00:00At 7 metres long, the skeleton of a 100 million year old marine predator is uncovered in western
00:09Queensland.
00:10You're looking at something that was swimming around an inland sea that covered western
00:14Queensland around 100 million years ago and it's in almost perfect condition.
00:19This is the fossil of an ichthyosaur, a reptile that dominated an inland sea.
00:25It was found by Cassandra Prince when she was scouring her neighbouring property, Tulabuck
00:29Station, between Longridge and Mount Isa.
00:32And I found this piece of rock with a little bit of bone in it, so I knew, I was very confident
00:39that the rest of the body was down under the dirt.
00:43The ichthyosaur has been found in Queensland before, but at 90% complete, this one is a
00:49rare find.
00:50It's turned into probably one of the most complete ichthyosaurs that's ever been found
00:55in Australia.
00:56In fact, it looks like it is the most complete.
00:57We won't know for sure until it's prepared.
00:59The surface fossil was found in 2023.
01:03Now it has been transported to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs at Winton, where it'll be prepared
01:08for research and put on display.
01:10It's going to take thousands of hours, but this specimen is worth every minute of it.
01:14It'sयldatm
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