WorldWide Drilling Rescource

35 WorldWide Drilling Resource ® OCTOBER 2019 JUBILEE 2019 Dealmakers The WWDR Team got this great photo of the smiling KC Drilling family of Zebulon, Georgia, with their new water truck from Rose-Wall Manufacturing of Greenfield, Indiana. Rose-Wall Manufacturing Send your deals to: michele@worldwidedrillingresource.com This water truck from Rose- Wall Manufacturing of Greenfield, Indiana, went to Craig Geotechnical Dri l l ing in Mays Landing, New Jersey. WWDR photo. Rose-Wall Manufacturing TDH Manufacturing GEFCO, Inc. KC Drilling also took delivery of this 40K rig from GEFCO, Inc. of Enid, Oklahoma. The TDH Manufacturing Team from Haslet, Texas, was pleased to deliver this 6X2 pump hoist to the JUBILEE 2019 event for the Rodgers Well Drilling crew from Greenwood, South Carolina. Most Complete Opalized Dinosaur Discovered in Australia Adapted from Information by the University of New England and the Australian Opal Centre Scientists have discovered unique fossils from an underground opal mine near Lightning Ridge in New South Wales, Australia. These fossils include remains from a herd of dinosaurs, a new dinosaur species, and the world's most complete opalized dinosaur. Dr. Phil Bell, lead researcher from the University of New England in Armidale, was stunned by the number of bones found. “We initially assumed it was a single skeleton, but when I started looking at some of the bones, I realized that we had four scapulae (shoulder blades) all from different sized animals.” This is the first dinosaur herd to be discovered in Australia. The bones were found in the 1980s by opal miner Robert Foster at the Sheepyard Opal Field, near Lightning Ridge. Scientists from the Australian Museum in Sydney, helped excavate the fossils, but the bones were not studied until they were donated to the Australian Opal Centre by Robert's children, Gregory and Joanne Foster, in 2015. The new dinosaur is called Fostoria (named for Foster) dhimbangunmal (pro- nounced bim-baan goon-mal), which means sheepyard in the local language. “There are about 60 opalized bones from one adult dinosaur, including part of the braincase, and bones from at least another three animals,” said Dr. Bell. Altogether, parts of four Fostoria skeletons were unearthed, ranging from small ju- veniles, to larger animals which may have been about 16 feet in length, suggesting they were part of a small herd or family. Jenni Brammall, paleontologist and special projects officer of the Australian Opal Centre said, “Fostoria has given us the most complete opalized dinosaur skeleton in the world. Partial skeletons of extinct swimming reptiles have been found at other Australian opal fields, but for opalized dinosaurs, we generally have only a single bone or tooth or in rare instances, a few bones. To recover dozens of bones from the one skeleton is a first.” The discovery comes on the heels of a new small plant-eating dinosaur also dis- covered near Lightning Ridge, called Weewarrasaurus pobeni, which was named by Dr. Bell and colleagues late last year. “The rate of discovery is astounding. On average, there’s at least one new dinosaur discovered around the world every week,” he stated. “With more paleontologists and scientists looking further afield than ever before, it’s an exciting time for dinosaur lovers everywhere, especially in Australia.” Editor’s Note: In between our print issues, the WWDR Team prepares an electronic newsletter called E-News Flash . Based on readership, this was the most popular E-News Flash article of the month. Get in on the action and subscribe today at: www.worldwidedrillingresource.com MIN A toe bone of Fostoria preserved in opal. Photo by Robert A. Smith courtesy of Australian Opal Centre.