PUBLIC NOTICE | PUBLIC COMMENT

NOTIFICATION OF INTENTION

TO DECLARE THE DINOSAURS NESTING SITE (ROOIDRAAI)

NOTIFICATION OF PROPOSED DECLARATION OF THE DINOSAURS NESTING SITE (ROOIDRAAI); GOLDEN GATE HIGHLANDS NATIONAL PARK; FREE STATE AS A NATIONAL HERITAGE SITE (Section 27 of the National Heritage Resources Act, No. 25 of 1999

“The palaeontological record of South Africa is extraordinary for its preservation of many fossils through which scholars can study evolutionary processes over time. South Africa’s fossil record includes some of the first multicellular life, the first fish to step onto dry land, the earliest ancestors of mammals, and notably some of the world’s earliest dinosaurs. The Rooidraai fossil site at Golden gate Highland National Park has yielded exceptional fossils, ranging in taxonomic diversity from dinosaurs to crocodylomorphs and mammal ancestors, and include eggs, embryos, body fossils and trackways. With close to 100 dinosaur eggs, the site is of palaeontological and scientific significance for several reasons. Research on fossil finds since the 1950s have led to the conclusion that the site is the oldest known mass accumulation of dinosaurian egg clutches. The multiple occurrences of egg clutches within three stratigraphically clear cut layers illustrates that two or more Massospondylus females nested at this site on at least four different occasions. The well-preserved eggshell structure has also allowed for research on the origin of eggshell structure in dinosaurs and their relative.

There is a great possibility that there are more egg clutches of Massospondylus yet to be discovered at the nesting site. Thus far, and due to the steep cliff-face exposure of the nesting site, it has been a major challenge for researchers to map the complete spatial extent of the site. Nevertheless, it still holds a significant scientific value as there remains much palaeontological investigations that can be done in the vicinity. The site is rare as it is one of few similar localities where the egg clutches were discovered in situ rather than the random finding of eggshell and isolated eggs. The egg clutches from Golden Gate Highlands National Park represents yet another important discovery as they contain well preserved embryos of the sauropodomorph Massospondylus (Kitching 1979; Sues et al. 2004; Reisz et al. 2005). The discovery of nesting sites is highly significant in that it enables palaeontologists to have access to rare data on the reproductive biology of early dinosaurs.”

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)The South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA) intends to declare the Dinosaurs Nesting Site (Rooidraai); Golden Gate Highlands National Park; Free State as a National Heritage Site in line with the provisions of section 27(1) of the National Heritage Resources Act No 25 of 1999 (referred to henceforth as “NHRA”)

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