The fossil lobsters from Gunn Point, Australia were quickly buried during natural events like cyclones, causing the lobster exoskeleton to eventually be replaced with calcium carbonate, strontium and iron. These fossilized remains are found within hard mineral concretions that are washed out onto the beach by heavy seas.
Like present-day mud lobsters, their fossil ancestors would shed their exoskeletons into the swampy environments as they grew. Most of the fossils found in the Queensland area are of these sheds. It is fairly rare to find complete exoskeletons and they are generally found fully encased in the sedimentary material that looks like mud.
Type: Mangrove/Mud Lobster Species: Thalassina anomala Age: Late Pleistocene - Early Holocene (10,000 years ago) Locality: Gunn Point, Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
