NewsBite

‘Bloody everywhere’: Australia’s incredible ‘dinosaur boom’

Australia is in the midst of an incredible “dinosaur boom” as record numbers of farmers unearth ancient bones.

Scientists reveal history of dinosaur found in Queensland

Australia is in the midst of an incredible “dinosaur boom” as record numbers of farmers unearth ancient dinosaur bones that send tourists flocking to their rural properties.

Up until the 21st Century, dinosaur fossils were extremely rare to find in Australia, according to Matt Hearne, curator at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum. The massive island continent was a huge knowledge gap for palaeontologists all over the world.

Now, Mr Hearne says dinosaur bones are “bloody everywhere”.

David Elliott (right), pictured here with Dr Stephen Poropat, discovered Australia’s first huge dinosaur in 1999. Picture: John Elliott & Winton Shire Council
David Elliott (right), pictured here with Dr Stephen Poropat, discovered Australia’s first huge dinosaur in 1999. Picture: John Elliott & Winton Shire Council

Australia’s dinosaur boom began in 1999, when David Elliot discovered scientifically groundbreaking fossils on his farm near Winton, 15 hours northwest of Brisbane.

His fellow farmers were nervous about the discovery, as many wondered whether it would allow scientists to seize their property, but Mr Elliot went ahead and contacted a palaeontologist.

It turned out he’d discovered the giant fossilised thighbone of a sauropod that roamed Australia some 95 million years ago.

“We were very much a test case for the region. No one else was putting their hand up,” Mr Elliot, 66, recently told the New York Times.

Dave Elliott and his son Harry proudly display the lower part of the thighbone of the sauropod. Picture: Australia Age of Dinosaurs museum.
Dave Elliott and his son Harry proudly display the lower part of the thighbone of the sauropod. Picture: Australia Age of Dinosaurs museum.

Some of the biggest dinosaurs ever recorded were found Down Under, including a string of newly discovered species.

Australia’s largest dinosaur — Australotitan cooperensis, also known as the “southern titan” — was discovered in Coopers Creek in 2007 and is estimated to have stretched the length of a basketball court.

Many of the incredible finds begin with a farmer tripping over an unusual-looking rock, deep in the sparsely populated plains of central west Queensland.

Australia's largest dinosaur, Australotitan cooperensis.
Australia's largest dinosaur, Australotitan cooperensis.

Better yet, the dinosaur boom has fuelled a thriving tourism industry deep in the Australian outback.

Volunteers pay thousands of dollars each to attend palaeontological digs, while more casual roadtrippers stop to visit sites such as the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum on Mr Elliot’s property.

The volunteers, many of whom simply describe themselves as dinosaur-lovers, pay up to $3700 a head to attend a one-week dig in the outback.

Guests at the Australia Age of Dinosaurs Museum. Picture: Australia Age of Dinosaurs Museum
Guests at the Australia Age of Dinosaurs Museum. Picture: Australia Age of Dinosaurs Museum

The guests are helping to revive tourism in small towns such as Winton — a town which has seen its population halve to just 1100 in the past two decades.

Mr Elliot’s museum, though, attracted 60,000 people in 2021.

“It’s gone absolutely crazy,” Kev Fawcett, the owner of the Winton Hotel, told the New York Times.

Mr Fawcett says the winter season now gets so busy that tourists sleep in their cars, unable to find space in any of Winton’s three caravan parks and four motels.

Original URL: https://www.news.com.au/technology/science/archaeology/bloody-everywhere-australias-incredible-dinosaur-boom/news-story/8fd80e2938a9c34e77de0e2c762eb076