Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre - KFEC

22/11/2025

https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/pdf/10.1144/SP543-2022-202 Selected Karoo geoheritage sites in South Africa and Lesotho
Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre (KFEC)
The quaint village of Nieu Bethesda is a popular tourist destination nestled on the banks of the Gats River along the foothills of the majestic
Compassberg. Tetrapod fossils have been collected from its vicinity since the early 1900s and are curated at various museums in South Africa. Most early discoveries were made by Croonie Kitching, a road builder stationed in the village. He trained his eight children in the art of fossil hunting, and three of his sons James, Ben and Scheepers later were employed as field officers to collect specimens for the Bernard Price Institute (BPI) for Palaeontological
Research at the University of the Witwatersrand.
James (1922–2003) went on to become a legendary fossil hunter, complete a PhD in palaeontology and to serve as Professor and Director of the BPI.
Kitching discovered many fossils of the landdwelling therapsids Lystrosaurus and Thrinaxodon and, in 1970, he also discovered these species in Antarctica, providing irrefutable palaeontological evidence that Antarctica and Africa were united during the Early Triassic, c. 250 myr ago.

03/02/2025

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-02-03-dreams-and-discoveries-how-a-young-fossil-enthusiast-is-shaping-paleontology-in-graaff-reinet/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main

In a classic example of being in the right place at the right time, a Karoo youngster with no knowledge of fossils found the perfect job.

05/09/2024

- Palaeontological Society of Southern Africa comes to Graaff Reinet, the capital of Gondwanaland!!!

04/04/2024

From the depths of South Africa's Karoo Basin, a remarkable discovery has emerged from the Permian period's dusty archives, presenting a tale of miniature giants in a world long gone. The late Permian ‘dwarf’ pareiasaur (meaning ‘cheek lizards’), Nanoparia luckhoffi, has been given new life through the meticulous efforts of palaeontologists Dr Marc Van den Brandt and his team. Until now, this species, which lived around 255 million years ago in what is now South Africa, had eluded a full anatomical description since its initial er****on by Robert Broom in 1936. Van den Brandt and his team have changed that by providing a comprehensive cranial description and unveiling new diagnostic characteristics in their latest publication in Revista Brasileira de Paleontologia. These insights enable palaeontologists to accurately identify and appreciate the nuances of this dwarf pareiasaur like never before, and how it relates to its closest cousins. https://www.wits.ac.za/news/latest-news/general-news/2024/2024-04/new-description-of-a-dwarf-pareiasaur-from-the-karoo-basin-.html

31/07/2023

Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre - KFEC is thrilled to see this work getting the recognition that it deserves. https://theconversation.com/meet-the-gigantic-extinct-reptile-that-weighed-as-much-as-an-adult-black-rhino-209919?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20July%2030%202023%20-%202695427224&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20July%2030%202023%20-%202695427224+CID_509c020930276119166eefe535b26465&utm_source=campaign_monitor_africa&utm_term=Meet%20the%20gigantic%20extinct%20reptile%20that%20weighed%20as%20much%20as%20an%20adult%20black%20rhino

Large pareiasaurs are among the earliest huge plant-eating tetrapods to appear in the history of the development of life on Earth.

27/07/2023

Just a quick feature about the wonderful tour guides at Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre - KFEC. Andries and Melanie will keep you enthralled for a morning with their stories about the amazing fossils that are found in Nieu Bethesda and surrounds. Do pay them a visit.
Ganora Guest Farm will give you further insight on these fascinating creatures.

21/07/2023

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=290810450162567&set=a.178228578087422&__cft__[0]=AZVQs7syiCb4xQXU4PskI592uGovGIpHmun00olTxrzQLv7PSQbMZ-vCYlvZIa0gA017JZYn23FLPI2ga0b3e609K_sD1m4-oVay77i2i9MWpCk0KA43L6_B7ZCF0q0nI15iomYUxDOpSAq5i-J1XGWYmPPCbPL15tauHoDzFj2zn840DaGSgkoKkR4NjinknFQ&__tn__=EH-R

An exciting for Southern African palaeontology, with the release of volume 56 of Palaeontologia Africana, a festschrift celebrating the career of Professor Bruce Sidney Rubidge 🇿🇦

Links to the first 9 articles:
https://hdl.handle.net/10539/35651

A message from the Pal Af team:

“Today we are proud to announce the release of volume 56 of Palaeontologia Africana, a festschrift celebrating the career of Professor Bruce Sidney Rubidge.

Professor Rubidge is a luminary of South African Palaeosciences and a “God of the Karoo”. The contributing authors to this volume represent a wide swath of Bruce’s students, colleagues, and friends – three categories that are by no means mutually exclusive. It is our sincere hope that this volume serves as an academic celebration worthy of Bruce’s many achievements.

On behalf of the editors and all the authors, we wish Bruce a happy and productive retirement in Graaff-Reinet and look forward to his continued early morning phone calls to discuss the future of palaeosciences in South Africa.

Links to the articles are available on the Wits WireDspace archive here:
https://hdl.handle.net/10539/35651

GENUS Palaeosciences: the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Palaeoscience funded this volume and we gratefully acknowledge their support.

Jonah Choiniere, Kimi Chapelle, Christian Kammerer”

Image credit: Professor Rubidge in his beloved Karoo. Image Credit: Brett Eloff

04/12/2022

Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre (KFEC) Nieu-Bethesda
The authentic fossil place!- Village News Dec 2022
The Kitching Fossil Exploration Centre (KFEC) in Nieu-Bethesda established in 2005 as a palaeotourism initiative to provide employment opportunities to the local community, and to tell the story of life in South Africa 255 million years ago during the Permian Period.
This museum is dedicated to James Kitching, one of the world’s great palaeontologists, who was born and grew up in Nieu Bethesda and who over a 40 year career collected almost all of the over 8000 fossil specimens curated at the Evolutionary Studies (previously the Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research) at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, an institute James headed from 1987 until his retirement.
Visitors to the KFEC will experience the what life was like in Nieu-Bethesda 255 million years ago, a time before dinosaurs, when there were no flowers or grasses, no mammals, no birds and of course, no humans. At this time communities of mammal ancestors (therapsids) and ancient reptile groups ruled the Earth, comprising a high variety of plant-eaters (Dicynodonts and Pareiasaurs) and meat-eaters (Gorgonopsians, Cynodonts and Therocephalians) and other reptile groups.
Experience real fossils, beautiful palaeo-artwork, several life-sized models or reconstructions of pre-historic animals, informative posters, short videos and a small souvenir and book shop. Learn about how fossils are formed, drifting continents, and ancient climate change and the Permian-Triassic extinction event that wiped out 90% of all life on Earth.
Come see and try your hand at fossil preparation, the little known about process of using an air compressed vibrating drill under high magnification, to slowly and carefully remove the fossil bones from the encasing rock, a process that often takes several years!
After viewing the Permian and Triassic exhibits, our friendly tour guides Andries and Melanie will take you on a short guided tour to nearby fossil-bearing river bed to experience the unique thrill of finding a real fossil in the Karoo, a special and memorable opportunity offered by very few museums.
We have a small but growing souvenir and book shop to complete your fossil experience.
Paleontologist Dr. Marc J. Van den Brandt (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and KFEC, Nieu-Bethesda)

19/10/2022