11 October 2005
Australia's largest collection of Antarctic fossils has taken up residence at Monash University.
The collection of more than 1000 fossils features a vast array of invertebrates (including some shells with their original mother of pearl still intact), beautifully preserved leaves and partial tree trunks, bird remains such as giant penguins, vertebrae and teeth of large marine reptiles such as long-necked Plesiosaurs and monster Mosasaurs, and a 65-centimetre-long skull cast of a meat-eating Theropod dinosaur.
The fossils are mostly between 40 and 70 million years old.
All but five per cent have been collected by Principal Research Fellow Dr Jeffrey Stilwell, from the School of Geosciences.
Dr Stilwell has completed five Antarctic expeditions -- two to Seymour Island, 100 km south-east of the tip Antarctic Peninsula, and surrounding islands of the James Ross Island Group; and three to East Antarctica, including the Transantarctic Mountains and the McMurdo Sound region.
The fossils were a useful indicator of how long it took plant and animal communities to recover from a mass extinction, he said.
"Seymour Island is the only place in the Antarctic where you can see the chain of events at the end of the Cretaceous Period that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. The island is literally paved with fossils.
"The fossil evidence indicates the magnitude of the extinction in Antarctica was not as marked in the high southern latitudes, compared to other regions of the globe. Species-level survivorship was relatively high at around 40 per cent, suggesting that the Antarctic biota was relatively buffered from the catastrophe.
"Still, in the Antarctic, shallow marine communities did not bounce back for some 300,000 years in terms of biodiversity -- that's how long it takes for a community to recover from an extinction event, which is important to know in this day of looming habitat loss and accelerating species extinctions."
Dr Stilwell said the fossils were a reminder of a time when Antarctica was heavily forested, with low mountains, warmer temperatures than present and home to dinosaurs and mammals, monster penguins weighing nearly 100 kg, and large shore birds unlike any living today.
Some fossils in the collection -- mostly shells and macroinvertebrates -- are still to be identified, with many being previously undiscovered species.
For interviews contact Jeffrey Stilwell on 03 9905 1642. Further information from Penny Fannin in the Monash media office on 03 9905 5828 or 0417 125 700. Photographs of Jeffrey Stilwell are available.
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