Fossil hunters unearth incredible ‘Rosetta Stone’ skeleton of a dinosaur that roamed Australia’s vast inland sea 100million years ago

Fossil hunters recently made an extraordinary discovery in Australia’s outback Queensland, unearthing the complete skeleton of a 100-million-year-old long-necked marine reptile. This remarkable find marks the first time that the entire skeleton of an ancient plesiosaur, an extinct marine reptile, has been found in Australia. The fossil was uncovered at a remote property in the McKinlay region by a team of amateur paleontologists known as the ‘Rock Chicks,’ consisting of Cassandra, Sally, and Cynthia.

Comparisons have been drawn between this discovery and the Rosetta Stone, the ancient carved stone found in Egypt in 1799 that played a crucial role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics. The significance of the plesiosaur skeleton lies in its potential to unlock the mysteries surrounding marine reptiles from the past. A team of museum paleontologists traveled to the remote site to collect the fossil, which belongs to the elasmosaur species—a plesiosaur that coexisted with dinosaurs in the Eromanga Sea between 140 and 100 million years ago.

The recovery of the skeleton was led by Dr. Espen Knutsen, a Senior Scientist at the Queensland Museum Network. He expressed great excitement about the discovery, describing it as the “Rosetta Stone of marine paleontology.” According to Dr. Knutsen, the fossil could hold the key to unraveling the diversity and evolution of long-necked plesiosaurs in Cretaceous Australia. What makes this find particularly remarkable is that it is the first known Australian elasmosaur head and body to be included in a museum collection, providing researchers with valuable material for future studies.

Plesiosaurs, including the Elasmosaurus, had distinctive features and behaviors. They possessed long necks and small heads or short necks with giant heads, and they surfaced to breathe air. Elasmosaurs had slender teeth designed for catching fish, crabs, and mollusks. Some plesiosaur fossils have been found with stones, known as gastroliths, in their stomach area, indicating that they ingested them to aid digestion or as ballast for diving.

Dr. Jim Thompson, CEO of the Queensland Museum Network, emphasized the significance of this discovery in shedding light on Queensland’s Cretaceous marine reptiles. He stated that the museum now possesses the only head and body of an Australian elasmosaur in the world, and this finding will greatly contribute to essential research on Queensland’s prehistoric marine life. In addition to the elasmosaur skeleton, other plesiosaur and ichthyosaur remains were also discovered during the expedition and will be transported to Townsville for further analysis and preparation.

This fossil discovery represents a major breakthrough in paleontology and offers a unique glimpse into the ancient marine ecosystems that existed in Australia millions of years ago. With ongoing research and analysis, scientists hope to gain a comprehensive understanding of Queensland’s Cretaceous past, painting a vivid picture of the diverse marine reptiles that once roamed the region’s vast inland sea.