A new exhibition will open your eyes to our ancient ancestors, writes Tim the Yowie Man.
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It's not every day you eyeball a 400 million-year-old fossil - let alone the oldest known preserved vertebrate eye capsule in the world. But that's exactly what you can do for the next two months at what must be one of the most eye-popping temporary exhibitions ever housed in the Canberra Museum and Gallery.
![Eyeball a fossil Eyeball a fossil](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/e1050d18-41f1-401a-b960-dd21ec23714d.jpg/r0_0_729_638_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Old Bones - New Insights features a priceless treasure chest of fossils that are normally stashed away in a secret vault at the Australian National University's Geology Department.
But it's not only the fossils themselves that make this exhibition so remarkable. In a world first, ''some of the rarest fossils are accompanied by 3-D print-outs of their scans that enable you to see fish fossils like never before,'' explains Dr Gavin Young of the Research School of Earth Sciences, who, along with Dr Tim Senden of Research School of Physics and Engineering, has painstakingly prepared the exhibition over the past eight months.
''Dr Senden's hi-tech 3-D X-Ray imaging reveals previously unseen internal anatomy, expanding our understanding of the evolutionary innovations these fossil fishes advanced for all future vertebrates, including humans,'' Young explains.
CT image of isolated left eye capsule of the placoderm Murrindalaspis
For example, one of the more spectacular 3-D scans in the exhibition is of a placoderm's eye capsule which is, ''the first specimen to demonstrate an eyestalk was present in ancient bony fish indicating that this structure had been lost in the evolution of modern vertebrate groups,'' Young says.
What's even more remarkable about Old Bones - New Insights is that much of what is on display was collected in the foothills of the Brindabellas at Wee Jasper (just 50km north-west of Canberra) and nearby Lake Burrinjuck, which is home to thousands of fossil treasures which showcase a once diverse coral reef over 400 million years old. Almost 70 (including 12 species of spiny sharks) ancient fish have been described so far and countless others are no doubt waiting to be discovered in this ancient version of the Great Barrier Reef.
The most predominant fossil fish at Wee Jasper/ Burrinjuck are placoderms - whose head, jaws and even eyeballs were encased in armour. What makes these fossils so valuable to science is that due to the geology of the Wee Jasper area, many are preserved in three dimensions - they are not crushed or flattened like in many other sites around the world.
The idea for Old Bones - New Insights arose earlier this year during Wee Jasper's annual market day. ''We were showing some visitors from Canberra the rich array of fossils found in the area. Many marvelled at their antiquity and proximity to Canberra and some asked, why so few know about their significance,'' Young says.
The biggest pity about this extraordinary exhibition is its temporary nature. Featuring such significant fossils, coupled with hi-tech wizardry, it's a shame that as the national capital we don't have an appropriate permanent home for Old Bones - New Insights. The National Museum of Australia markets itself as a museum of social history and with fossils classified as natural history - they just don't fit in. Ironically, around 600 of the best Wee Jasper fossils ever collected are on display not in Canberra, not even in Australia, but at the Museum of Natural History in London.
Deposits of fossils reach down into Lake Burrinjuck like giant fingers
I first appreciated the richness of the fossils in the Wee Jasper area while on the track of wild dogs in the Brindabellas about 20 years ago. However, inspired by this exhibition, earlier this week I reacquainted myself with this remarkable slab of fossils - right on our doorstep. The road from Canberra is windy but with creeks rushing feverishly into an already full Lake Burrinjuck and lush green hillsides, it feels like the land of plenty. It seems every road cutting, every hillside is lined with a treasure trove of fossils.
The exact location of some of the major fossil finds (such as the eyeball mentioned above) is kept somewhat of a secret. However, armed with some coded directions I found on a website I attempted to find one of these locations, which is apparently covered with a protective cage to prevent pilfering of ancient treasures.
Unfortunately the directions were a little too cryptic, even for me, and I spent the best part of the afternoon clambering through thistle-infested paddocks dodging snakes. Perhaps they were posted on the website in question by a geologist keen to keep prying eyes away from the protected site?
Tim the Yowie Man lost in the long grass on the banks of Lake Burrinjuck
Eventually, at sunset I gave up and left determined to return, hopefully with better directions, before Christmas. I guess if these treasures have been literally lying around for more than 400 million years, another couple of weeks isn't going to make a difference, is it?
In fact, I've got some relatives arriving from London for Christmas and I can't imagine a better present to offer them than a morning visit to this fascinating exhibition followed by a country drive to Wee Jasper (and the real home of the fossils housed in their museum!). Even better is that I just heard a rumour that the pub at Wee Jasper has just reopened. I'll drink to that.
FACT FILE
Old Bones - New Insights: On show now until February 26 at the Canberra Museum and Gallery (adjacent to the Legislative Assembly in Civic). Open Monday-Friday, 10am-5pm, and weekends, noon-5pm. Cost is free. Ph:6207 3968 for more details and opening hours on public holidays.
Day Trip: Wee Jasper is a delightful 60-90 minute drive from Canberra through rolling green countryside. There are two ways to get there - via Uriarra Crossing (small section unsealed) or via Yass. For a picturesque Sunday drive, I'd recommend going one way and coming back the other (and taking a map, and filling up with fuel before leaving Canberra). No matter which route you take, once you cross Mountain Creek you'll be dazzled by the number of fossil beds lining the hillsides.
MAILBOX
THE GREAT SPIT-OFF
It seems that I keep esteemed company - well at least when it comes to cherry pip spitting champions. I am pleased to report that 13-year-old lad Nick Boland, with whom I recently spent an afternoon trying to out-spit (''Spitting Pips'', November 26), made it back-to-back junior titles where he spat a cherry pip 7.36m at last week's championships held in Young. Congratulations Nick - I'm sure it was our intensive training session where you out-spat me a dozen or so times that made all the difference! In fact, according to Chris Blunt, of Tuggeranong, it appears that the results of my pip-off with Nick (where he controversially outspat me, claiming one of my pips only passed his, after rolling from its initial contact with the ground) as part of his training for the championships, as ''may be null and void''.
''According to the official cherry pit spitting handbook I found on the web ), the final distance is calculated not by where the pip first lands but where it ultimately stops!'' Chris reveals.
Perhaps I should contact the Court of Arbitration for Sport and ask for another pip-off?
The longest spit of the day came from Canadian cherry picker Jeff Person who spat a pip a monstrous 12.97m. Most importantly, it appears as if the underhanded tactics of some competitors to manipulate the cherry pips by inserting metal fillings into the pips and then varnishing them in an attempt to make them more aerodynamic was snuffed-out by organisers. ''Competitors weren't allowed use their own cherries and had to compete with random cherries handed to them on the day,'' reports Claire Myers of the Young Cherry Festival.
CONTACT TIM
Got a comment on today's stories or an unusual photo? Email: timtheyowieman@bigpond.com or Twitter: @TimYowie or write to me c/o The Canberra Times, 9 Pirie Street, Fyshwick.