Dinosaur sea monster, ichthyosaur platypterygius australis, discovered by seven year old girl
A SEVEN-Year-old girl has discovered the bones of a huge 100-million-year-old dolphin-like sea creature that once hunted in Australia’s ancient inland sea.
A SEVEN-Year-old girl has discovered the bones of a 100-million-year-old extinct dolphin-like marine reptile that once swam through Australia’s ancient inland sea.
Budding palaeontologist Amber Wilson, her twin brother Darcy, and parents Tony and Lisa, from Wiseleigh in Victoria’s east, were on a family holiday in the outback when they made the prehistoric discovery.
Mr Wilson said they had stopped at fossil museum Kronosaurus Korner at
at Richmond, Queensland, about 500km inland from Townsville, at the end of a 100-day family getaway when they found the fossilised bones of an ichthyosaur.
The July find, nicknamed “Wilson”, includes a 1.5m-long skull with 6cm teeth and vertebrae.
Mr Wilson said they were digging at one of the free fossil hunting sites when his daughter found a large hockey puck-shaped vertebra hidden in a pile of rocks.
“We had one very, very excited little girl,” Mr Wilson said.
“We were just going there to find a fish scale or a tooth. That was about as big as we thought we would get — it was just fantastic.
“The kids think that’s normal — you go and dig in a pit and find a dinosaur.
“Money couldn’t buy the incredible experience our family got from finding this fossil.”
Kronosaurus Korner’s interpretation manager and curator, Dr Timothy Holland, said it was the most complete ichthyosaur skull in their collection and one of the best from Australia.
“I was completely stunned,” Dr Holland said.
“A professional palaeontologist might search their entire career to find a fossil of this quality. It only took the Wilson family a few hours.”
It took nine people to lift the 400kg specimen, which is now on display today at Kronosaurus Korner.
The bones belong to the ichthyosaur platypterygius australis, a 7m marine reptile which propelled itself underwater with its powerful tail and changed direction using four broad flippers.
More about the creature from Melbourne Museum.
Originally published as Dinosaur sea monster, ichthyosaur platypterygius australis, discovered by seven year old girl
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