Fossil records show that Australia had a unique and diverse range of dinosaurs. The Australotitan cooperensis was the largest dinosaur discovered in the country. It was 80-100 ft long, 16-21 ft tall at its hip, and weighed 25-81 tons. That makes it bigger than the Tyrannosaurus rex! The fossilized bones were excavated in 2006 and 2007, but it was not until 2021 that the confirmation came. The species roamed Australia around 92-96 million years ago during the Cretaceous period.

The Australovenator was a 16 ft long megaraptorid discovered from 94 million old fossil remains. It holds the record of the country’s biggest carnivorous dinosaur.

List of Dinosaurs That Lived in Australia

• Atlascopcosaurus
• Australotitan
• Australovenator
• Austrosaurus
• Diamantinasaurus
• Diluvicursor
• Fostoria
• Fulgurotherium
• Galleonosaurus
• Kakuru
• Kunbarrasaurus
• Leaellynasaura
• Minmi
• Muttaburrasaurus
• Ozraptor
• Qantassaurus
• Rapator
• Rhoetosaurus
• Savannasaurus
• Serendipaceratops
• Timimus
• Weewarrasaurus
• Wintonotitan

Places Where the Fossils Are Preserved

Enthusiasts can take Australia’s Dinosaur Trail encompassing the towns of Winton, Hughenden, and Richmond. Winton, Australia’s Dinosaur Capital, has the country’s largest fossil collection and the Southern Hemisphere’s most productive fossil preparation lab. The Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum has two of the country’s most complete dinosaur skeletons and life-like replicas of the massive animal. The Lark Quarry Conservation Park has 3,300 giant footprints – the only evidence of a dinosaur stampede 95 million years back. It occurred when around 150 small dinosaurs were stalked by larger carnivorous predators. 

Fossils are also on display at the National Dinosaur Museum in Canberra. Thousands of tracks from at least 15 different dinosaurs dot the 200-km coastline of the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome.