Lucas Buchanan

MSc (Prelim.) Candidate

Project Title
Australian Fossil Crocodiles from the Rundle Oil Shales of Queensland: Mirrors of Past Climate and Ecological Associations

Supervisor/s
Prof. Pat Vickers-Rich

Research Project

Australian Fossil Crocodiles from the Rundle Oil Shales of Queensland: Mirrors of Past Climate and Ecological Associations
Crocodiles have had a long history on the Australian continent, and they have not always been restricted to watery environments - some became quite terrestrial in their habits and were major land carnivores on the Australian continent in the past. Lucas Buchanan is studying the fossil remins of 50 million year old crocodiles preserved in the open cut oil shale mines of central eastern Queensland in the Rundle Formation, sponsored by Southern Pacific Petroleum (which has now been taken over by the Queensland Energy Resources Group). His project involves determining the identity and relationships of the crocodilians preserved in these ancient lake sediments and work out the climatic and environmental history of this region of NE Australia. Buchanan is mapping out the occurrences of skeletal material within microenvironments to determine the nature of the preservation of the fossils and the ecologic associations of the flora and fauna preserved in the oil shales, a type of research called taphonomy.

Publicity

Lucas appeared in a Monash Magazine article, "Ancient crocodile holds clue to evolution". (Issue 15, 2005)

Research Interests

Vertebrate Palaeontology. Phylogenetics, Functional Morphology, Taxonomy, Palaeoecology

Professional Affiliations

• Melbourne Museum
• Vertebrate Palaeontology

Computer skills

• Microsoft Office programs
• Adobe Illustrator

Technical skills

• Fossil Preparation
• Geologic Fieldwork/Mapping

Personal interests

• http://www.clydefiveways.com