2014 Field Season

The 2014 Field Victorian Cretaceous Field Season could well be a single 3-week dig at the Eric the Red West (ETRW) site in the Otway formation.  This site yielded two ornithopod jaws in an 8-day dig last season (thanks to Mary and Sharyn!). In previous years Mary found a mammal jaw, Alanna found what Dr Rich tells us are two partial upper teeth (and to an expert like him apparently that's obvious), and Cate found her first ever tooth,  And of course, the partial ornithopod skeleton that started it all.

We do not think that we will be running Flat Rocks in 2014, and the Koonwarra dig is such a large logistical project that it's too early to tell whether it will be 2014 or 2015.

ETRW is much less accessible and much more difficult to find than the Flat Rocks site, so over the winter we will put some thought into a practical way to run our annual "Friends Day".  Once we figure that out, Gerry will be in contact with the Friends.

Steve Broady's bone

A couple of weeks ago Mike Cleeland dropped off a fossil bone, found by Steve Broady at Eagle's Nest, near Inverloch. The bone was obviously crushed and a little distorted but after preparation it became clear that it is a metatarsal (a bone in the foot) of a dinosaur. It is probably the second metatarsal from the right foot of an ornithopod dinosaur. It measures approximately 13cms in length, which means it is larger than the metatarsals preserved in the three partial ornithopod skeletons from the Otway Group.

It will make an excellent addition to the dinosaur Collection at Museum Victoria. Well done Steve.

                                 Ornithopod metatarsal found by Steve Broady at Eagle's Nest

Some finds at Eagles Nest

A couple of weeks ago a team led by Mike Cleeland collected four bones from Eagles Nest. One of them was this interesting limb bone from near "Lesleys Lair" that Steve Broady found.  It appears to be crushed along its length, which may be an indication of a theropod.  They collected most of it, and went back for the rest on this Saturday 18^th May, plus one other small platy bone.

Pip found this interesting specimen in two parts from an erratic west of Eagles Nest.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth is included in recognition of Pip's British heritage.

 

Gastroliths

For many years, Mike Cleeland has been delighting young visitors to the Flat Rocks site with his famous searches for dinosaur remains, both during the dig and more recently through the Bunurong Environment Centre.

 

Most trips, at least one visitor finds a dinosaur bone, and a couple of others isolated, rounded stones in the conglomerate.  For many years, Mike has speculated that these may be gastroliths (stomach stones).  Recently he stumbled across a University of California Museum of Palaeontology (UCMP) article that summarises the current thinking.  There is still no evidence that small-bodied ornithopods or toothed theropods used gastroliths.  Of course, nothing says that they couldn't have...

 

So I reckon Mike's going to keep sending young visitors home with a gastrolith and encouraging them to learn a bit more science.

 

Koonwarra 2014

A larva (maybe caddis fly?) from
the 2013 Koonwarra dig

After the success of the Koonwarra dig this year (lots of fish found and the bedding planes turn out to be pretty straightforward), Dr Tom Rich and Prof Tim Flannery are proposing an eight week dig in 2014, after the Flat Rocks and Eric the Red West digs.  Since one of the largest expenses is the bulldozer to expose the site and fill it in again, this would allow lots of detailed dinosaur (and mammal, I guess) hunting between bulldozer time.  And they'd need a crew of 20 volunteers at any time, which may mean more than 100 people involved over the course of the dig.  Of course, all of this is very preliminary - there's funding and permits and logistics to figure out before this becomes a reality - any of which could delay or derail it.  I expect that Tom will tell us all more on Field Report day, including what opportunities exist for past and present Dinosaur Dreaming volunteers to become involved.
It's pretty exciting...

From Peggy

Dave at the microscope

Peggy sent me a few of the photos that she took in the back yard at Flat Rocks this year.

Wendy and Jodi kicking back

No idea what I'm doing with my hands



Eve, Pip and Sauvignon Blanc

Koonwarra 24 April

Mike and Pip happy to be
digging on their Anniversary

Prof Tim Flannery shows off
his fossil fish

Tim's Fish

Darren Bellingham has sent me a few photos that he took whilst visiting the Koonwarra dig on Wednesday. Enjoy!



Fish head