Scientists have discovered three new species of Australian dinosaur discovered in a prehistoric billabong in Western Queensland.
Reporting on July 3 in the open-access, peer-reviewed journal, PLoS ONE, Scott Hocknull and colleagues at the Queensland Museum and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History describe the fossils of three new mid-Cretaceous dinosaurs from the Winton Formation in eastern Australia: two giant, herbivorous sauropods and one carnivorous theropod, all of which are to be unveiled in Queensland on July 3. The three fossils add to our knowledge of the Australian dinosaurian record, which is crucial for the understanding of the global paleobiogeography of dinosaurian groups.
Australia’s dinosaurian fossil record is extremely poor, compared with that of other similar-sized continents, such as South America and Africa. However, the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation in central western Queensland has, in recent years, yielded numerous fossil sites with huge potential for the discovery of new dinosaurian taxa. Between 2006 and 2009, extensive excavations have yielded many well-preserved dinosaur fossils, as well as the remains of other contemporaneous fauna.
In a single, comprehensive, publication, Hocknull and colleagues describe the remains of three individual dinosaur skeletons, found during joint Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum and Queensland Museum digs in two different sites in the Winton Formation. They represent three new genera and species of dinosaur: two giant herbivorous sauropods and a carnivorous theropod.
The carnivore, named by the authors on the paper Australovenator wintonensis (nicknamed “Banjo”) is the most complete meat-eating dinosaur found in Australia, to date and sheds light on the ancestry of the largest-ever meat-eating dinosaurs, the carcharodontosaurs, a group of dinosaurs that became gigantic, like Giganotosaurus.
“The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile,” said lead author Scott Hocknull. “He could run down most prey with ease over open ground. His most distinguishing feature was three large slashing claws on each hand. Unlike some theropods that have small arms (think T. rex), Banjo was different; his arms were a primary weapon.
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“He’s Australia's answer to Velociraptor, but many times bigger and more terrifying.”
The skeleton of Australovenator solves a 28-year-old mystery surrounding an ankle bone found in Victoria, which was originally classified as a dwarf Allosaurus, although this classification remained controversial until the discovery of Australovenator—the researchers are now able to confirm that the ankle bone belonged to the lineage that led to Australovenator.
The two plant-eating theropods, named Witonotitan wattsi (“Clancy”) and Diamantinasaurus matildae (“Matilda”), are different kinds of titanosaur (the largest type of dinosaur ever to have lived). While Witonotitan represents a tall, gracile animal, which might have fitted into a giraffe-like niche, the stocky, solid Diamantinasaurus represents a more hippo-like species.
All three dinosaurs are nicknamed after characters from a world-famous, Australian poet. Banjo Patterson composed Waltzing Matilda in 1885 in Winton, where the song was also first performed (and where the fossils were discovered). Waltzing Matilda is now considered to be Australia’s national song.
In a quirky twist of fate, the song Waltzing Matilda describes the unfortunate demise of a swag-man, who steals a jumbuck (sheep) but is driven to leap into a billabong (an Australian word for a small oxbow lake) to avoid being captured by the police. He ends up drowning in the billabong alongside the stolen sheep.
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Banjo and Matilda were found buried together in what turns out to be a 98-million-year-old billabong. Whether they died together or got stuck in the mud together remains a mystery; however, echoing the song, both predator and possible prey met their end at the bottom of a billabong, 98 million years ago. This shows that processes that were working in the area over the last 98 million years are still there today. “Billabongs are a built-in part of the Australian mind,” said Hocknull, “because we associate them with mystery, ghosts and monsters.”
The finding and documentation of the fossils was a 100% Australian effort. Both Matilda and Banjo were prepared by Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum thanks to thousands of hours of volunteer work and philanthropy.
“This is the only place in Australia where you can come off the street and be taught to be a palaeontologist and find, excavate and prepare your own part of Australian natural history,” said Hocknull. The dinosaurs will now be part of a museum collection and this effort will enable future generations of scientists to be involved in a new wave of dinosaur discoveries and to bring the general public in touch with their own natural heritage.”
This collaborative effort links closely with PLoS ONE’s philosophy of making science freely accessible to the general public. “One of my major motivations for submitting to PLoS ONE was the fact that my research will reach a much wider community, including the hundreds of volunteers and public who gave their time and money to the development of natural history collections,” said Hocknull. “They are the backbone of our work (excuse the pun) and they usually never get to see their final product because they rarely subscribe to scientific journals.”
All three new taxa, along with some fragmentary remains from other taxa, indicate a diverse Early Cretaceous sauropod and theropod fauna in Australia, and the finds will help provide a better understanding of the Australian dinosaurian record, which is, in turn, crucial for the understanding of the global palaeobiogeography of dinosaurian groups.
The authors agree that even though hundreds of bones have already been found at the site, these fossils are just the tip of the iceberg. “Many hundreds more fossils from this dig await preparation and there is much more material left to excavate,” they said. Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum and Queensland Museum staff and volunteers will continue to dig at this and other sites in 2010.
The fossils will be unveiled at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History in Queensland, Australia, July 3 by Anna Bligh, the Premier of Queensland. Stage 1 of the museum, a non-profit, volunteer-driven, science initiative that aims to bring Australian dinosaurs to the world, will also be opened by Ms Bligh on July 3.
Scientists in Queensland, Australia have discovered three new species of dinosaur in the mid-Cretaceous Winton Formation. The find has been published in the 2009 online journal ''PLoS ONE'' by Queensland Museum palaeontologist, Scott Hocknull ''et al.''
Winton, Queensland, Australia 
Skeletal remains of two giant (titanosauriform) herbivorous sauropods along with one lightweight carnivorous theropod were found.

''Diamantinasaurus matildae'' (meaning "Matilda's Diamantina River Lizard") derives its name from the Diamantina River which meanders through Queensland, Australia, and the Greek word ''sauros'', which means lizard.  The name ''matildae'' honours a national song of Australia, "Waltzing Matilda" penned by poet and writer A.B. "Banjo" Patterson whilst visiting near the town of Winton.  ''Diamantinasaurus'' was a very large and heavy lithostrotian sauropod which has been compared to a gigantic modern-day hippopotamus.
The discoverers' impression of ''Diamantinasaurus''
''Wintonotitan wattsi'' was named firstly for the town of Winton, followed by Titan, a giant in Greek mythology.  ''Wattsi'' honours Keith Watts, the original person who discovered the bones and donated them to Queensland Museum back in 1974. This plant-eating, tall, basal sauropod was nicknamed "Clancy" and has been said to resemble a present-day giraffe.
 A reconstruction of ''Australovenator'', showing known fossils.
''Australovenator wintonensis'' (meaning "Winton's Australian hunter") is named after Australia (from Latin ''Australis''), and ''venator'', the Latin word for hunter. The name ''wintonensis'' again means from the town of Winton. This allosauroid was nicknamed "Banjo".  "The cheetah of his time, Banjo was light and agile. He could run down most prey with ease over open ground," said Hucknell. “He’s Australia's answer to ''Velociraptor'', but many times bigger and more terrifying.”

"Banjo" and "Matilda" were both found entangled together in a 98- to 95-million-year-old billabong.

Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland, was called upon to unveil the fossil remains on July 3 at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History.

“The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum and Queensland Museum have successfully partnered to uncover this greatest concentration of dinosaur bones ever found in Australia,” said Bligh. “This State Government-funded initiative has revealed to the world the first new sauropods to be named in Australia in over 75 years, and the most complete carnivorous dinosaur skeleton ever found in our country.”