Dinosaur Stampede National Monument

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Inner protective building that protects the dinosaur tracks in the Lark Quarry

The Dinosaur Stampede National Monument (dt. National Monument of Dinosaur Stampede ), and Lark Quarry (dt. Lark- quarry ) called, is located in the 374  ha large Lark Quarry Conservation Park , 110 km south west of Winton in western Queensland in Australia .

In this quarry are the only known traces of a stampede of dinosaurs .

event

Detail with traces

Originally it was believed that a group of possibly 180 chicken- sized Coelurosauria Skartopus and bantam to emu- sized Wintonopus panicked by the arrival of a single, very large, carnivorous theropod , a tyrannosaurus . The large dinosaur was about 10 m long and left footprints about 50 cm. It is believed that the two-legged carnivorous Skartopus and Wintonopus were roused by the tyrannosauropus , leaving thousands of footprints in the mudflats that existed at the time . However, research by the University of Queensland showed that the large tracks do not belong to a therapode, but possibly to a large herbivorous Muttaburrasaurus .

Not long after this incident, some 95 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous Period , the water rose, covering the tracks with sandy sediments before the mud dried out. The footprints were covered in sand and mud from the time the rivers and lakes in this area rose and fell. For a long time, the river plain was filled with sand and swamps, covered by low vegetation, until it finally dried up and the sediments with the footprints petrified.

discovery

The dinosaur tracks were discovered in the 1960s by the manager of the nearby Seymour quarry. Paleontologists from the Queensland Museum and the University of Queensland uncovered the traces between 1976 and 1977 (the quarry is named for Malcolm Lark, a volunteer who removed large masses of overlying rock). In total, more than 60 tons of rock were removed over an area of ​​around 210 m², on which there are around 3300 dinosaur tracks.

The shelter in Lark Quarry

The first protective roof was built in 2002 in order not to reveal the traces of weathering . It protects the main part of the prints from being destroyed by temperature changes and humidity, keeps running water, people and wildlife away.

The Dinosaur Stampede National Monument was added to the Australian National Heritage List on July 20, 2004 because of its special value and rarity .

Tourist information

Although the monument can be reached with normal vehicles on unpaved roads, via the Lark Quarry Dinosaur Track starting from Winton , the use of an all-wheel drive vehicle is recommended. Camping is not allowed in the park and there are no accommodations available. There are also trips organized for tourists.

In the protective building, visitors can view the exposed traces from a gallery, which are illuminated by a light generated from solar energy .

Web links

  • About Lark Quarry. In: derm.qld.gov.au. Retrieved November 3, 2011 .
  • Illustration of the proportions of the dinosaurs on environment.gov.au : Lark Quarry Dinosaur Stampede (English)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Parks and Wide Life Service (Queensland). About Lark Quarry. (No longer available online.) In: derm.gov.au. Archived from the original on March 13, 2011 ; accessed on November 4, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derm.qld.gov.au
  2. ↑ environment.gov.au ( Memento of the original from November 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Scartopus , in English, accessed November 4, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.environment.gov.au
  3. ↑ environment.gov.au ( Memento of the original from November 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Wintonopus , in English, accessed November 4, 2011  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.environment.gov.au
  4. ^ A b Australian National Heritage list: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts
  5. ↑ Anthony Romilio, Steven W. Salisbury: A reassessment of large theropod dinosaur tracks from the mid-Cretaceous (late Albian-Cenomanian) Winton Formation of Lark Quarry, central-western Queensland, Australia: A case for mistaken identity , Cretaceous Research , In Press, Corrected Proof, November 22, 2010, ISSN  0195-6671 , doi : 10.1016 / j.cretres.2010.11.003 .
  6. ↑ up.edu.au  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Australia's biggest carnivorous dinosaur forced to take a walk , December 16, 2010@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ueq.edu.aur  
  7. ↑ About Lark Quarry. (No longer available online.) In: derm.qld.gov.au. Archived from the original on March 17, 2011 ; accessed on November 3, 2011 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.derm.qld.gov.au

Coordinates: 23 ° 0 ′ 58 ″  S , 142 ° 24 ′ 41 ″  E