3 new fossils bring Australia back to the dinosaur map

Scientists discovered three Australian dinosaurs at a prehistoric river branch in western Queensland.

Reported on July 3 in the journal Open PLoS ONE, Scott Hocknull and colleagues at the Queensland Museum and the Australian Museum of Natural Dinosaurs describe the fossils of the three Cretaceous dinosaurs. White belongs to the Eastern Australian Winton Formation: two species of sauropods eating giant grass, and a carnivorous theropod. These three fossils add to the knowledge of dinosaur records in Australia, which is very important for the dinosaur anthropology.

Records of dinosaur fossils in Australia are very poor compared to other continents, such as South America and Africa. However, the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation in the center of Western Queensland in recent years has brought many fossils with the potential to detect new dinosaurs. From 2006 to 2009, extensive excavations discovered many well-preserved dinosaur fossils, as well as the rest of the same species of pants at the same time.

In a comprehensive and unique publication, Hocknull and colleagues describe the rest of the three dinosaur skeletons, found in a collaborative effort between the Australian Dinosaur Museum and the Queensland Museum, excavated. two areas of Winton Formation. They discovered three new dinosaur species: two giant sauropods, and a carnivorous theropod.

Carnivores, named by Australovenator wintonensis (nicknamed 'Banjo') are the most complete carnivorous dinosaurs discovered in Australia to date, and this discovery brings new insights into the ancestors. of the largest carnivorous dinosaur, carcharodontosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that become giants, like Giganotosaurus.

The main author, Scott Hocknull, said: 'Banjo is like a cheetah at that time, light and flexible. It can follow most prey catches easily. The most distinguishing feature is 3 sharp claws on each hand. Unlike some theropods with small arms (like T. rex), Banjo uses the arm as the main weapon ".

' This is a dinosaur similar to Velociraptor, but larger and more frightening'.

Illustration of 3 new Australian taxa species: Australovenator (above); Wintonotitan (in the middle); Diamantinasaurus (below). (Photo: T. Tischler, Australian Dinosaur History Museum / Scott A. Hocknull, Matt A. White, Travis R. Tischler, Alex G. Cook, Naomi D. Calleja, Trish Sloan, David A. Elliott PLoS ONE, 2009; 4 (7): e6190 DOI: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0006190)

The skeleton of Australovenator gave the answer to the 28-year-old mystery around ankle bones found in Victoria, first classified as dwarf Allosarus, although this classification raised a lot of controversy for until Australovenator was discovered.Researchers are now able to confirm that this ankle bone belongs to the Australovenator lineage

Two species of herbivorous theropods, called Witonotitan wattsi ('Clancy') and Diamantinasaurus matildae ('Matilda'), are another type of titanosaur (the largest dinosaur ever appeared). While Witonotitan is a tall, slender, giraffe-like animal, Diamantinasaurus is an animal that is like a hippopotamus.

All 3 dinosaurs are given nicknames according to characters from a famous Australian poet. Banjo Patterson composed Waltzing Matilda in 1885 in Winton, where this song was first performed (and where fossils were discovered). Waltzing Matilda is currently considered Australia's national anthem.

The song Waltzing Matilda describes the death of an unlucky thief, who stole a sheep and was forced to jump into a dead-end canal to escape the police. He drowned in the canal with the sheep he stole.

Banjo and Maltida were found together in a 98 million-year-old canal. Whether they died together or were stuck in the mud was still a mystery, however, like the song, both animals ended their lives at the bottom of a channel 98 million years ago. This shows that the activities in this area in 98 years ago still exist today . Hocknull explains: 'The channels are an integral part of Australian thought, because they are associated with mysteries, monsters and ghosts'.

The discovery and recording of fossils is 100% Australian effort. Both Matilda and Banjo are prepared by the Australian Dinosaur Period Museum, thanks to thousands of hours of volunteer work and charity.

Hocknull said: 'This is the only place in Australia where you can go out and be trained as a paleontologist and can search, excavate and prepare your own parts in the calendar. Australian history. These dinosaurs will become part of the museum collection and this effort will allow future generations of scientists to participate in waves of dinosaur search and bring the public closer to This natural cultural heritage '.

This collaborative effort is fully consistent with PLoS ONE's philosophy, making science a completely open and free source of knowledge for the masses. Hocknull commented: 'One of my main motives for announcing this discovery on PLoS ONE is the fact that my research will reach the community, including hundreds of volunteers who sacrifice time and money. Silver for the development of natural history collections. They are the foundation for our work, and they often don't see their final product because they are rarely published in scientific journals'.

3 new dinosaurs, and some of the rest of the dinosaurs show a diverse sauropod and theropod dinosaurs in the Early Cretaceous period, and these findings will help provide a deeper understanding of recording. copy dinosaurs in Australia, and thereby reinforce the understanding of the dinosaurs' anthropology.

The authors agree that although hundreds of bones have been found in this area, that is just the beginning. They said: 'Hundreds of other fossils and many other materials are waiting to be excavated'. Staff and volunteers of the Australian Dinosaur Museum and the Queensland Museum will continue to work in this area and other locations in 2010.


Refer:

1. Scott A. Hocknull, Matt A. White, Travis R. Tischler, Alex G. Cook, Naomi D. Calleja, Trish Sloan, David A. Elliott.New Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) Dinosaurs from Winton, Queensland, Australia.PLoS ONE, 2009;4 (7): e6190 DOI: 10.1371 / journal.pone.0006190