Gorgonopsian from the Karoo
Last week I was in Graaf Reinet. It was a last-minute decision – with some family responsibilities to attend to down at Kenton on Sea, which is a wonderful destination in the summer but pretty grim when cold fronts come through and the rivers are in flood, I decided to head into the vast hinterland that is the Karoo. I had thought about heading down to Jeffreys Bay and Cape St Francis as I didn’t know those places really, but then I thought, why don’t I go to see the new museum in Graaf Reinet. Google told me that it was 277 km away, and the decision was made. Immediately my mood lifted and after hacking my way through Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage, I was on the road north. The rain was pelting down most of the way, the potholes were full of water, and on one occasion a river had spilled its banks and was flowing over the road. But all in all, it was an okay trip, and I booked myself into the most beautiful bed and breakfast in the most beautiful house dating back I would guess to sometime around the turn of the last century.
Karoo landscape. Speaking for itself
Once settled into my humble dwelling, I ventured out into the town, which was perhaps a foolish thing as the temperatures were in the single digits and the rain was still bucketing down. My emergency purchase of an umbrella fended off the worst of it and grabbed myself a takeaway – which as most takeways are, was pretty revolting and way overpriced. And on my way home I kind of bumped into the thing that had brought me to Graaf Reinet in the first place. And it was but 100 metres from where I was staying. It was on the main street of Graaf Reinet – unabashedly announcing itself to the world. Question is, is anyone paying attention? The sign announced itself - Karoo Origins Fossil Centre. Aha, said I, and then hurried home through the driving rain.
No hunting for the destination was required the next morning. A happy sunny 100 m walk down the street, across the main road, around the corner, led me up the ramp and into the reception area of that wonderful place – indeed a house of Wonders. This place is the repository of the Rubidge collection – with over 850 skulls of strange animals that stalked the earth during the Permian. These fossils were preserved in the rocks of the Karoo, a vast pile of sediment that record an almost unbroken history of Earth from 300 million years to 180 million years. The Permian ended 251 million years ago when massive volcanic eruptions in Siberia led to climate change which led to the extinction of 81 percent of marine and 70 percent of terrestrial species. It was the greatest extinction event in Earth history and was the closest that life on our planet came to being extinguished.
Permian sediments of the Karoo
And so that is why I had come to Graaf Reinet – to see this amazing museum and learn more about Therapsids and Karoo fossils, and to make a little video for you – the link to which is to be found here.
And when I thought that I couldn’t be more blessed, none other than Professor Bruce Rubidge, the man instrumental in putting this museum together made an appearance – almost like a magic genie – to take two gentlemen who apparently were part of a greater film crew – around the museum. And so I tagged onto the back of that tour, and managed to keep my mouth shut throughout, which was a bit of a struggle I have to say, but I succeeded in that endeavour. Boy did I want to ask questions, but they had a camera running, and so I thought it best to be as unobtrusive as possible. But that being said, it was a rare privilege be taken on such a grand tour with the Professor.
So Therapsids predated the dinosaurs. They went extinct 251 million years ago during the Great Dying. Dinosaurs showed up around 230 million years ago, so there is a 20-million-year gap between the departure of those strange beasts of the Permian and the dinosaurs that dominated the Mesozoic until they in turn went extinct 66 million years ago.
Dicynodonts of the Karoo Supergroup
If you get a chance, head on down to Graaf Reinet, enjoy the amazing scenery, the beautiful architecture, and more importantly, go check out your ancestors in the Karoo Origins Fossil Centre. You will not be disappointed. And go check out my little video of my adventures there. And once you are done, do come and visit us at the DinoZone, here at Piggly Wiggly in the KZN Midlands. We have some amazing things on display too, and your support and enthusiasm means so much to us. There is Marmaduke the T Rex, fossil casting, an old-time mining sluice, a fossil dig, and lots to learn about geology and Earth history. See you there.
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