The fossil hunting grounds near Richmond have thrown up another remarkable discovery.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
or signup to continue reading
Kronosaurus Korner museum founder Rob Ievers recently helped with the excavation of an Ichthyosaur skull discovered at their fossil hunting sites 10km north of Richmond.
Ichtyosaurs (from the ancient Greek word for "fish lizard" are large extinct marine reptiles resembling modern fish or dolphins that lived from 250 million years ago to around 90 million years ago, at a time when the area around North West Queensland was part of a vast inland sea.
In 2018 an Ichtyosaur the "size of a car" was uncovered and now significant portions of another have been found.
Mr Ievers told the ABC the museum's new paleontologist Kevin Peterson was fossicking at the site when he discovered "a fair chunk of bone".
Also read: Flinders River water tender opens
"We went out to the site to have a look and after digging around it we discovered it was the head of a marine reptile called an Ichtyosaur," Mr Ievers said.
"These heads are typically one meter in length so this is of a large reptile five or six metres in length."
Mr Ievers said the fossils found around Richmond are 112 million years old and they found a significant portion of the animal in the new find.
"We found its snout, we found teeth and we also found the jawbone," he said.
"Preparation work is long and tedious so it will be quite some time before it goes on display in Kronosaurus Korner."
The most famous find at the museum is remnants of a kronosaurus that gave it its name, found on a property near Hughenden
This fearsome marine reptile grew to 10m in length and was an apex predator preying on turtles and plesiosaurs.
Another major find was discovered in Richmond in August this year of Australia's largest flying reptile, a pterosaur with an estimated seven-metre wingspan that soared like a dragon.
Want news highlights delivered to your inbox? Sign up to the North Queensland Register newsletter below.
Derek Barry
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
Editor of the North West Star Mount Isa since January 2016. Prior to that, an editor at several regional southern Queensland newspapers. Passionate about telling local stories. Comes with a strange accent to due an Irish accident of birth.
