What a difference nearly thirty years makes. In 1986 the Prof of Geology at Otago University showed me some recently collected plant fossils and asked to me to “confirm they are Jurassic”. The fossils had been collected by Steve Cournane, while he was mapping for his… Read more
All posts filed under “New Zealand plant fossils”
New Zealand’s Weather has been so … Early Miocene
A couple of years ago I re-kitted and headed off from Wanaka for an extended walk in the Matukituki region. There was bad weather on the way, but I hoped I could slip over the mountain pass before then. But I wasnt too concerned, I… Read more
Cabin Fever and Paleocene leaf fossils in the Haast
Easter, 1971. The family is holed-up in a tiny home-made caravan at Cole Creek, in New Zealand’s forest-clad South Westland just north of Haast. It’s bucketing-down. We’re there because our Dad has an infatuation with finding the missing backpack of a murdered woman, Jennifer Beard.… Read more
The Fossil Palm Swamps of Central Otago, New Zealand
One of the endearing memories I have during my PhD was working on the banks above the Kawarau River near Cromwell (Central Otago, New Zealand), in the middle of the winter. I was belting my way with a pick into a sequence of mud that… Read more
The Fossil Palm Swamps of Central Otago, New Zealand
One of the endearing memories I have during my PhD was working on the banks above the Kawarau River near Cromwell (Central Otago, New Zealand), in the middle of the winter. I was belting my way with a pick into a sequence of mud that… Read more
Supplejack – a survivor from the Miocene in New Zealand
The first time I ever slept-out (sleeping bag, no tent), I was about four years old, and the place was an idyllic spot on the banks of Pipson Creek, just outside of Makarora. Its on the road to the West Coast from Wanaka/Hawea. One of… Read more
The Kai Point Coal Mine – Late Cretaceous vegetation treasure-trove
The lowlands south of Dunedin (New Zealand), used to be almost impassable wetlands. The local Maoris were incredulous when the first Western explorers of the mid 19th century insisted on making their way tediously directly through it. There were other routes south. The wetlands were… Read more
Eucalyptus fossils in New Zealand – the thin end of the wedge
Eucalyptus (aka ‘gum-tree’) is the quintessential Australian tree. There are about 700 species of them today (depending on who you ask), all of them restricted to Australia, except for a couple that are in New Guinea. They range from cold mountains in Tasmania and Victoria, to… Read more
Cladophlebis – New Zealand’s Mesozoic Weed
The fern Cladophlebis is probably the single-most common plant fossil in the New Zealand Jurassic. It’s present in virtually every plant fossil site of that age, so much so that Mildenhall (1974) referred to it as ‘Mesozoic weed’. When New Zealanders talk about ‘fern rock’,… Read more