Small herbivorous dinosaurs dubbed Leaellynasaura amicagraphica roam along the water's edge in southeastern Australia in an artist's depiction. The species lived about 115 million years ago when the continent was within the Antarctic Circle.
From National Geographic News:
Plans to build a massive desalination plant to supply fresh water to drought-stricken Melbourne created a media outcry last week, because pipes for the plant will run though the fossil beds where L. amicagraphica and other ancient species have been unearthed. The fossil bed—part of a site dubbed Dinosaur Cove—sits at the mouth of the Powlett River near Kilcunda in Australia's southeastern state of Victoria
Despite the media outcry, Australian water minister Tim Holding told the Herald-Sun newspaper last week that the remains would not be at risk.
"The existence of these fossilized remains in no way impacts on the ability of us to construct or operate a desalination plant on the site," Holding said.
And we all know that governments always make the best decisions for the preservation of fossils….
