Few museums around the world can boast the impressive range of Stromatolites on display at Ulladulla’s Gondwana Fossil House.
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A collection of world-class fossils now sits alongside local fossils in Ulladulla’s Oldest House in Green Street which will be open every day throughout the Easter period and entry is free.
During the two years the Gondwana Coast Fossil Walk was located in a shop front in Rowen’s Arcade the display of local fossils was visited by hundreds of local residents.
Display coordinator Phil Smart said, because of that experience many residents and visitors still believe they have seen the entire display.
“How wrong they are,” he said.
“The local fossils fill only one of the four rooms in the house.
“The additional new displays definitely have the wow factor,” he added.
Displays include hundreds of spectacular museum-quality fossilised specimens from locations all around the world plus many from other parts of Australia.
“Few museums around the world can boast the impressive range of Stromatolites on display.,” Phil said.
“These structures were built by the first form of life on planet Earth, nano-sized cyanobacteria.
“Some of these fossils on display date back to the earliest life, 3,500 million years ago.
“Recent fossil representives of the bacteria’s modern day descendents from Shark Bay in WA and from York Peninsula in SA are also on display.”
The collection also includes the complete skeleton of a 280 million year old amphibian, one of the first animals to adapt its fins for walking on land and a neautifully preserved bony fish from heritage areas in Australia and from the USA.
There is a collection of trilobites, the ancient crustaceans that scavenged on the sea floor more than 500 million years ago and coiled shell ammonites which became extinct 66 million years ago along with the dinosaurs.
Fossil Walk guides will be on hand to answer questions.
The Fossil Walk volunteers are also joining in the Blessing of the Fleet Easter celebrations by having a fundraising barbecue on the lawn from 10am on Easter Saturday.
The centre also takes bookings for the popular Gondwana Fossil Walks conducted around Ulladulla Harbour.