Fossil found in pillar remains of ancient turtle
OAMARU
THE fossilised remains of an ancient of turtle that lived 25 million to 35 million years ago have been found inside a pillar made of Oamaru stone inside a historic Christchurch church.
Christchurch sculptor Paul Deans discovered the fossil embedded in the limestone core of a pillar from the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, which was built between 1881 and 1882.
It has been more than 150 years since a similar fossil has been found originating from the Oamaru area.
When the church was demolished in 2011 after the Canterbury earthquakes, its pillars were hollowed out so they could be reinforced and reinstated as part of the new building.
Last year, Mr Deans was given several sections of the pillars’ extracted cores to use in his work.
However, he soon noticed the fossil embedded in one of them and brought it to Canterbury Museum for identification.
Senior natural history curator Paul Scofield identified the fossil as an at present unnamed ancient species of turtle — and noticed a connection to another specimen in the museum collection.
In 1880, a similar turtle fossil was given to the museum by James Tait, a prominent Christchurch builder who worked on many of the city’s stone buildings.
Like the fossil discovered by Mr Deans, it was embedded in Oamaru limestone that had been quarried for building masonry.
After comparing the fossils, Dr Scofield concluded it was likely they were extracted from the same quarry, and might even be different parts of the same animal.
Both fossils included pieces of plastron (the bottom half of a turtle’s shell) and various other bones.
‘‘Turtle fossils are really rare in New Zealand. No similar turtle fossils have been found in Oamaru in more than 150 years of quarrying there,’’ Dr Scofield said.
‘‘The limestone these fossils are embedded in is very similar, which combined with the fact that they were both extracted around 1880 makes me think they’re probably the same animal. We will need to do more research before we’re able to say with any certainty.
‘‘It’s amazing that this new fossil was sitting inside a pillar for 130 years.
‘‘It could have been lost forever, so we’re very grateful to Paul Deans for spotting it, bringing it in and donating it to the museum.’’
Oamaru limestone — and the fossils it contains — dates from the Oligocene period, when much of New Zealand was submerged beneath shallow, warm seas.
The turtle fossils are not on display at the museum at present. — RNZ