Dinosaur Dreaming

The Future

Lesley Kool

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the discovery of the site near Inverloch. It was in May 1991 that a group of us were re-prospecting the coastline near The Caves when we came across the four metre wide exposure of fossiliferous rock, stretching from the intertidal zone up into the cliff. Within half an hour we had found more than 20 small bones exposed on the surface of the fossil layer and we quickly realised that we had found something special.

We did not realise how special this site was to become until years later and what makes it even more exciting is what is yet to be discovered. We have a tantalizing glimpse of a period in Australia's history that has no modern analogue with an amazingly high faunal diversity.

The discovery of the two mammal jaws during the 2001 field season, as well as the numerous small vertebrae and skull fragments, certainly suggests that we are excavating close to the edge of the original stream channel. Therefore, we will be acting on Doris' advise and continuing excavations where we left off at the end of the 2001 field season.

Nick van Klaveren has suggested a five-year plan for the site, which should see the removal of the most accessible part of the fossil layer. In the meantime, we will continue sampling the Ferguson site at Eagles Nest, as well as reaffirming our efforts to discover new fossil sites, particularly inland.