Australia's largest discovered dinosaur, a Titanosaur called Cooper, to go on display at new Queensland museum

Updated

Australia's largest dinosaur ever to be discovered is set to go on display to the public with the opening of the Eromanga Natural History Museum in the coming months.

The dinosaur, nicknamed Cooper, was discovered on the outskirts of Eromanga, in south-west Queensland in 2007.

It is set to be officially recognised as a new species; complete with a new scientific name by early next year.

That revelation alone could draw scientists and tourists from around the world to the remote town's new museum.

Palaeontologist Dr Scott Hocknull from the Queensland Museum is currently working on the scientific paper with a small team of scientists.

He said without the help of the community, the project would never have happened.

"The opportunity for this small town to actually become a point of real national pride, there's a great opportunity that we can't miss," he said.

Several other dinosaur fossil sites have been discovered scattered across the Eromanga basin since 2004.

Dr Hocknull said the world needs to hear about them.

"Every fossil you find out in the west, in south-west Queensland in particular now, we had no idea about any dinosaurs or any fossils really until about 2004."

"I don't think you'd find anywhere else in Australia where such a small community has contributed so much to something which is so nationally significant." Mayor Stuart Mackenzie

Construction of the Eromanga Natural History Museum began about a year ago after almost 10 years of planning.

The $800,000 venture was funded by sponsorships, local donations and a $500,000 State Government grant.

Mayor Stuart Mackenzie has been driving the project with his wife, Robyn, and said locals have given about $1 million of in-kind donations including equipment hire and volunteering.

"I don't think you'd find anywhere else in Australia where such a small community has contributed so much to something which is so nationally significant," he said.

"We thought there'd be a ground-swell of support from museums, universities, governments and whatever but that wasn't the case."

Cooper, which is thought to have lived in the Cretaceous period, will go on display with at least four other similar Titanosaurs including George, Sid, Zac, and Tom.

Both Cooper and Sid are believed to have been trapped in mud before they died and both fossils display evidence of being trampled on by other Titanosaurs.

Excavators found a fossilised tree-branch stuck in Cooper's leg.

The dinosaur's fossilised femur is about 1.9 metres long, suggesting the massive animal stretched almost 30 metres in length and weighed about 30 to 40 tonnes.

The prepared bones are yet to be assembled.

Fragments of George's femur indicates it may have been even bigger than Cooper but studies are still ongoing.

Cutting-edge technology such as 3D mapping, photogrammetry and CT scans and are being used to document the recent findings.

Dr Scott Hocknull said this means fossils can be seen in a completely different light.

"All this is completely revolutionising the way we even do our science," he said.

"Instead of just taking a happy snap of the actual bone we recreate the bone in three-dimensions and that gives us more data than we can ever poke a stick at," he said.

Dozens of megafauna skeletons and fossils found in Eulo will also be displayed at the museum.

The Federal Government has been approached for support to develop the next stage of the museum and turn it into an even bigger attraction.

The scientific paper on Cooper is expected to be submitted for peer review by early next year.

Topics: dinosaurs, fossils, science-and-technology, human-interest, animals, palaeontology, eromanga-4480, qld, australia

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