Cloaked in white dust and surrounded by expansive plains, the town of Lightning Ridge produces the bulk of the world’s precious black opal. This rare gemstone, prized for its dazzling play of color, ...

Opalised fossils from Lightning Ridge, N.S.W, Australia. From the collection of the Australian Opal Center. Clockwise from top left: freshwater snail; plesiosaur tooth; crocodile tooth; pine cone; ...

Paleontologists in Australia have identified a previously unknown plant-eating dinosaur from the mid-Cretaceous. Remarkably, the fossilized bones of these creatures, which glisten in hues of blue and ...

In a dazzling discovery, fossils brought up from a mine in Wee Warra, near the Australian outback town of Lightning Ridge, belong to the newly named dinosaur species Weewarrasaurus pobeni. The animal, ...

Unlike any other town known as a hole in the ground, Australia’s Coober Pedy really is a hole, and has two kinds of buried treasure. Unlike any other town known as a hole in the ground, Australia’s ...

Artist's reconstruction of Fostoria dhimbangunmal, a newly described iguanodontian dinosaur. James Kuether. Three decades ago, opal miner Bob Foster was getting frustrated while digging around in his ...

Unusually colorful fossils found in Australia belong to a stunning new species of plant-eating dinosaur, scientists report today in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. The remains not only belong ...

When Mike Poben, an opal buyer and and fossil fanatic, bought a bucket of opal from an Australian mine, he was surprised to find to find what looked like an ancient tooth in the pile. Later, he also ...

The world’s finest uncut opal, a 998-gram gem called the Fire of Australia, has gone on permanent public display for the first time since its discovery more than 60 years ago. Valued at more than $675 ...