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AUDIO: Lightning Ridge dino dig

Contributor

John Pickrell

Contributor

John Pickrell

John Pickrell is the editor of Australian Geographic. He is a science writer, author, nature lover and self-confessed geek. Blog posts range over Southern Hemisphere palaeontology, dinosaurs, megafauna, archaeology, palaeoanthropology and a smattering of other topics.
By John Pickrell • 4 September 2015
Our second group of 22 volunteer diggers, plus palaeontologists, guides, opal miner and dogs! Image credit: John Pickrell
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Last week palaeontologists and volunteer diggers were hard at work hunting fossils on our AGS Scientific Expedition.

THOUGH ITS FOSSILS are not well-known, Lightning Ridge in northern NSW has one of the richest collections of dinosaur remains and other fossils in Australia.

A series of large dinosaur fossils are waiting to be described as new species, including the most complete dinosaur fossil in NSW and what may be Australia’s largest carnivorous dinosaur.

During the last two weeks of August, the Australian Geographic Society and the Australian Opal Centre collaborated on a fossil dig scientific expedition, with the help of 40 volunteer diggers, which was split over two week-long digs.

The expedition was a huge success with lots of bones and teeth found and exciting discoveries about the geology of the deposits made.

Last week I spoke to ABC NSW radio host Kia Handley about the dig and all the incredible opalised fossils of Lightning Ridge. Listen to the segment below.

We are running further scientific expeditions in collaboration with the Australian Opal Centre in 2016 and 2017. In 2016 we are also running a dinosaur dig in the Gobi Desert with palaeontologists from the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, which will be a unique and fantastic experience for 15 readers to participate in.

John Pickrell is the author of Flying Dinosaurs: How fearsome reptiles became birds, published by NewSouth Books in June 2014. Follow him on Twitter @john_pickrell.

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