Inside the preparation laboratory at Queensland Museum, an extraordinary fossil is slowly revealing secrets from Queensland’s ancient seas. The block currently under preparation is the largest fossil jacket processed at the museum in more than 35 years, containing more than half the body of an elasmosaur – a long-necked marine reptile often referred to as “Sally’s plesiosaur.”
This remarkable specimen was found by a north Queensland landowner and excavated with assistance from Queensland Museum palaeontologists before being donated to the State Collection. Finds like this highlight the vital role regional communities play in preserving Queensland’s natural heritage.
The surface currently being prepared represents the underside of the animal, preserving the ancient seabed where it came to rest around 100 million years ago, when much of inland Queensland lay beneath the vast Eromanga Sea. Today, preparator Jo and a dedicated volunteer team are carefully removing loose rock and soil while inspecting every fragment for traces of bone.
Their meticulous work has already revealed ribs, a humerus and vertebrae hidden within fractures in the rock. The surrounding stone formed over millions of years and has protected the fossil from erosion, helping preserve this rare marine reptile for scientific study.
This elasmosaur is especially significant because Queensland Museum researchers have described the discovery of Australia’s first elasmosaur specimen preserving both the head and associated body – a find likened to a “Rosetta Stone” for marine reptile palaeontology. Complete specimens are extremely rare, as the small head was often separated from the body after death.
Before the bones can be fully exposed, the massive plaster jacket must be stabilised, supported and carefully flipped so preparation can continue from the top side. Sections of the block will be removed to reduce weight and prepared separately. Once ready, specialists will begin the painstaking process of removing rock using precision pneumatic tools.
Research on this globally significant fossil will help scientists better understand the diversity, evolution and ecology of plesiosaurs that lived alongside dinosaurs in Cretaceous Australia.
Finds like Sally’s plesiosaur demonstrate how Queensland Museum collections, research and community partnerships continue to unlock the prehistoric stories hidden beneath Queensland’s landscape – preserving them for future generations and sharing them with the world.
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