The ACT Legislative Assembly has formally adopted Batocara mitchelli as the Territory’s fossil emblem.
The Batocara mitchelli was chosen as the ACT’s fossil emblem following a public vote, where it received more than 1,100 votes – around 30% of the total vote.
Batocara mitchelli is a trilobite from an extinct group of marine anthropods – the same group as spiders, scorpions and crabs. They became extinct 250 million years ago.
It is commonly found as fragments, however a complete specimen was found while drilling the foundations of the Treasury building in the 1940s.
The fossil emblem joins the floral, faunal, and mammal emblems for the ACT: the Royal Bluebell, the Gang-gang Cockatoo, and the Southern Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby.
For more information on the ACT’s emblems, visit the website.
