Australian researchers have made an exciting discovery of a rock slab containing prints from 47 dinosaurs, dating back to the early Jurassic period around 200 million years ago. The fossilized footprints were left by individual dinosaurs in a coal-mining region in Queensland called the Callide Basin.
The discovery was made by paleontologist Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland’s Dinosaur Lab, who published his research this month in the peer-reviewed journal Historical Biology. The researchers found three rock slabs with footprints, most of which came from one slab discovered in 2002.
The footprints are mostly headed in one direction, indicating that they were crossing a river. The dinosaurs that left these prints were likely herbivorous ornithischian dinosaurs, weighing around 30 inches at the hip, and traveling at speeds less than 4 mph. The largest track found was from a dinosaur measuring approximately 30 inches tall.
The slab also contains about 100 circles, suggesting the presence of invertebrates and fast-moving rivers. Romilio noted that similar findings indicate these dinosaurs were plant-eaters with long legs, chunky bodies, short arms, and small heads.
Notably, one of the specimens was being used as a bookend and another as a parking lot marker. Community members even contacted Romilio about the specimen once they learned about his previous work on similar fossils.
Source: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/03/20/dinosaur-footprints-queensland-australia/82567519007