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Brisbane Footprint Identified as Australia’s Oldest Dinosaur Fossil After 3D Analysis

Collected in 1958 by its finder, the specimen is now held at Queensland Museum for ongoing research.

Overview

  • The 18.5-centimetre track from Petrie’s Quarry in Albion dates to about 230 million years, the earliest Late Triassic.
  • University of Queensland researchers used photographs, software and 3D mapping to reconstruct the print and document it in the journal Alcheringa.
  • Analysis indicates a small, two-legged early sauropodomorph about 75–80 centimetres at the hip and roughly 140 kilograms.
  • It is reported as the only dinosaur fossil found within an Australian capital city, with the original site now inaccessible due to urban development.
  • The fossil was collected by teenager Bruce Runnegar in 1958 and, after decades in his care, has been donated to the Queensland Museum.