Vanished World Incorporated is delighted to present the Vanished World Centre and
Vanished World Trail. The Centre has interpretive displays including unique world-class fossils - whales, dolphins, penguins, sharks and many shellfish. TheTrail introduces some key geological localities in North Otago, both near the Centre and beyond. Together, the Centre and Trail will give you a feeling of "deep time," so that you can better understand the origins of our land and its living creatures. Both the Centre and Trail receive valuable support from Friends of Vanished World.
You can find us easily using Google Earth (http://earth.google.com). Install Google Earth and then search for "Duntroon, New Zealand".
As you travel along the Vanished World Trail, you will often see spectacular limestone outcrops. As you look at the limestone, consider that it started out as yellow-white sand, made mainly of fossil fragments, that washed about on the sea floor, 100 m below the sea surface some 24-26 million years ago. Look up to imagine the water above your head. What would you see swimming around? The limestones of the Waitaki region have "captured" the inhabitants of the ancient sea - many shellfish, sharks, large fish, penguins, whales and dolphins - and it is these that we now bring to you.
Our logo, by local artist Burns Pollock, shows the stylised skeleton of the extinct fossil dolphin Waipatia. You can see Waipatia on display in the Vanished World Centre, and can read more about Waipatia here.
Vanished World Incorporated and the Department of Geology at University of Otago have a partnership for work on the Centre and Trail. This partnership arose out of research on fossils from the Waitaki region; you can read more about those fossils read more about those fossils here. Vanished World Incorporated is grateful for support from landowners who grant access to sites, and to past and present sponsors, including Friends of Vanished World, Network Waitaki, Waiareka Valley Lions, Great Southern Oamaru, Waitaki Development Board, Community Employment Group, and an anonymous major donor.
Vanished World images - fossils, rocks and landscapes of North Otago. The original graphic panel, which is 3 m long, is on display at the Vanished World Centre, Duntroon.
Photography and concepts by Ewan Fordyce, graphic design by Martin Fisher.
