggs (wurrbi) are traditional bushfoods. A lot of Waanyi people do not eat kananganja because it is their totem. One senior Waanyi man was nicknamed ‘Big Bird’ because of his close connection to Kananganja – the totem he took from Riversleigh Country.

An enormous range of bandicoots (Peramelidae) have been unearthed at Riversleigh, mostly belonging to the extinct family Yaralidae. The oldest modern type of bandicoot, a peramelid dating from around 15 million years ago, was also discovered here. Further work is required to understand the connection between the bandicoots found in the fossils and those that survive in the area today.

The Northern Brown Bandicoot (family Peramelidae) – known in Waanyi as kunawiji or mudayi – was a traditional bush food that was highly prized as a delicacy. Some Waanyi people say the introduction of cats into the landscape has impacted these animals in recent times.