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Aussies Dig Up 3 New Dinosaurs

Dinos from Down Under evolved separately from cousins elsewhere

By Rob Quinn, Newser Staff

Posted Jul 3, 2009 6:45 AM CDT

(Newser) – The skeletons of three previously unknown species of dinosaur have been found in the Australian Outback, reports ABC News of Australia. The dinosaurs—two big herbivores and a fearsome carnivore—roamed about 100 million years ago. One of the herbivores is similar to a hippo and the other to a giraffe. The carnivore had three slashing claws on each hand and was the "cheetah of its day," one paleontologist tells the BBC.

The 20-foot-long Australovenator has been nicknamed "Banjo" after famous Outback poet Banjo Paterson. His unofficial Aussie national anthem, "Waltzing Matilda," tells the tale of an outlaw who drowns in one of the country's "billabong" lakes—the same fate that scientists say befell the three dinosaurs.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

An artist's impression of Australovenator, a dinosaur paleontologists describe as the cheetah of its kind. (Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum)

An artist's impression of Wintonotitan, a herbivore dinosaur that roamed Australia 100 million years ago. (Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum)

An artists' impression of Diamantinasaurus, a newly discovered herbivore species of Australian dinosaur. (Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum)

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It's kind of quirky that we have a national song about a man dying at the bottom of a billabong and we've got the same scenario playing out here 100 million years ago with a couple of dinosaurs. - Palaeontologist Dr Scott Hocknull

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Aussies Dig Up 3 New Dinosaurs