A boulder at a rural Queensland school has yielded one of Australia’s highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter, dating back 200 million years to the early Jurassic period. University of Queensland palaeontologist Anthony Romilio revealed that the fossil belongs to the Anomoepus scambus dinosaur, a small-bodied plant-eater with two legs.
The discovery has sparked interest in the importance of preserving fossils during mining activities. Romilio emphasized that most significant fossil finds are made by everyday people who notice something unusual while working or walking by. In this case, the school’s science department head, married to a geologist, donated the boulder to the school after it was discovered near the Callide Coal Mine.
The rock contains 66 dinosaur footprints covering almost one square meter, providing an unprecedented glimpse into early Jurassic dinosaurs in Australia. Romilio is now exploring options for displaying the fossil more publicly and has expressed support for stronger regulations protecting fossils during mining activities. The discovery has shattered ideas held about mining practices, highlighting the potential for open-pit mining to extract and preserve dinosaur footprints.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-03-12/biloela-high-school-boulder-contains-jurassic-era-footprints/105040610