Respect to our Elders

“We would like to acknowledge the

Traditional Custodians of the Land on
which we meet,

.........and pay our respect to Elders past,

present & future”

BB middens dating ≈ 2000 – 3000 years

 Acknowledgements

• President, Rotary Club of Brighton

• President Keith Cameron
• Sylvie & Anthony Langley
• Museums Victoria
• Dr Erich Fitzgerald, senior Curator
of MV & the Bayside
palaeontology team
 Fossils
from Latin “fossus” meaning “dug up”
-past life preserved in rock, soil, amber

• Trace fossils
– preserved evidence of an animal’s activity or behaviour
– eg tracks, burrows, fossilised poo

• Fossils with some organic material preserved

– preservation of a skeleton / bone
– with minimal change
 Fossils
• Mineralised fossils
– organic matter gradually replaced with minerals
→turning the remains to ‘rock’.

• Impression fossils
– remains decay completely → an impression in
the sediment.
• Eg external impressions of armoured fishes or tree
bark
 Beaumaris Bay Fossil Site
-registered Aust Heritage Database 1999 No:18053

Richest & most diverse fossils – international signif.

• Australian albatross, variety of shark teeth, bones
of seals, penguins & whales
• Jaw bones of Diprotodontid marsupials
• Molluscs (soft body + shell: snails, slugs, bivalves
(clams, mussels, etc.), cephalopods (cuttlefish,
octopuses, etc.))
• Brachiopods (hard valve shells)
• Echinoderms (eg star fish, sea urchins)
• Corals
• Crustraceans (eg crays, crabs)
http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-
 Diprotodon optatum,
From Pleistocene (1.6 million-10,000 years ago)
of Australia; largest marsupial known; last of the extinct
25,000 yrs ago, herbivorous diprotodontids;
co-existed with 1st indigenous Aborigines
http://australianmuseum.net.au/image/Diprotodon-optatum
Brachiopod fossils
-hard valve shells
 Echinoderms
eg sea stars (asteroids) & sea urchins (echinoids)
 Local beaches: cliff formation
• Brighton/Hampton/Sandringham/Black
Rock/Beaumaris Bay coastline

– Hard “Beaumaris Sandstone” up to 12-15 m

• Some areas, base contains iron/phosphate
• Darker ironstone rich in Fe PO4
• 5-12 millions yrs old / slower recession

– Soft “Red Bluff Sand”

• Rich in FeO – sand cements with FeO
• 2-5 million years old / faster erosion
Beaumaris Bay
Site A
 Heart urchins (spatangoids)
Lovenia woodsii ~ 5 million years old
←Late
Miocene
period
5-6 million year old fossils/cliffs
• Richest & most diverse fossils of
international significance

• both marine & terrestrial mammal fossils

• the only international significant urban

fossil site in Australia
Elaine Anderson working on a skull
fragment from Site B
 The Lost World of Bayside Fossils
Museums Victoria Bayside Fossil Fundraiser
(Donations are 100% tax deductible)
https://museumsvictoria.com.au/join-support/make-a-donation/the-lost-world-of-
bayside-fossils/donate