The titanosaurian sauropod (meaning “lizard-footed”) Diamantinasaurus matildae lived during the Mid-Cretaceous Period, around 100–95 million years ago, in what is now southern central Queensland. This huge, four-legged, longnecked, plant-eating dinosaur is estimated to have measured 16 to 20 metres in length and about 2.5 to 3 metres tall at the hip. The first fossilised bones were found in 2005 near Winton, Queensland. Around 30 per cent of the skeleton has been recovered, making it the most complete Cretaceous sauropod ever found in Australia. The known skeleton (nicknamed “Matilda”) includes most of the forelimb, shoulder girdle, pelvis, hindlimb and ribs, one shoulder bone, a radius and some vertebrae.
This is a recently discovered toothless theropod (three-toed) dinosaur species related to Elaphrosaurus (“light-footed lizard”). It is not yet assigned to any genus because of its incompleteness. This dinosaur has been described from a single neck vertebra bone discovered near Cape Otway in Victoria in 2015. The sediments at the site date from the Early Cretaceous, around 110–107 million years ago. During this period, the climate of the Cape Otway region was cold, indicating that this animal could tolerate near-polar temperatures. It ran low to the ground on two legs, and had a slender body, long neck, stubby arms and possibly toothless skull. It probably had a plant-based diet and did not hunt prey. Evidence suggests that elaphrosaurs started life eating a range of foods, possibly including tiny monotremes, insects and fruits, but shed their teeth as they aged, to be replaced by a horny beak. This discovery suggests that elaphrosaurs were more widespread and lived over a longer period than previously thought.
This theropod dinosaur lived during the Mid-Cretaceous Period and was discovered near Winton, Queensland. Nicknamed “Banjo”, its skeleton was found intermingled with the bones of Diamantinasaurus matildae. Around 40 per cent of its skeleton has been excavated to date, making it the most complete carnivorous dinosaur known from Australia. Like all carnivorous dinosaurs, Australovenator was two-legged, with smaller forelimbs. It was also equipped with three scimitar-shaped claws and sharp teeth. A swift predator, Australovenator was about 1.5 metres high at the hip and 5 to 6 metres in length. A claw of this dinosaur has also been found in Early Cretaceous rocks in Victoria and at Lightning Ridge, New South Wales.
The near-complete, fossilised skeleton of this dinosaur was discovered in 1989 near Richmond in north-western Queensland. This small, squat, armoured ankylosaur (“fused lizard”) is the most complete skeleton ever discovered from eastern Gondwana (Australia, Antarctica, Madagascar and India) and the most complete ankylosaurian skeleton from the entirety of the Gondwanan continents. It lived around the Eromanga Sea 103–101 million years ago, in the Early Cretaceous Period. It was a plant eater, and remains of this individual’s last meal were found in its stomach region. Kunbarrasaurus was quadrupedal and covered in bony armour on the head, back, abdomen, legs and along its long tail. Around the size of a modern sheep, it had a parrot-like beak and an inner ear similar to that of a turtle.
Fossils from this pterosaur were found in the Winton region of central western Queensland in April 2017. This flying reptile had a wingspan of about 4 metres and lived around 96 million years ago, in the Late Cretaceous Period. Until this discovery, only two species of Australian pterosaurs had been described, both based on fossil skull fragments. This new species, a fully grown adult, includes a partial skull, five partial neck vertebrae and bones from both the left and right wings. It’s likely that Ferrodraco ate mainly fish and lived around lake and river systems.
As this creature is a flying reptile and not a dinosaur no coin was produced.
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