An extinct koala discovered in north Queensland has been named after Dick Smith, who funded research in the area A 20-million-year-old extinct koala found at north Queensland's Riversleigh World Heritage Area has been named Litokoala dicksmithi after businessman Dick Smith who funded research at the site. The discovery brings the number of known extinct koala species to 18. University of Queensland vertebrate palaeontologist Julien Louys said the discovery, the first of a complete skull, showed that the animal fed on leaves and possibly forest fruits. It indicated that the modern koala - one that fed solely on eucalyptus leaves - was better suited to adjust to a drying climate. UQ palaeontologist Gilbert Price said there could yet be more koala species to be found. Riversleigh is incredible. It just keeps on giving," he said. It allows us to track evolution. Without these fossils we would have no idea of the incredible story of koala evolution. One koala weighed up to 35kg and lived beside the modern koala 50,000 to 100,000 years ago. Dr Price said the modern koala had once been found right across the continent, including Lake Eyre and the now tree-less Nullabor Plain. Its range had contracted over the past 10,000 years as the continent dried. The latest find was small, about one third the size of modern koalas. Karen Black, a University of New South Wales palaeontologist who led the research, said the species appeared to have been much more closely related to the modern koala with numerous similarities in the skull suggesting a more koala-like, rather than possum-like, face. Litokoala dicksmithi weighed 3kg to 4kg. "The discovery of Litokoala dicksmithi is particularly significant because it is one of only two fossil koala species that are known from material preserving the facial region including the snout," Dr Black said. ..."An interesting feature ... is the extremely large eye sockets which suggest the intriguing possibility that these koalas were nocturnal with greater visual acuity than the living koala. Combined with its small body size, this suggests that Litokoala dicksmithi was a more active, agile tree climber than its sleepy, relatively sedentary, cousin that we know. Riversleigh, deemed to be among the world's richest fossil deposits, has been cursed by fossil thieves. It is a Pandora's box for paleontologists, with finds including wombat-like marsupials, galloping kangaroos, primitive bandicoots, a fox-sized thylacine and bats. Details of the find have been published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.