BRISBANE Catholic Doug Miller is one of the first to have seen dinosaur footprints that belong to a giant sauropod, largest of the extinct herbivores, discovered in a creek bed near Winton, in Central West Queensland.
“It’s quite mind-blowing,” Mr Miller said, describing the sheer size of footprints – more than a metre across – discovered in rock while he was working on a nearby dinosaur dig site last June.
Palaeontologists from the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum at Winton found the well-preserved footprints of several different dinosaurs but the discovery has only been verified in recent days.
“I was working on a dig and they took us out in small groups to show us this new footprint site,” Mr Miller said.
“They are just unbelievably huge, clearly indicating the sauropods were extremely large creatures.”
The footprints are believed to be 95 million years old and belong to titanosauriform sauropods, measuring about 18 metres long and weighing 30 tonnes.
When it comes to digging for dinosaurs, Mr Miller, a parishioner from St Anthony’s and St Luke’s, Alexandra Hills-Capalaba, describes himself as “an enthusiastic amateur and volunteer”.
He became interested in palaeontology after watching the BBC TV series Walking with Dinosaurs in the 1990s, but his passion blossomed after eight digs in western Queensland with the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum.
He has also ventured to Mongolia for digs in the Gobi Desert.
One of his favourite stories involves his part in helping to unearth Banjo, Australia’s most complete carnivorous dinosaur fossil – the remains of a creature that roamed the continent 95-100 million years ago and was five metres long, stood 1.5 metres high at the hip and weighed 500kg.
Holding a replica claw of the creature – known as Australovenator wintonensis – Mr Miller can describe how the creature’s prey could easily be ripped apart by Banjo’s razor-sharp three-pronged claws.
He said this latest footprint discovery of three major dinosaur groups – sauropods, ornithopods and theropods – found along the same trackway surface, was rare.
Swinburne palaeontologist Dr Stephen Poropat, who led the research team for the Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum in Winton, said the longest sequence of sauropod footprints can be followed continuously for over 40m and would have comprised nearly two dozen fore and hind footprint sets.
“These footprints are the best of their kind in Australia and their shape can be distinguished from all known sauropod footprints worldwide,” he said.
“That these fine details are so well preserved after 95 million years is remarkable.”
Australian Age of Dinosaurs museum executive chairman David Elliott said the newly exposed trackway was fragile and its removal from the creek bed was a high priority for the museum.
Relocation of the trackway began in September last year and 25 per cent of the total area, including all of the fragile footprints that were in danger of being destroyed, has now been removed.
“This is a very slow and painstaking process,” Mr Elliott said.
“The total weight of the trackway is in the vicinity of 500 tonnes and we are transporting it back to the museum, one two-tonne trailer load at a time.”
Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones said the discovery would give the state’s west a tremendous boost.
“This is an amazing discovery and a great way to kick off the Year of Outback Tourism,” she said.
“These tracks will create international exposure for Winton which will have a significant impact on the outback tourism economy.”
