Karoo Origins – The Fossil Centre recently marked an exciting milestone with the official celebration of its completed exhibits, a project that has been many years in the making.
Welcoming guests to the evening, renowned palaeontologist Dr Bruce Rubidge shared the remarkable story behind the collection, its origins and its global significance.
The journey began in 1934 with a simple question. Dr Rubidge’s aunt, then a 10-year-old schoolgirl, asked her father what fossils were and where they could be found. That innocent query sparked a family picnic on their farm, Wellwood, just north of Graaff-Reinet. Fortune smiled that day when they discovered a large skull with impressive teeth – a specimen that still greets visitors in the centre’s entrance.
Intrigued but unsure of its importance, Dr Rubidge’s grandfather contacted Dr Robert Broom, South Africa’s leading palaeontologist at the time. Broom revealed that the fossil was over 250 million years old, a discovery that inspired the family to continue collecting. Over the next decade, they assembled one of the pioneering fossil collections in South Africa, including several reference specimens of new species.
For the Rubidge family, it was always vital that the collection remain in Graaff-Reinet, a place they loved dearly. And with good reason – 255 million years ago, during the age of the supercontinent Pangaea, Graaff-Reinet stood at the very heart of the Earth’s connected landmass. Today, this collection places the town at the centre of understanding our planet’s deep prehistory.
The Fossil Centre’s exhibits reflect this extraordinary story. The first hall showcases the origins of the collection and demonstrates how a simple question can lead to profound discoveries. The second hall helps visitors grasp the immensity of geological time, placing Graaff-Reinet’s fossils into context with Earth’s 300-million-year-old history. Here, guests encounter the early reptiles that lived along ancient riverbanks – distant ancestors of modern mammals, including ourselves. As Dr Rubidge reminds us: “Graaff-Reinet is the hometown of all mammals, including us – welcome home.”
To bring this ancient world to life, the centre features a unique animated waterhole exhibit, the first of its kind globally. Visitors can experience the environment as it might have been millions of years ago, offering both tourists and locals a vivid sense of place.
Beyond its storytelling, Karoo Origins plays a vital role in global science. The Graaff-Reinet district is one of the best places in the world to study the greatest mass extinction in history, which occurred 252 million years ago and wiped out 90% of species. Today, with thousands of species disappearing annually in what scientists call the “sixth extinction,” the fossil record here provides invaluable lessons for understanding biodiversity crises past and present.
The centre also looks forward, with its final hall focusing on the story of modern humans – who have been on Earth for a mere 200 000 years – and the urgent need to protect our planet’s natural environments.
Dr Rubidge expressed heartfelt gratitude to those who made the project possible, including Johann Rupert, GT Ferreira, the creative team at Fancy Horse, and architect Piet Dekker, whose vision transformed two old buildings into this vibrant museum and research facility. The upstairs education centre will soon be furnished, with outreach initiatives designed to inspire future generations.
Since opening in April, Karoo Origins has already welcomed over 1,100 visitors a month, with hopes of attracting 2,000 monthly as word spreads of this extraordinary new attraction.
Karoo Origins is not just a fossil centre – it is a celebration of heritage, science and the spirit of curiosity that began with a single question asked by a child nearly a century ago.
Visitors are warmly invited to wander through the halls, explore the exhibits, and discover why Graaff-Reinet truly is the home of all mammals.
Well done Bruce for all your hard work and vision and thank you to everyone involved in whatever way to make this a reality. A true asset for our beautiful town