Karoo Fossil Centre Opens In Graaff-reinet

he new Karoo Origins Fossil Centre officially opened its doors to the public on April3 in Graaff-Reinet, offering insights into the palaeontological and geological history of the Karoo.

The centre, run by Bruce Rubidge under a collaborative agreement with the University of the Witwatersrand, already serves as a field base for local and international scientists conducting research on the rocks and fossils of the region.

The fossil exhibition at Karoo Origins features the Rubidge Fossil Collection, previously housed at the Rubidge family farm, Wellwood, for 91 years. The collection was initiated in the 1930s by farmer Sidney Rubidge and contains a notable number of holotype specimens, the reference fossils for newly described species, with all 107 holotypes now on public display. This makes Karoo Origins one of the largest exhibitions of fossil holotype specimens globally.

Rubidge noted that the collection documents a wide range of fossil reptiles that lived between 260 and 250 million years ago at a time when therapsid mammal-like reptiles were the dominant land animals.

The Karoo Supergroup rocks, dating from 300 to 180 million years ago, hold a record of ancient life and link to the supercontinent Gondwana, sharing fossil evidence with Africa, South America, Madagascar, India, Antarctica and Australia.