Pareiasaur Teeth
Upper jaw fragment of relatively young Pareiasaur
Pareiasaur Dermal Scute
Small plates arranged along the ribs just below the skin as a self defence against predation
Fossil Bones
Scattered Bones
Therocephalian Vertebrae
Possibly Pristerognathus, the most common jackal to wolf sized therocephalian of this era

Is it a stone...? Is it a fossil...? No, definitely not a stone, nor 'a' fossil, but rather, many, many fossil bones!

Posted by Corlia on Sun June 24, 2018 in Rogge Cloof Fossils.

One of the Rogge Cloof Team, Corné du Plessis, stumbled upon an incredible fossil bone-yard on the Rogge Cloof Reserve earlier this year. The fossil bones are spread over an area of at least 1500 square meters and is a spectacular sight.

We've always known that there were fossils in the Karoo, even here on the farm a couple of exciting finds have previously been made, but nothing prepared us for the excitement of what Corné discovered at Rogge Cloof in early June.

When we first arrived there, we saw hundreds of 'rocks' washed open by the recent (very welcome) rains....but then our eyes adapted to what was really in front of us, almost like a telescope focusing to expose multiple bright stars instead of just blurred dots and we realised that we were surrounded by fossils and not rocks.

It was a very humbling experience and we found ourselves suddenly 'tip-toeing' so as not to disturb these Permian fossil remains from an era that began about 290 million years ago and lasted until 248 million years ago.

Since June, we have indulged ourselves in exploring the gift that we have been awarded. Rogge Cloof Manager, André, has amazed everyone with the wealth of information that he has collected through research, discovery and networking, on these fossils and the period that they stem from.

We are no experts on fossils...and we will never claim to be, but one thing we are: we are addicted fans! We are in awe and we are curious and we are very excited to learn more about these fossils and to share it with our friends and followers.

A beautifully written letter which came at the perfect time…..exhausted after a year of hard work and even harder challenges….seeing herds of animals explode from the perimeter around the waterhole when packing lucern bales on the back of the vehicle…the wind being continuously nasty…howling and still very cold for this time of the year…we had not seen much of summer and spring has completely skipped us this year. The dust does not...

Read This Article