Thread by @MungoManic

This week, one of the most important fossils ever found in Australia (and perhaps the world) was taken to an undisclosed location, put in a hole and covered with dirt

WLH-50, the Garnpung Giant

I've spent hundreds of hours reading about this incredible cranium and scouring the corners of the internet for data and images. But I never got to see it in person, and now I never will

The huge cranium was 210mm long and on average 16mm thick. It had many archaic features including a continuous brow ridge. Unlike most Australian fossils the bone was completely replaced by silica

Much of the skull was missing, but here's my guess of what WLH-50 looked it:

Worse, WLH-50 was just one of 108 Pleistocene Australians being buried this week. Many likely contained DNA. There is so much we could have known about these mysterious people

Will the fossils be safe in the ground? No. The reconstructed specimens will fall apart, the fragments will be subject to hostile soil conditions, and eventually they’ll erode and be destroyed by the weather, just like the unexcavated fossils at Willandra Lakes

An article published today, with arguments from both sides of the debate:

amp.abc.net.au/article/105014…

UPDATE: Turns out not all of the 106 fossils have been buried yet. So there’s a sliver of a chance some might be saved (perhaps even WLH-50). Or at least buried in marked graves

Glad this issue is finally getting attention

Thanks to everyone who engaged and shared. All revenue from this post will be spent on expanding my library of rare resources, books and DNA samples (and testing)

You can also support my research directly:

buymeacoffee.com/mungomanic

And here’s a petition to protest. We’re almost at 1000 signers!

change.org/p/supporting-t…

@BTungle25194 Jokes aside, I agree it's a complex issue at least for recent remains. But wen it comes to mineralized fossils that are tens of thousands of years old it should be clear that the scientific knowledge and benefits to humanity take precedence

@mollywithakay @AbeAllen And no, no political organizations (even Native ones) have a right to erase what little remains of these cultures

@Vasart4 @ultradesign_be @clairlemon The myth that “scientists learned all they could” is one reason these burials go ahead. Not only could we have learned more (we don’t even have 3D models), but even DNA testing is incredibly new. Who knows what future techniques could have uncovered

@Vasart4 @ultradesign_be @clairlemon One reason, apart from politics, might be that many of these fossils were exceptionally delicate

@thebusiness7 The rest of the series are all fossilized and much older

@BabushkaThe (i’m not being pedantic. I guarantee you that no First Nation organization uses species as membership criteria)

@InterspeciesFa1 @BabushkaThe Unless Ngandong turn out to be one of the these 3 lineages we really have no clue what they looked like. Truly a bizarre archaeologic puzzle

Some good news. Looks like UNESCO is launching an investigation. Fingers crossed