FOSSIL DEPOSITS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26242, 28 August 1946, Page 4

FOSSIL DEPOSITS

REMAINS OF WHALES FOUND DUNTROON DISCOVERIES Further exploration on the Duntroon site of his fossil penguin and whale discoveries was made over the weekend by Professor B. J. Marples and a party of senior zoology students from the University of Otago. Fine weather enabled the party to spend two full days in the field, the first working on the original site, and the second day investigating likely gullies and fallen blocks of rock pp the Maerewhenua River.

The fossil-bearing rocks are exposed along a cliff line of several miles, and huge sections split off and fallen down the hillside reveal thick fossil deposits, principally of shellfish, sea urchins, etc., somewhat resembling rich plum pudding. Dangerous blocks overhang many parts, and on his last visit Professor Marples had a narrow escape when a rock weighing many tons fell a few feet from where he was working, fortunately during a short interval while he was colleiSting tools from his car. Sometimes only small fragments of bone indicate rich discoveries, and finding and identifying these pieces require much practice. Most of the bones are softer than the material in which they are imbedded, and their removal entails cutting out blocks of the rock surrounding them, and careful treatment later in the laboratory. In the new site up the Maerewhenua River remains of no fewer than four whales were foynd, and their position marked for future excavation. An interesting discovery of ribs and vertebrae of a bony fish which Professor Marples had not previously found in this locality, was made under an overhanging ledge of sandstone, and removed. Well-preserved fragments of three moa skeletons found when the party was crossing a ploughed field completed the discoveries.