The 28th of October marked a very significant day in the history of Riversleigh Fossil lab. For the first time since 23rd October 2009 fossils are being extracted in the lab at the Mount Isa site. To mark the event, manager of Outback at Isa Angi Mateyeff, along with Alan Rackham and Mayor Joyce McCulloch were all there to say a few words.
For 6 years the fossil lab lay dormant after Dr John Scanlon left the lab due to discontinued funding in 2010. In November 2015 visiting paleontologist Dr Andrew Rozefelds from the Queensland Museum and committee member of Riversleigh Community and Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr Rozfelds told us it wouldn't cost a great deal of money to start the lab up again, he also said that the lab is was one of the best labs in Queensland. In fact it's better than the lab at the Queensland Museum, and the restart the lab we wouldn't need a paleontologist, we just needed someone who knows more than the average person about the subject. And someone who is a great storyteller.
The answer to our prayers was Alan Rackham. Alan started working with us as a mine guide, after suffering a heart attack so he was no longer able to work at the mine in town. His great passion is riversleigh and he has a long and illustrious association with both the fossil fields and the lab, he even has a site named after him (Rackham’s Roost) and a few species of rodent such as the Zyzomys rackhami which is closely related to the Zyzomys argurus (known as the common rock rat).
Because of Alan’s knowledge and experience we were able to open the lab at a very minimal cost and begin conducting Riversleigh fossil tour again. The results of Alan’s work speak for themselves with figures as high as an increase of 113% above our revenue target which was set at a very modest 17% showing the potential for prehistoric tourism as an economic driver for our region.
Since the start of the fossil extraction Alan has found countless fragments of rat, bat, koala, turtle, snake vertebrae and many more species. He has also uncovered a few very intriguing fossils in recent months.
Within the first batch of limestone Alan put in acid we already had a mystery tooth. And after photos were sent off to see if the fossil could be identified we still don't have an answer. The tooth is due to leave Mount Isa and be studied by Professor Michael Archer (Head of the Riversleigh Research Team), who will hopefully be able to identify it for us.
The second fossil is believed to be an extinct species of koala bear. Koala bear has been found here, and there are at least 5 known species of koala that were once native to the area. That fossil will also be sent of to Professor Archer for further study.
And there is a lot more to uncover in the lab. Be on the lookout for further updates on the fossils mentioned and we are sure there will be many more discoveries to come!
