University of Queensland palaeontologist Gregory Webb, who verified the fossil pearl over two years, said it was the largest of its age found in Australia.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Former Kronosaurus Korner curator Michelle Johnston presented the find to Dr Webb. (Supplied: Kronosaurus Korner)<\/p>\n
At nearly 2 centimetres in diameter, he said it was “bigger than a typical marble”.<\/p>\n
“Maybe a little more than 100 million years old \u2026 [it] is one of the most significant finds for fossil molluscs in Australia for its huge size,” Professor Webb said.<\/p>\n
“From a scientific point of view, it’s incredibly valuable and extremely rare.”<\/p>\n
‘First one we’re aware of’<\/p>\n
The fossil pearl was found by a tourist visiting Richmond’s Kronosaurus Korner museum in 2019.<\/p>\n
Tourists in the town of about 500 people can obtain a permit to dig in the museum’s palaeontological pits under the provision they donate anything they find of scientific value.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Barbara Flewelling and husband Gary (left) fly from Canada to Australia to volunteer at the museum. (Supplied: Patrick Smith)<\/p>\n
Long-time volunteer digger Barbara Flewelling accepted the intriguing artefact from the tourist.<\/p>\n
“I knew it was significant,” Ms Flewelling said.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been volunteering at Kronosaurus Korner for 17 years and this is the first one that we’re aware of.”<\/p>\n
She said staff turnover at the museum and pandemic lockdowns delayed its verification in Brisbane.<\/p>\n
The precious find was then assessed by Professor Webb and a small team of researchers for nearly two years.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Gregory Webb says the pearl has barely changed over time. (Supplied: University of Queensland)<\/p>\n
“We have undertaken some really high-tech analysis of this particular specimen so that we could look inside it without damaging it, and we have verified it is in fact the pearl,” he said.<\/p>\n
Professor Webb said under other circumstances it likely would have been a faster process.<\/p>\n
“There aren’t very many palaeontologists and the technology is in huge demand,” he said.<\/p>\n
The pearl has been returned to Richmond, where it is now on display at the museum.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The museum hopes to create a dedicated case for the pearl soon. (Supplied: Kronosaurus Korner)<\/p>\n
Professor Webb said only two other prehistoric pearls, both dug out of Cooper Pedy in South Australia, had been verified in Australia.<\/p>\n
But he said those finds were smaller and technically opalised pearls, not the original pearls.<\/p>\n
He said the “incredibly high quality, real scientific treasure” found at Richmond had barely been altered in its 100 million years.<\/p>\n
Professor Webb said that was due to the pearl forming in a clamshell composed of the mineral calcite, which was more stable than aragonite, the material that modern-day pearls were largely composed of.<\/p>\n
Clamshells in the outback?<\/p>\n
While the pearl is rare, the Inoceramus bivalve clam that made it was common during the Cretaceous period 100 million years ago.<\/p>\n
The extinct giant clams grew up to 50cm in diameter in what is now outback Australia, but could reach up to 2 metres in other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
Richmond, where the fossil pearl was found, was 40m underwater covered by the inland Eromanga Sea, which stretched from Cape York to northern New South Wales.<\/p>\n
The area, known for its fossils, draws visitors from across the globe, who have unearthed other underwater creatures such as the Kronosaurus and Ichthyosaurus.<\/p>\n
Kronosaurus Korner founder Rob Ivers said findings such as the pearl would help tourism in the region.<\/p>\n
“Obviously, people from across the country hear something like this travelling through Richmond, they’ll certainly call into the museum,” he said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The museum in Richmond houses fossils such as the Kronosaurus and Ichthyosaurus. (Supplied: Kronosaurus Korner)<\/p>\n
Professor Webb said discoveries such as the pearl helped scientists understand how fauna adapted to changes in climate.<\/p>\n
“Ancient clams were similar to modern clams in that if they got some irritant inside the shell, they would simply grow shell around it to protect themselves,” he said.<\/p>\n
“By looking at how ancient biology, ecosystems and individual communities adapted to things that were changing around them, it gives us a better understanding of how our modern biology reacts as well.<\/p>\n
“That helps us project what might happen in the future.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An “incredibly valuable” fossil pearl, slightly bigger than a marble, has been uncovered in outback Queensland. The precious…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[59877,64,63,59876,59878,59874,59881,59880,59879,44,59875],"class_list":["post-78374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-100-million-yr-old-pearl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-cretaceous-era-pearl","tag-dr-gregory-webb","tag-fossil-pearl","tag-giant-clam-pearl-fossil","tag-gregory-fossil","tag-kronosaurus-korner","tag-news","tag-prehistoric-pearl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}