'Matilda'
Diamantinasaurus matildae

Matilda's Diamantina (River) Lizard

Matilda: Diamantinasaurus matildae.
Image courtesy of Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

• Diamantinasaurus and Wintonotitan are the first new sauropods to be named in Australia in over 75 years, the most recent being Austrosaurus in 1933.
• Diamantinasaurus is the best preserved sauropod skeleton so far found in Australia.
• This plant-eating, four-legged sauropod is a new type of titanosaur. Titanosaurs were the largest animals ever to walk the earth.
• Sauropods (meaning lizard-footed) are large, four-legged, herbivorous dinosaurs.
• It was a solid and robust animal, probably akin to a gigantic hippopotamus.
• Matilda is estimated to be approximately 15 to 16 metre long, 2.5 metres high at the hip and weighed approximately 15 to 20 tonnes.
• Estimated to have lived 100-98 million years ago in the Mid-Cretaceous (Latest Albian) period.
• The Australian Age of Dinosaurs* Museum of Natural History in Winton is custodian of the Matilda fossils.
• See fossils from Banjo, Matilda and other Winton dinosaurs at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs* Museum of Natural History.
• More dinosaur-themed exhibits are currently on show in ENERGEX Playasaurus Place and Museum Zoo at Queensland Museum South Bank in Brisbane.

Silhouettes of Matilda showing the bones that have been found.
Image courtesy of Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

Queensland Museum's Scott Hocknulll with Matilda's bones.
Image courtesy of Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

Matilda's femur.
Image courtesy of Australian Age of Dinosaurs.

* The content found by using this link is not created, controlled or approved by this department. No responsibility is taken for the consequences of viewing content on this site. This link will load into a new window.