Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum
Encyclopedia
The Australian Fossil & Mineral Museum is located in the city of Bathurst
in regional New South Wales
Australia
and was opened in July 2004. The collection is housed in a group of heritage buildings, the old 1874 public school buildings, in the centre of the city. Nearly 2000 specimens are in the internationally renowned collection which is known as the Sommerville Collection.
. In addition the Museum houses Australia's largest collection of fossil
s in amber
, fossil dinosaur
eggs, and opal
ised fossils.
specimens and is believed to be worth US$15 million when opened in 2004.
Highlights from the mineral collection include 2000 million year old garnet
s, as well as diamond
s, sapphire
s, rubies
, and emerald
s. Three dinosaur skeletons are displayed as well as a sabre-tooth cat skull and dinosaur egg fossils. Also in the collection is an extremely rare fossilised Gecko
trapped in amber
between 30-24 million years ago. in the Oligocene
epoch on the geological time scale.
The Museum houses the lifetime collections of Warren Sommerville. Sommerville holds five degrees and is a part time university lecturer. Sommerville has been appointed as the full-time Curator of the collection as well as a professor on the Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University
. Sommerville has been collecting specimens from around the world for 60 years.
travellers have rated the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum as the #1 attraction of 27 in the Central West (New South Wales).
Bathurst
-Places:In Australia:* Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia and the following things associated with the city** Bathurst Regional Council, the local government area for the Bathurst urban area and rural surrounds...
in regional New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and was opened in July 2004. The collection is housed in a group of heritage buildings, the old 1874 public school buildings, in the centre of the city. Nearly 2000 specimens are in the internationally renowned collection which is known as the Sommerville Collection.
Tyrannosaurus rex
The main drawcard for tourists and enthusiasts is the 10½ metre long and 4 metre high Tyrannosaurus rex (T.Rex) skeletonSkeleton
The skeleton is the body part that forms the supporting structure of an organism. There are two different skeletal types: the exoskeleton, which is the stable outer shell of an organism, and the endoskeleton, which forms the support structure inside the body.In a figurative sense, skeleton can...
. In addition the Museum houses Australia's largest collection of fossil
Fossil
Fossils are the preserved remains or traces of animals , plants, and other organisms from the remote past...
s in amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
, fossil dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
eggs, and opal
Opal
Opal is an amorphous form of silica related to quartz, a mineraloid form, not a mineral. 3% to 21% of the total weight is water, but the content is usually between 6% to 10%. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most...
ised fossils.
The Sommerville Collection
The Sommerville Collection is approximately one third fossil and two thirds mineralMineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
specimens and is believed to be worth US$15 million when opened in 2004.
Highlights from the mineral collection include 2000 million year old garnet
Garnet
The garnet group includes a group of minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives. The name "garnet" may come from either the Middle English word gernet meaning 'dark red', or the Latin granatus , possibly a reference to the Punica granatum , a plant with red seeds...
s, as well as diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s, sapphire
Sapphire
Sapphire is a gemstone variety of the mineral corundum, an aluminium oxide , when it is a color other than red or dark pink; in which case the gem would instead be called a ruby, considered to be a different gemstone. Trace amounts of other elements such as iron, titanium, or chromium can give...
s, rubies
Ruby
A ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
, and emerald
Emerald
Emerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s. Three dinosaur skeletons are displayed as well as a sabre-tooth cat skull and dinosaur egg fossils. Also in the collection is an extremely rare fossilised Gecko
Gecko
Geckos are lizards belonging to the infraorder Gekkota, found in warm climates throughout the world. They range from 1.6 cm to 60 cm....
trapped in amber
Amber
Amber is fossilized tree resin , which has been appreciated for its color and natural beauty since Neolithic times. Amber is used as an ingredient in perfumes, as a healing agent in folk medicine, and as jewelry. There are five classes of amber, defined on the basis of their chemical constituents...
between 30-24 million years ago. in the Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
epoch on the geological time scale.
The Museum houses the lifetime collections of Warren Sommerville. Sommerville holds five degrees and is a part time university lecturer. Sommerville has been appointed as the full-time Curator of the collection as well as a professor on the Bathurst campus of Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University
Charles Sturt University is an Australian multi-campus university located in New South Wales, Victoria, and the Australian Capital Territory. It has campuses at Bathurst, Canberra, Albury-Wodonga, Dubbo, Goulburn, Orange, Wagga Wagga and Burlington, Ontario...
. Sommerville has been collecting specimens from around the world for 60 years.
Popularity
Lonely PlanetLonely Planet
Lonely Planet is the largest travel guide book and digital media publisher in the world. The company is owned by BBC Worldwide, which bought a 75% share from the founders Maureen and Tony Wheeler in 2007 and the final 25% in February 2011...
travellers have rated the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum as the #1 attraction of 27 in the Central West (New South Wales).
Funding
Funding to establish the Museum was provided by all three levels of government, corporate sponsorship and philanthropic donations and the continuing operation of the museum is funded by the Bathurst Regional CouncilBathurst Regional Council
Bathurst Regional Council administers the Bathurst Region Local Government Area in New South Wales, Australia. It is approximately 200 km west of Sydney and has a population of 37,001 . It is on the Great Western Highway, Mid-Western Highway, Mitchell Highway and the Main Western railway...