The name Woolungasaurus comes from an Aboriginal word “Woolunga” meaning mythical reptile animal and “saurus” (Greek for lizard). During the late 1960’s former SMM board member, Richard E. Smith, collected a rare plesiosaur skeleton of early Cretaceous age (120 m.y.) from the opal fields of South Australia. The specimen was presented to the paleontology department in 1971 along with other specimens of precious opal.

The forearm (flipper) seen here is part of Smith’s plesiosaur fossil. It is unique among our reptile collections because it is preserved as precious opal.
– Kristi Curry Rogers, Curator of Paleontology