When the earth was younger, about 280 million years ago, the Great Karoo was a vast swamp. Over the aeons, the swamp of prehistory, where mammal-like reptiles once ruled, disappeared. It gradually changed to a desert with rugged beauty and eternal rock layers that hid the secrets of this ancient land, guarding them for the […]
Around the water holes thick mud trapped the heavier creatures that now are found as fossils. Among these are examples of the 2,5 metre-long Bradysaurus, so often found with heads tilted up, indicating that they could not free themselves and so suffocated. In time, they became extinct. After millennia, the climate became drier and dinosaurs […]
Fossilised footprints are found on many Karoo farms, and on Gansfontein, near Fraserburg, there is an intriguing palaeo-surface. It shows an ancient flood-plain surface with contour, mud, ripple and wrinkle marks, as well as worm trails, fish-fin imprints and anthropoid trails. There are also many large mammal-like reptile, Dinocephalian and Bradysaurus tracks. There is a […]
Fossil sites abound in the Great Karoo, but a good starting point is the Karoo National Park’s Fossil Trail. It has wide walkways for wheel chairs and Braille board inscriptions for the convenience of the blind. Taped commentary is available for disabled visitors who have their own cassette players. Some display cases may be opened […]