A community expedition will uncover the remains of a rare fossil in Richmond

A discovery made by a landholder near Richmond, has sparked a community dig that will take place in July.

The dig will recover the remains of an Elasmosaurus, that links to a rare fossil discovered in November last year.

Kronosaurus Korner Curator and Interpretation Manager, Doctor Patrick Smith, said the fossil found in November was the only Elasmosaurus in Australia known to have confirmed stomach content.

“What we can see with this fossil is one of the back bones preserved with the sediment that was preserved around the animal,” Dr Smith said.

“We also see a small stone preserved which is also known as a stomach stone and next to the stomach stone we see small cavities that are cross shaped and straight lines. These are the remains of fish spines and tail inside the stomach of this animal.

“This is the first time we have found the stomach content of an Elasmosaurus in Australia, before we had no examples of stomach content and just assumed they ate fish based on their teeth.”

When the skeleton was first discovered, Dr Smith and four volunteers went to the site to collect the remains but realised there was too much to collect on their own. So they creates the community dig.

“14 lucky people will have the chance to join us in collecting this 100 million year old skeleton,” Dr Smith said.

“This is the only Elasmosaurus in Australia known to have stomach content. There has been no other reported examples.

“We are fortunate enough that the specimen has been donated to us and when the fossil has been completely recovered it will be put on display in Kronosaurus Korner for the public to enjoy.”

To book a position in the community dig contact Kronosaurus Korner.