A fossil that spent decades hidden inside a garden retaining wall has turned out to be one of Australia’s most remarkable prehistoric discoveries.
Researchers from UNSW Sydney and the Australian Museum have now formally identified and named the ancient creature: Arenaerpeton supinatus — meaning “supine sand creeper.”
From Chicken Farm to World-Class Discovery
The story begins in the 1990s, when a retired chicken farmer sourced rocks from a nearby quarry to build a garden retaining wall. Hidden among those stones was the fossil, which was later donated to the Australian Museum in Sydney. It has now been revealed as a 240-million-year-old amphibian from the Triassic period.
Extraordinarily Well Preserved
The fossil includes almost the entire skeleton and even faint outlines of the animal’s skin — an incredibly rare find.
“We don’t often find skeletons with the head and body still attached, and the soft tissue preservation is an even rarer occurrence,” says paleontologist Lachlan Hart from UNSW.
A Fearsome River Predator
At about 1.2 metres long, Arenaerpeton looked somewhat like a modern Chinese Giant Salamander but was considerably more heavyset. It lived in freshwater environments in what is now the Sydney Basin and likely preyed on ancient fish. It also sported some formidable teeth, including fang-like tusks.
This discovery adds a fascinating new chapter to our understanding of prehistoric life in Australia — and proves that sometimes the most extraordinary scientific finds are hiding in the most ordinary places.
Source: UNSW Sydney, Australian Museum, ScienceDaily (May 6, 2026)
