References
Reference
Crane, Michael D and Torrens, Hugh S. (1985) Lost and Found - A well-travelled plesiosaur femur; Geological Curator, 4(4), pp.223
Lost and Found - A well-travelled plesiosaur femur
Principal Author
Michael D Crane
Other Authors
Hugh S. Torrens
Header
Academic paper
Journal
Geological Curator
Volume
4
Issue
4
Pages
223
Abstract
Robert Jones (Collection Manager (Palaeontology), Australian Museum, 6-8 College Street, Sydney South, New South Wales 2000) writes:
'Recently an. intriguing specimen was brought to The Australian Museum by a member of the public who had been a tourist in Britain. The specimen did not prove hard to identify, it is the femur of a plesiosaur 240mm long, but the intriguing thing was where it was found and how it got there. It was found by the tourist adjacent to the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland. It was lying on a rock in bushes a few miles north of Castle Urquhart. This conjures up visions of the evening tabloids splashing headlines all over the place claiming the discovery of evidence proving 'Nessie1 is a plesiosaur. But I must hasten to add that the bone is a fossil and heavily permineralised: obviously not from any post Mesozoic 'Nessie'. The specimen is reasonably clear of matrix, a small amount of blue-grey .clay is evident on both ends and it has a grubby appearance from apparent frequent handling. We suspect it probably comes from the Oxford Clay around Peterborough in Cambridgeshire but we cannot prove this.
As to how it got to Loch Ness, we must presume someone put it there. But for what reason? Did someone discard it because it was 'hot' or was it a badly planned hoax? I hope someone in Britain might be able to tell us more about it and for this reason I am including a photo which may help with identification. It does not have any sign of a collection number but I suspect it may have been in a collection of some sort. If anyone can throw any light on the mystery we would very much like to hear from them.'
'Recently an. intriguing specimen was brought to The Australian Museum by a member of the public who had been a tourist in Britain. The specimen did not prove hard to identify, it is the femur of a plesiosaur 240mm long, but the intriguing thing was where it was found and how it got there. It was found by the tourist adjacent to the shores of Loch Ness in Scotland. It was lying on a rock in bushes a few miles north of Castle Urquhart. This conjures up visions of the evening tabloids splashing headlines all over the place claiming the discovery of evidence proving 'Nessie1 is a plesiosaur. But I must hasten to add that the bone is a fossil and heavily permineralised: obviously not from any post Mesozoic 'Nessie'. The specimen is reasonably clear of matrix, a small amount of blue-grey .clay is evident on both ends and it has a grubby appearance from apparent frequent handling. We suspect it probably comes from the Oxford Clay around Peterborough in Cambridgeshire but we cannot prove this.
As to how it got to Loch Ness, we must presume someone put it there. But for what reason? Did someone discard it because it was 'hot' or was it a badly planned hoax? I hope someone in Britain might be able to tell us more about it and for this reason I am including a photo which may help with identification. It does not have any sign of a collection number but I suspect it may have been in a collection of some sort. If anyone can throw any light on the mystery we would very much like to hear from them.'
Language
English