Saicharan Palakurthi

A New Look At The Lost Dinosaur Dig In Australia, Much To Learn About Austrosaurus

Anything about the extinct mighty dinosaurs is quite intriguing. In a row, scientists from the Swinburne University of Technology announced the discovery of bones of an assumedly ‘old dinosaur’. These remains were found at the lost site of Australia’s Queensland.

Paleontologists on Thursday revealed that these bones belong to the long-necked Austrosaurus mckillopi, where the name Austrosaurus means “southern lizard”. This name was given back to the Cretaceous-era sauropod when it was discovered in 1932, but the digging site was thought to be lost until it was rediscovered in 2014 by a team of paleontologists from Swinburne.

Led by Stephen Poropat from the same University, it is believed that the discovery has the potential to “tell us a lot” about how the evolution process for the occurrence of sauropod dinosaurs.

Talking about his research, Poropat said, “What the dinosaur represents is one of the oldest sauropods dinosaurs from the Cretaceous period. Anyway, in Australia, it is actually represented by several bones.”

“Basically, the bones we dug up in 2014, and 2015, belong to the exact same animal that was discovered in the 1930s. So together, those ribs and those vertebrae, not many bones, but enough to do something with them, that is the only specimen of Austrosaurus that has been found,” he added.

On the whole, by conducting a detailed analysis of his findings, he was able to ascertain some “distinct characteristics” of Austrosaurus hoping to find the complete specimen to fully develop an idea of the Australian dinosaurs position on the family tree, with the inherent challenges excluded.

However, there’s still much to learn about these rare species. The official sources from the Swinburne University say that they still don’t know that much about its anatomy or appearance. They simply confirmed that Austrosaurus is a type of sauropod called a somphospondylian titanosauriform which means that it sits on a branch between brachiosaurs like Giraffatitan, and titanosaurs like Savannasaurusand Diamantinasaurus, on the sauropod family tree.

“Placing it more precisely than that, however, is tough. On the plus side, we have been able to identify features of Austrosaurus that distinguish it from all other sauropods. One of the best ways to advance palaeontological understanding is to find new fossils. Another is to rigorously reassess old specimens. By conducting the Austrosaurus project, my colleagues and I did both,” said Stephen Propet.

Propet in the University’s page also included: “Although we ended up with a less-than-amazing specimen and an incomplete story, we hope it will inspire other people to revisit old sites while continuing the search for new ones. It is tantalizing to wonder what else might be waiting to be found in outback Queensland.”