Monster croc skull unearthed

Scientists have found what they believe to be the jawbone of an ancient "monster" crocodile at a remote station in northwest Queensland.

They estimate the extinct saltie could have been the length of a Brisbane City Council bus and may have once roamed as far south as the state's capital.

University of Queensland palaeontologist Gilbert Price said the fossil was found by masters student Bok Khoo, from the University of NSW, during a dig last month.

"It would have been a monster, bigger than anything we have likely seen before," Dr Price said. "Possibly the biggest in Australia. It did not have any teeth attached but the tooth sockets alone were 35mm-40mm wide so you can imagine the teeth it had."

The front lower jaw bone was found near a disused road crossing along the Leichhardt River, near Floraville station, on July 10. It was found in an ancient riverbed deposit formed during the Pliocene and Pleistocene periods, one to two million years ago. Dr Price, who was on the dig, said the expedition involved keeping "one eye on the fossils and one on the riverbank" at all times.
"The area is full of saltwater and freshwater crocs, sharks, rays," he said.

Scientists believe the ancient crocodile may belong to the genus Pallimnarchus, an extinct mekosuchine crocodylian from the Pliocene and Pleistocene period. They will conduct radiometric dating but believe it belongs to the species Pallimnarchus pollens - the largest of the genus.

Moa lecture and live dinosaur dissection!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Giant_Haasts_eagle_attacking_New_Zealand_moa.jpg 

Perth-based science education centre Scitech is hosting a fascinating series of dinosaur-inspired lectures from next week, including one on New Zealand's crypto enigma, the Moa:

31 July - Time travelling with ancient DNA
Dr Mike Bunce from Murdoch University will tell us about his groundbreaking research extracting DNA from extinct birds. From the fossilised poo of the twelve foot moa bird of New Zealand, to eggshell fragments from the massive Madagascan elephant bird, ancient DNA can reveal more about what these creatures ate, how they evolved and how they became extinct.

4 September - Why is a duck a dinosaur?
Join us for a live dinosaur dissection with Curtin University’s Associate Professor Kate Trinajstic. Tyrannosaurus Rex and Triceratops haven't walked the planet for 65 million years, but are dinosaurs all extinct? The 2010 Prime Minister’s prize winner will dissect a barbecue duck to show that avian dinosaurs are alive and well today, and discuss her own research on fossil fish.

24 September - Ancient volcanoes and asteroids: Where did the dinosaurs go?
What dramatic change occurred nearly 66 million years ago to cause the mass extinction of the dinosaurs? Curtin University geochronologist Dr Fred Jourdan will guide us through the myths and facts of volcanoes and asteroid impacts, and show us how several factors probably contributed to the dinosaurs’ demise.

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Time: Doors open 6.00pm, lecture 6.30-7.30pm
Location: Lotterywest Science Theatre, Scitech
Cost: $5 per person, or free to Scitrekker members.
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The fee includes time in Scitech’s Explore-a-saurus exhibition which will be open before and after the lecture (6pm-8pm) Bookings are essential by following the Trybooking links at http://www.scitech.org.au/events/events/lecturesaurus-series.html.

Monster wombat bones discovered in Australia

It's as big as a four-wheel-drive and likes to eat plants, but the diprotodon discovered by palaeontologists this week was long dead - by at least about 55,000 years!

The diprotodon, about the size of a rhinoceros, was found on a remote cattle station in an area rich in the remains of prehistoric megafauna. The discovery of a virtually complete fossil makes it one of Australia’s most significant prehistoric discoveries.

"It was the biggest of them all – the biggest marsupial that ever lived on any continent," one of the researchers, Professor Sue Hand, a palaeontologist at the University of New South Wales, told Australian Geographic.

"It was a bit like a wombat but looked more like a massive, rhino-type beast ... We've found the skull and jaws, as well most of the rest of the skeleton. It's a really good specimen."

The plant-eating diprotodon roamed the country around 2.5 million years ago and became extinct about 55,000 years ago. Scientists believe the species died out because of the arrival of the first indigenous people or climate change, or a combination of the two.

The expedition is a joint project between UNSW, the University of Queensland, Queensland Museum and Xstrata.