A prehistoric monster amphibian that looked like a crocodile and was the size of a car has joined the Leadbeater’s possum and the helmeted honeyeater as an official emblem of Victoria.
Announced by Minister for Creative Industries, Danny Pearson, 11,500 Victorians voted in Museums Victoria’s poll to select the fossil emblem, with Koolasuchus cleelandi beating other fossils unique to the State, including a 25-million-year-old whale and one of the first plants to live outside water.
“Resembling something between a huge salamander and a crocodile, Koolasuchus cleelandi lived in the rushing rivers that separated Australia and Antarctica during the Cretaceous period,” Mr Pearson said.
“Sharing the land with dinosaurs including the armoured ankylosaurus, the giant amphibianate small dinosaurs, turtles and fish,” he said.
“Due to Victoria’s climate, the Koolasuchus was able to survive here for about 50 million years after all its relatives had died off, before eventually succumbing to extinction 125 million years ago.”
Mr Pearson said Koolasuchus cleelandi, first discovered in 1978 near San Remo on Bunurong Country, was on permanent display at Melbourne Museum.
The Minister said the species was named after fossil collector and educator, Michael Cleeland who, in 1990, found the jaw that became the holotype of the species and research associate at Melbourne Museum, Lesley Kool, who spent months preparing the specimens.
He said the Koolasuchus cleelandi was part of Melbourne Museum’s 600 Million Years exhibition, which showcased the origin of life in Victoria through fossils, models, animatronics and animations.
