Computer technology initially designed to track the spread of viral outbreaks has been used by scientist to visualise the path Aboriginal languages took across Australia.
The study investigated how the language family "Pama-Nyungan" came to dominate 90% of the country and 75% of Australia’s roughly 400 indigenous languages.
Researchers found the language family originated in an area south of the Gulf of Carpentaria. It indicates a change in climate around that time allowed speakers of the language to rapidly spread across the country.