Museum Victoria's Caroline Longmore excavating at the Dinosaur Dreaming dig site.
Image: Lesley Kool
Source: Lesley Kool
Dinosaur Dreaming 2007 update.
The 14th annual Dinosaur Dreaming dig at Inverloch was a success on many levels. Not only was the first upper tooth of a Cretaceous mammal found, but also what is believed to be the first set of bones found in association with a single animal.
Coincidentally, the mammal tooth was found by the same volunteer who found the first mammal jaw at the Flat Rocks site exactly ten years prior - to the day. It wasn’t until some time later that Museum Victoria’s Dave Pickering prepared the fossil tooth and realised it had three roots instead of the usual two, indicating it was not from the mammal’s lower jaws, but was instead an upper molar.
Another significant find were two bones found close together which have been identified as Ankylosaur dermal scutes; part of the body armour embedded in the skin of these four-legged herbivores.
Although the scutes are different shapes, a number of similarities suggest they are from the same animal. If so, they represent the first associated bones from the site and further research will determine what part of the body they came from.
A portion of a vertebra from a medium-sized (around five metres in length) theropod dinosaur was also found this year. Vertebrae from theropods have been found at the site previously, but none quite this large.
In total, more than 800 fossils were catalogued during the dig, with only a small percentage having been prepared so far. More exciting results are expected as preparations continue.