Cape Otway's Cretaceous Christmas Present!

Christmas Eve delivered an unexpected surprise to Australian palaeontologists and dinosaur enthusiasts alike, with the revelation that researchers have uncovered the partial skeleton of a plant-eating ornithopod at Cape Otway, Victoria.

The discovery, which was first made in 2005, but was only formally announced on 24 December 2007, marks the first dinosaur skeleton to have been unearthed in nearly two decades. Previous fossil discoveries, such as those made at the nearby 'Dinosaur Cove' site, have largely consisted of bones and teeth.

According to Doctor Thomas Rich, vertebrate palaeontologist with Museum Victoria, the skeleton (estimated to be over 100 million years old) may have been intact as 'recently' as 500 years ago, when its head, along with much of its body, could have been washed away.

Full details of the discovery can be read here.

The Sommerville Collection

If you saw the Friday 30 November episode of ABC Television's The Collectors, you would have been blown away by the 'Sommerville Collection' - a massive archive of Australian and international fossil and mineral specimens, representing the lifelong passion of Warren Sommerville.

But don't despair if you missed the TV show, because now everyone in Australia can view this amazing collection for themselves at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum, in Bathurst, New South Wales.

Housed in the town's old Public School building (constructed in 1876), the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum is now the permanent home to Warren Sommerville's remarkable collection, which he has generously donated, so that all Australians can enjoy it. (It even features the only complete Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton in Australia!)

If you can't make it to Bathurst straight away, you can get a sneak peek of the exhibitions by taking the virtual tour online.