Two newly identified sauropods and a new theropod have been excavated from the base of the Winton Formation near central Queensland. Fossilized pollens in-strata with the vertebrate remains indicate a Phimopollenites pannosus palynomorph Zone sequence and are thought to be Albian in age - about 100 million years old. In regards to ecology, cursory examinations of taphonomy and sedimentology show that the depositional conditions associated with the finds are akin to those found in modern oxbow lakes, or as the Aussies call them “billabongs”.
Although all three dinosaurs represent significant finds, the predatory theropod in particular is sure to bring publicity to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History and the Queensland Museum, which jointly worked on the excavations and diagnoses of the dinos. There’s nothing quite like a giant predatory allosauroid in terms of stirring the public’s interest in paleontology and stimulating museum attendance numbers.
Although all three dinosaurs represent significant finds, the predatory theropod in particular is sure to bring publicity to the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History and the Queensland Museum, which jointly worked on the excavations and diagnoses of the dinos. There’s nothing quite like a giant predatory allosauroid in terms of stirring the public’s interest in paleontology and stimulating museum attendance numbers.
According to Ben Kear of La Trobe University in Melbourne, "Australia is one of the great untapped resources in our current understanding of life from the Age of Dinosaurs. The discoveries...will definitely reinvigorate interest in the hitherto tantalizingly incomplete, but globally significant record from this continent..."
Meet “Matilda”
Meet “Matilda”
Named for the Diamantina River and one of Austrailia’a National songs (“Waltzing Matilda”), Diamantinasaurus matilda was a 16-meter long (52-foot) sauropod.
Nicknamed Matilda, she is the more stout of the two new sauropods and left behind a variety of fossils, including a pelvis:
Left reconstructed pelvis in lateral (A) view. Left ilium in anterior view (B) showing the position of the sacral vertebrae. Right pubis and ischium in medial (C), proximal (D) and lateral (E) views. Right ischium in lateral (F) and medial (G) views. Reconstructed right and left ischia in dorsal view. Abbreviations: ip, ischial peduncle; iip, iliac peduncle of ischium; of, obturator foramen; pa, pubio-ischial contact; pip, iliac peduncle of pubis; ppd, pubic peduncle; ppp, preacetabular process of ilium; s, sacrum; sym, fused ischial symphysis.Meet “Clancy”
Wintonotitan wattsi, or “Watts' Winton Giant" was also around 16-meters in length, but sported a more elongate neck than Matilda.
Nicknamed Clancy, he was diagnosed from a variety of fossils, some partially articulated, including several vertebra:
Partial dorsal centrum in lateral (A) and posterior (B) views. Isolated neural spine in anterior view (C). Anterior caudal vertebrae of Wintonotitan wattsi. Anterior caudal vertebra in lateral (D) and anterior (E) views. Anterior caudal vertebra in posterior (F), lateral (G) and ventral (H) views. Anterior caudal vertebra in anterior (I), lateral (J) and ventral (K) views. Abbreviations: plc, pleurocoel; pcdl, posterior centrodiapophyseal lamina; prel, prespinal lamina; spl, spino-prezygopophyseal lamina.Last, but not least - Meet “Banjo”
Called “Banjo” after Australian bush poet Banjo Patterson, Australovenator wintonensis was a 5-meter long (16-foot), 500 kilogram (1100 pounds) predator with three slashing claws.
"The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile," "He's Australia's answer to Velociraptor, but many times bigger and more terrifying," said the article’s lead author Scott Hocknull of the Queensland Museum.
As evidence of his ferocity, here are a few of Banjo’s teeth:
"The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile," "He's Australia's answer to Velociraptor, but many times bigger and more terrifying," said the article’s lead author Scott Hocknull of the Queensland Museum.
As evidence of his ferocity, here are a few of Banjo’s teeth:
Isolated teeth in labial (A, C, E, F, G, I, J, L) and labial (B, D, F, H, J, K) views. A–B. Anterior dentary tooth or premaxillary tooth. C–L. Dentary teeth.
Hocknull, S., White, M., Tischler, T., Cook, A., Calleja, N., Sloan, T., & Elliott, D. (2009). New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia PLoS ONE, 4 (7) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0006190
All Images from Referenced Article
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