Dinosaurs: Surviving Extinction exhibition at Newcastle Museum
On display until 2 March 2025, the Dinosaurs: Surviving Extinction exhibition at Newcastle Museum (New South Wales, Australia) showcases the latest understanding of dinosaur evolution. Excellent artwork illustrates how palaeontologists think they looked.
Fossils of protoceratops and tarbosaurus show how these dinosaurs developed through their lifecycles. Four protoceratops skulls illustrate how the frill developed from juvenile to adult specimens.
Nests filled with eggs show how protective adults were, also fossil remains demonstrate how dinosaurs cared for their young. This continued into their descendants, the birds, which developed from the ornithopod dinosaurs.
This is an excellent exhibition, very educational with a target audience ranging from children to adults.
Tyrannosaurus Rex at the entrance to the exhibitionUtahraptor eastern Utah USA, early Cretaceous 125 million years agoUtahraptor eastern Utah USA, early Cretaceous 125 million years agoTarbosaurus late Cretaceous 70-75 million years agoJuvenile Tarbosaurus skull late Cretaceous 70-75 million years agoAdult Tarbosaurus skull late Cretaceous 70-75 million years agoConchoraptor on a nest. Gobi Desert Mongolia 76 million years agoPsittacosaurus Flock, Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Late Cretaceous 70-85 million years agoProtoceratops growth series from juvenile to adult Gobi Desert, Mongolia, Late Cretaceous 70-85 million years agoOviraptorOviraptorid nest. Nanxiong Basin Guangdong Province China, Late Cretaceous 76 million years agoSaurolophus skull from the Gobi Desert Mongolia. Late Cretaceous 70 million years agoPsittacosaurus. An adult with 34 juveniles. From Liaoning Province China. Early Cretaceous 123-100 million years agoHadrosaurusProbactrosaurus from Inner Mongolia in the early Cretaceous 100-125 million years agoOrnithopod eggs from the late Cretaceous 70-85 million years agoArchaeopteryx late Jurassic 150 million years ago Solnhofen GermanyArchaeopteryxAnchiornis Late Jurassic 160 million years ago Liaoning Province ChinaConfuciusornis Early Cretaceous 125-120 million years ago Yixian formation China
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
Driving north from Canberra, our trip took us through the small New South Wales town of Canowindra. Interestingly, the town has a museum dedicated to the Age of Fishes.
Fossils were first found in 1955 when roadworks uncovered a slab of rock with interesting impressions. This was later brought to the attention of the Australian Museum in Sydney. In 1993, a dig uncovered 70 tonnes of fossils containing over 3,000 fish. Dated to the Devonian period, the fossils are over 360 million years old.
The site is significant not only for the number of fish, but that they all died at the same time. It appears that a dry spell caused all of the fish to die, preserving the different species and their relative abundance. This is important because usually with the discovery of single specimens, it’s relation and abundance to other species is difficult to determine.
The Age of Fishes Museum
The skull of a giant armoured fish greets you on entering the museum. The modern museum building displays the best of the recovered fossils. Information boards explain the process of recovering and evaluating them along with their significance.
The condition of many of the fossils are not perfect, reflecting the environment they were preserved in. But this isn’t a museum with perfect exhibits picked from the best available worldwide. It shows what happened locally and the scientific value far outweighs their appearance.
Stored in a huge shed next to the museum, the vast majority of the fossils await future study. One large door was open, so we could see fossils stored inside. The information at the museum indicates that many more remain buried at the dig site possibly for recovery at some time in the future.
We enjoyed our visit here and were pleased that we stopped.
Groenlandaspis SkullMuseum Display of lobe-finned fishSome of the Fish Fossils on DisplyFossil and reconstructionFish FossilsComparison of the size of the fossilsStorage shed full of fish fossils
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
In addition to being a great beach, Dudley Beach has a rock platform containing a fossilised forest which is visible at low tide. The area contains the remnants of tree branches and stumps, which are all that remains of an ancient forest.
Getting There
Located south of Newcastle, Dudley Beach has a large well maintained car park, which makes access to the beach easy. From the car park, a sandy trail leads down to the beach.
If you intend seeing the fossilised forest, make sure to check the tides, because the rock platform is only exposed then. Unfortunately, at times, shifting sand occasionally covers the fossils. Even then, you are able to explore the rock platform and beach, which are worth visiting themselves.
Dudley Beach
Access Down to the Beach
Dudley Beach
Rock Platform
The wave cut rock platform where the fossilised forest sits is underwater at high tide. This makes the rocks slippery because many are covered in algae. Only visit at low tide and take care, so as to avoid a fall.
The platform’s surface has many small tidal rock pools, often the home of shellfish and crabs. Some are colourful, making them worth looking for.
Wave action has cut several large crevices into the rocks. These can provide some interesting photos during big swells as the waves crash through them.
Located above the rock platform, eroded cliffs show the effects of wind, rain and waves, with interesting forms weathered into their faces.
Waves on the Rock Platform at Low Tide
Large Crevice in the Rock Platform
Green Algae on the Rock Platform at Low Tide
Exposed Algae on the Rock Platform at Low Tide
Small Tidal Pool
Large Crevice in the Rock Platform
Eroded Sandstone
Dudley Beach Fossilised Forest
The fossilised remained of the forest can be found on the rock platform at low tide. The most obvious remains are the tree stumps sticking up, as they rise above the level of the platform. Closer examination however reveals fossil branches and pieces of wood, stained with iron can be found.
Fossilised Wood
Fossilised Wood
Remains of Fossilised Tree Trunks
Remains of Fossilised Tree Trunks
Fossilised Tree Branch
Fossilised Tree Branch
The Fossilised Forest at Dudley Beach
Baby Blow Hole
On the far side of the rock platform, a crevice funnels waves so that a cavity has formed. This has broken through to the surface and in the right tidal conditions forms a small blowhole. Certainly not spectacular with water only shooting up a metre or two, but interesting. The Kiama blowhole would have looked like this once.
The Baby Blow Hole Dudley Beach
What Did We Think?
Dudley Beach and its fossilised forest was a fun visit. Not only did we find the fossils, but we saw a baby blowhole forming. A great beach, with good parking and added attractions.
To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.
