AN EXCITING,
O VER 2 4 0 M IL L IO N Y E A R O LD ,
FOSSIL DISCOVERY FOR MUSEUM
B.S. Rubidge
D o rs a l view o f n e w d ro m a sa ur skull.
On the fin a l day of a rather m undane fossil collecting trip undertaken to the Prince A lbert d istrict in the Southern Karoo durin g 1985, Mr. John Nyaphuli, technical assistant at the Palaeontology Departm ent of the National M useum , picked up a sm all (± 5 cm long) unassum ing nodule w ith a tin y fragm ent of bone exposed at the one end. Closer on the spot exam ination w ith a m agnifying glass revealed a sm all, about 1 mm long, tooth protrud ing from the exposed fossilized bone. O bviously a skull had been discovered, but on the meagre evidence presented, there was no know ing how much of it was preserved.
Back in the laboratory at Bloem fontein, a fte rfo u r m onths of painstakin gly picking and chipping away at the rock w ith fine dental tools, a
N o s t r i l
Eye s o c k e t
P in e a l f o r a m e n
T e m p o r a l o p e n i n g
beautiful, alm ost perfect skull is beginning to emerge. The obvious question now is, "w h a t w as th is little anim al?".
At this stage this little fossil appears to be drom asaur, an extremely poorly know n fa m ily of reptiles presumed to be plant-eating and of w h ich only fo u r specimens, representing three different genera, have been reported so far. A ll of these specimens are preserved as natural m oulds in the rock. That is, all the bone had already been weathered out from the rock before the fossil w as discovered, and all that rem ains is an im prin t of the bone. W ith th is new discovery, the museum is now fortunate to have the firs t complete skull of a drom asaur. Not only is it the most complete drom asaur skull know n, but it is certainly the oldest yet discovered. [HiiJ
