Dinosaur dig returns to Eromanga

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Media Release - Dinosaur expedition returns to Eromanga

On May 14, a team of scientists and volunteers led by the Eromanga Natural History Museum with the support of the Outback Gondwana Foundation will set up camp near Eromanga for a two-week excavation of one of Australia’s most exciting new dinosaur discoveries.
Not far from the site where ‘Cooper,’ Australia’s largest dinosaur was excavated, scientists have discovered ‘Zac’ one of the most complete sauropod skeletons ever found.
First sighted on ANZCA Day in 2009, Zac is shaping up to be one of the most fascinating of Eromanga’s titans of the Cretaceous.
ENHM Collections Manager Robyn Mackenzie said “It is quite unusual to find a skeleton so in tact.
“Sections of Zac’s skeleton are articulated and at this stage it appears the tail is almost complete.”
OGF Chairman Stuart Mackenzie said, “The Eromanga dinosaur project is committed to exploring one of the richest dinosaur fields in Australia.”

“In the four years since our last major dinosaur dig, the Eromanga Natural History Museum (ENHM) has been working to prepare some of the vast Cretaceous fossil collection found in the area, including many specimens that are completely new to science.

“Support for the project and in particular a purpose-built facility to enable the study and display of these nationally significant fossils in the Eromanga area has been overwhelming.

“Thanks to the commitment of OGF Founding Partner Santos, the local community and Beach Energy we are piecing together a picture of South West Queensland 95 million years ago,” Mr Mackenzie said.

At the end of the excavation, Zac’s remains will be transported in plaster casts to the Eromanga Natural History Museum field station for preparation and scientific study.

Collections Manager for the ENHM Robyn Mackenzie said, “It is very exciting to be working to bring these discoveries to the world and have them officially recognised in science, and displayed for all in a natural history museum located in the area where they were discovered.”

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What is the difference between megafauna fossils and dinosaur fossils?

Dinosaurs are reptiles that went extinct 64 million years ago. They grew to gigantic sizes. They lived in a time when Australia was a very different place to what it is today, and part of the ancient landmass called Gondwana. The Eromanga dinosaurs are estimated to be 95-98 million years old and lived during the late Cretaceous.

Megafauna are the group of animals that evolved after the dinosaurs died. They were very large marsupials, reptiles and flightless birds and went extinct about 20,000 years ago. Some of their descendants still exist today in much smaller forms such as kangaroos, wombats, komodo dragons and crocodiles. The Eulo megafauna lived during Pleistocene approximately 50,000 to 100,000 years ago.

About ENHM

Welcome to a brand new Australian dinosaur museum! Eromanga Natural History Museum is an exciting new education and tourism development near where the fossils of Australia’s largest dinosaurs, the Eromanga Titanosaurs are being discovered in South West Queensland, Australia. These dinosaur discoveries were first found 2004 and now you can finally see these amazing bones and teeth, learn about the discoveries and even help clean the bones or join a dig. Over eighty, dinosaur (95-98 million years old) and much younger megafauna sites are being found in this internationally significant paleontological hotspot in the heart of Australia. Our vision is to become a regional Centre of Excellence for Arid Australia Palaeontology and a major tourist destination for Outback Australia. Stage 1 is complete and Stage 2 is planned to start very soon.

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