Re: place names and fossils

[Dann Pigdon <dannj@alphalink.com.au>]

Adrienne Mayor writes: 

> * It would be wonderful if some paleontologists and linguists/ folklorists 
> would collaborate on an article or a book about  Aboriginal fossil legends 
> before it's too late!

I've heard that theropod trackways in Western Australia were attributed to 
giant dream-time emus by the local inhabitants. They weren't all that far 
off the mark. 

The book "Kadimakara: Extinct Vertebrates of Australia" is named after 
aboriginal mythology. There is an aboriginal legend about the Kadimakara; 
"monsters" that once lived in a huge canopy of trees that covered central 
Australia. When the trees disappeared, the Kadimakara wandered about in the 
desert until they died at Lake Eyre, where their bones can still be found. 
The legend hints at the vast inland forests and lakes that filled 
Australia's now arid centre where all kinds of animals once lived, from 
mammalian megafauna to fresh-water dolphins and flamingoes. 

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Dann Pigdon
GIS / Archaeologist         http://www.geocities.com/dannsdinosaurs
Melbourne, Australia        http://heretichides.soffiles.com
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