Near-complete ichthyosaur fossil given to Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The fossil of a 7.1-metre marine reptile found in western Queensland has been donated to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum at Winton.  It is believed to be one of the most complete ichthyosaur fossils uncovered in Australia.

Transcript

00:00At 7 metres long, the skeleton of a 100 million year old marine predator is uncovered in western

00:09Queensland.

00:10You're looking at something that was swimming around an inland sea that covered western

00:14Queensland around 100 million years ago and it's in almost perfect condition.

00:19This is the fossil of an ichthyosaur, a reptile that dominated an inland sea.

00:25It was found by Cassandra Prince when she was scouring her neighbouring property, Tulabuck

00:29Station, between Longridge and Mount Isa.

00:32And I found this piece of rock with a little bit of bone in it, so I knew, I was very confident

00:39that the rest of the body was down under the dirt.

00:43The ichthyosaur has been found in Queensland before, but at 90% complete, this one is a

00:49rare find.

00:50It's turned into probably one of the most complete ichthyosaurs that's ever been found

00:55in Australia.

00:56In fact, it looks like it is the most complete.

00:57We won't know for sure until it's prepared.

00:59The surface fossil was found in 2023.

01:03Now it has been transported to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs at Winton, where it'll be prepared

01:08for research and put on display.

01:10It's going to take thousands of hours, but this specimen is worth every minute of it.

01:14It'sयldatm

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