References
Reference
Glen, Chris (2000) Opalized plesiosaur - email; Email,
Opalized plesiosaur - email
Principal Author
Chris Glen
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Email
Journal
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Abstract
The "Dunraven" plesiosaur (QMF12719) registered at Queensland Museum 29/06/1983 Found at the Dunraven Cattle Station by J.Delaney near Hughenden and Richmond in Central Queensland.
With good intentions farmer removed it from the site to prevent it from weathering, but taphonomic information was lost. When Ralph Molnar went out to the farm most of the "good bits" were under the farmer's house for safekeeping. Back at the site both Ralph and the farmer retrieved the remaining bits and pieces (rubble). The specimen has been prepared back at QM. So there is no info on how the bones were arranged in the rock - makes it hard for a new comer like me to sort out which bone is which.
It was found in Cretaceous rocks (Toolebuc formation?)....I'm waiting on the field notes for more detailed info on age. I think Ralph said it was very late Cretaceous - but don't quote me on that.
The bones of this specimen are 99% free of the rock matrix, and take up 5 or 6 large draws in the collection. There are over 20 vertebrae, 4-5 in excellent condition the others in various states. Centra are about 5cm across. There are two big bits of skull that look horribly damaged but I dare say that some important info could be extracted from them. They comprise of bits of inner skull bones (nasal passages I guess) bordered by interlocking cone moulds where the teeth once were. One additional small skull bit appears to be the very tip of the snout, well preserved, with several well preserved teeth. There is also one well preserved isolated tooth. There are quite a few well preserved girdle bones/ partial bones and some ribs. 3 of the draws contain material that will never be more than rubble. I guess there are fragments of phalanges and the like, but I assume these are not of much use.
Ralph was under the impression it may have been related to the "Richmond (or Marathon) Pliosaur", a very complete "longish necked" pliosaur on display at QM. No doubt you are familiar with this specimen. It looks something like Dolichorhynchops.
Sven Sachs was here from Germany for a few weeks, I was lucky to meet him and he had a quick glance over the material and thought it looked more like elasmosaur vertebrae (eg Woolungasaurus).
I think it is probably one of these two, and is unlikely to be anything else (like Kronosaurus) - but I can't discount the others yet obviously.
Oh, before I go, have you heard of "Dave"? He's the latest elasmosaur recovered by QM from far north Queensland - almost complete but...no head! (No surprise there).We'll head up this year and look for it. Colin McHenry headed the team with Alex Cook (QM). I was fortunate enough to go myself. I did the freehand sketches of the bones in situ. I'm sure the whole story would be somewhere on the QM web site. It was an "emergency dig". The team was thrown together in 24hrs (I was on the road within 30 hours of first hearing about it - 3000km from Brisbane to remote north Queensland). We had to beat the wet season. The specimen was completely exposed, yet still embedded in the hard rock at the in the river bed that is covered by 50 feet or so of surging water during the tropical wet season. The wet season was due when QM found out about "Dave" (named after the freshwater fisherman that found it). We got it out inabout 5 days, moved about 5 tons of hard rock with geopicks and hammer ad chisels, worked through to midnight, knowing the the rain could have started at any moment. When it rains up there it's all or nothing, dark soil turns straight to impassible mud. It was a couple of hours from the closest cattle station via rough dirt road, but after rain many locals had taken weeks to get back. Quite an adventure. We got on TV!
With good intentions farmer removed it from the site to prevent it from weathering, but taphonomic information was lost. When Ralph Molnar went out to the farm most of the "good bits" were under the farmer's house for safekeeping. Back at the site both Ralph and the farmer retrieved the remaining bits and pieces (rubble). The specimen has been prepared back at QM. So there is no info on how the bones were arranged in the rock - makes it hard for a new comer like me to sort out which bone is which.
It was found in Cretaceous rocks (Toolebuc formation?)....I'm waiting on the field notes for more detailed info on age. I think Ralph said it was very late Cretaceous - but don't quote me on that.
The bones of this specimen are 99% free of the rock matrix, and take up 5 or 6 large draws in the collection. There are over 20 vertebrae, 4-5 in excellent condition the others in various states. Centra are about 5cm across. There are two big bits of skull that look horribly damaged but I dare say that some important info could be extracted from them. They comprise of bits of inner skull bones (nasal passages I guess) bordered by interlocking cone moulds where the teeth once were. One additional small skull bit appears to be the very tip of the snout, well preserved, with several well preserved teeth. There is also one well preserved isolated tooth. There are quite a few well preserved girdle bones/ partial bones and some ribs. 3 of the draws contain material that will never be more than rubble. I guess there are fragments of phalanges and the like, but I assume these are not of much use.
Ralph was under the impression it may have been related to the "Richmond (or Marathon) Pliosaur", a very complete "longish necked" pliosaur on display at QM. No doubt you are familiar with this specimen. It looks something like Dolichorhynchops.
Sven Sachs was here from Germany for a few weeks, I was lucky to meet him and he had a quick glance over the material and thought it looked more like elasmosaur vertebrae (eg Woolungasaurus).
I think it is probably one of these two, and is unlikely to be anything else (like Kronosaurus) - but I can't discount the others yet obviously.
Oh, before I go, have you heard of "Dave"? He's the latest elasmosaur recovered by QM from far north Queensland - almost complete but...no head! (No surprise there).We'll head up this year and look for it. Colin McHenry headed the team with Alex Cook (QM). I was fortunate enough to go myself. I did the freehand sketches of the bones in situ. I'm sure the whole story would be somewhere on the QM web site. It was an "emergency dig". The team was thrown together in 24hrs (I was on the road within 30 hours of first hearing about it - 3000km from Brisbane to remote north Queensland). We had to beat the wet season. The specimen was completely exposed, yet still embedded in the hard rock at the in the river bed that is covered by 50 feet or so of surging water during the tropical wet season. The wet season was due when QM found out about "Dave" (named after the freshwater fisherman that found it). We got it out inabout 5 days, moved about 5 tons of hard rock with geopicks and hammer ad chisels, worked through to midnight, knowing the the rain could have started at any moment. When it rains up there it's all or nothing, dark soil turns straight to impassible mud. It was a couple of hours from the closest cattle station via rough dirt road, but after rain many locals had taken weeks to get back. Quite an adventure. We got on TV!
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