Excavating Diprotodon
Excavating the Diprotodon skeleton.

Excavator
Ernie Camp uncovers the Diprotodon skeleton with a heavy digger.

Plaster-jacketed bones Fossil bones wrapped in a protective plaster jacket ready for the trip to Mt Isa.

Expedition to Floraville 2011

By Phil Creaser
05 September 2011

A highly successful field trip to Floraville was held with the main aim being the excavation of the Diprotodon skeleton first discovered on the 2010 field trip.

After three days of careful work more than 80% of a complete skeleton was recovered, with the possibility some of the remaining associated smaller pieces may be found next year.

The bones, some of which were encased in plaster jackets, are currently stored in Mt Isa. They will take up to two years to fully prepare and conserve.

The fieldwork was made possible with support and help from property owner Ernie Camp and his family and an Xstrata North Queensland Community Program grant.

In addition to this excavation, further collecting was done at other sites in the region and a skull of a large zygomaturine diprotodontid - possibly Kukaodonta robusta - was recovered from a site near the Leichhardt River.

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