Dinosaur fossils discovered in southern Australia depict a distinct ecology unlike any other in the world. The study, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, outlines a predator hierarchy in Cretaceous Australia that is unlike anything else.

There were dense forests and big rivers. Pterosaurs swooped above them. In addition to carnivorous theropods, there were small plant-eating dinosaurs. Palaeontologists investigating the area have discovered ancient turtles, fish, and enormous amphibians the size of crocodiles. Perhaps the most important fossils from southeastern Australia are the continent’s oldest animals. Tiny shrew- or mouse-sized critters, the size of a human palm, skittered around in the shadows of the dinosaurs.

The new theropod finds add to our understanding of this strange, ancient ecosystem.

“The findings not only expand Australia’s theropod fossil record but offer compelling evidence of faunal interchange between Australia and South America through Antarctica during the Early Cretaceous,” says co-author Thomas Rich, the senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.
The new theropod finds add to our understanding of this strange, ancient ecosystem.

“The findings not only expand Australia’s theropod fossil record but offer compelling evidence of faunal interchange between Australia and South America through Antarctica during the Early Cretaceous,” says co-author Thomas Rich, the senior curator of vertebrate palaeontology at Museums Victoria Research Institute.

“The findings also challenge previous assumptions about body-size hierarchies in Gondwanan predator ecosystems highlighting Victoria’s unique Cretaceous fauna.” Melissa Lowery, a volunteer at Museums Victoria, first identified three of the fossils. Dinosaur Dreaming, a museum and Monash University project that began in 1984, has resulted in the finding of over 10,000 fossil bones and teeth along Victoria’s coast. “Museum collections are crucial to advancing our understanding of prehistoric life,” says co-author Tim Ziegler, vertebrate palaeontology collection manager at Museums Victoria Research Institute. “Specimens preserved in the State Collection for decades – unidentifiable until now – are providing new insights into the evolution of dinosaur ecosystems.”