4 days ago
Aussie mum's 340 million-year-old discovery hidden in rural creek
An Aussie woman has shared her excitement after unearthing not one but two astonishing ancient finds in a rural creek bed.
Like many loved ones before them, Ashleigh Banks, her young son and nephew wandered down to the water's edge on her aunt's property in NSW's Upper Hunter Region late last month to hunt for treasures.
'We have been finding fossils here for decades,' she told Yahoo News, noting the 'relatively untouched' land has been in her family for eight generations.
However, despite their familiarity with the area and its relics, the mum said she's 'always amazed' when she cracks open 'a totally random rock' to find 'something from over 200 million years ago' hidden inside.
And that's exactly what happened one recent sunny weekend when Ashleigh took a hammer to two rather plain-looking stones she pulled from the creek bed. While the darker rock had no obvious fossilisation on the outside, the NSW resident told Yahoo it 'cracked perfectly' to reveal an interesting pattern on the inside.
'The lighter rock had fossilisation on the outside and cracked in three to reveal plenty more,' she said, adding her 'enthusiastic' son and nephew were 'so surprised' by the discoveries.
Although Ashleigh's passion for fossicking is relatively new, she said several family members have found some 'amazing' relics over the years. 'I recall my grandfather and great uncles telling me there is a treasure trove of fossils on and around the property,' she said.
'I have only recently got into looking for fossils after a trip to Lightning Ridge a few months ago with my partner and children. We really loved fossicking for opals and learning about how they are formed over millions of years from ancient seabeds, similar to the fossils.'
What fossils did she find in the creek bed?
After reviewing images of Ashleigh's finds, Dr Patrick Smith, Technical Officer Palaeontology at the Australian Museum, told Yahoo the mum had stumbled upon 'some truly classic locals from Australia's deep past'.
The shells inside the rocks are strophomenid brachiopods, he said. Specifically, the larger shell is 'most likely from the family schuchertellidae, and quite possibly the genus schuchertella', Dr Smith explained, while the smaller ones belong to another family of brachiopods — productidae, probably the genus marginatia.
The two types of fossil shells are 'incredibly common and well-studied', and are most often found in rock layers between Singleton and Muswellbrook, where Ashleigh's aunt's property sits.
This means the fossils she found are from the Early Carboniferous Period, more specifically the Viséan Stage, dating them at around 346 to 340-million-years-old, Dr Smith said.
'They were already ancient when the dinosaurs first appeared!'
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During the Carboniferous Period, the Hunter Valley was covered by a shallow sea and appeared very different to how it looks now. 'Imagine coral reefs and marine critters stretching across the region where vineyards and coal mines now sit,' Dr Smith explained.
And while brachiopods are often called 'lamp shells' because of their shape, they're not actually related to clams, despite their similar appearance, he added.
'It's great to see interest in these ancient treasures — they're more than just rocks; they're little time capsules from an ocean that existed hundreds of millions of years ago.'
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