AAOD JOURNAL
ISSUE 1

Journal  1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8

FEATURES

12  ON THE SHOULDERS OF A GIANT
      The story of Elliot, Australia's largest dinosaur
      Story by Steve Salisbury

22  WINDOW TO A LOST WORLD
      Ancient plants from an ancient time
      Story by David Elliot. Photography by Judy Elliot

30  MARATHON RUN
      Behind the discovery of the Richmond Pliosaur
      Story by John Hughes

35  FILLING IN THE GAPS
      The landscapes and environments of
      ancient dinosaur country
      Story by Alex Cook

40  HOOKED ON OPAL
      The rugged beauty of Opalton and
      a look at its people
      Story by Judy and David Elliot

REGULARS

2    EDITORIAL

4    ON THE DINOSAUR TRAIL

6    BLACKSOIL
      Collapse at Lark Quarry
      Jigsaur
      Hughendon Discovery Rediscovered

10  KIDS LOVE DINOSAURS

46  FOSSIL FACTS
      After Elliot

48  TAIL BONES

OUR COVER
Watched by its mate, a huge sauropod approaches a waterhole to drink, unperturbed by the presence of tiny coelurosaurs, a group of Muttaburrasaurus and a pair of crocodiles. Due to their massive size, the sauropods had few enemies.
Illustration by Laurie Beirne

2003, "The year of the Dinosaur"… well, in western Queensland anyway. Welcome readers, members and supporters to the first issue of Australian Age of Dinosaurs, the yearbook of Australian Age of Dinosaurs Inc. Imagine the age of dinosaurs, an age of exotic plants, huge animals, fierce marine predators, and a lush green Australia. Every year more and more evidence of this ancient world is being discovered in western Queensland and through this book we are endeavoring to bring these discoveries and the fascinating tales of prehistoric life to the people of Australia and beyond. Western Queensland is home to many of Australia’s most exciting fossil discoveries and in the years to come is definitely going to be home to many more. It is our intention to document these discoveries, the excitement of the people involved with them, and the dedicated commitment of the paleontologists and volunteers behind them. Our fossils are inextricably linked with the evolution of our continent and belong to us all. They are the irreplaceable inheritance of all Australians and as such must be preserved for posterity. Our organization aims to do exactly that and the acquisition of safe, secure, museum specific premises and the development of a world class Dinosaur Museum exhibition in Winton is our ultimate goal.

We take this opportunity to thank the many people who have contributed to this publication, in particular, those who submitted articles and photographs because it simply could not have happened without them. On behalf of the team from the Australian Age of Dinosaurs we also wish to thank our members for their valuable support and issue an invitation to all other readers to support our cause by becoming a member or buying a gift membership for a friend.

In our 2004 yearbook we would like to include a section on readers views and comments so if you have an opinion or idea you would like to express, we would love to hear from you. Please keep letters under 150 words and address all correspondence to: Australian Age of Dinosaurs Inc, PO Box 408, Winton, Qld, 4735.

Finally, a very special thankyou to the local Winton kids who entered our dinosaur competition. Their support was one of the highlights of our year and the winning entries can be seen in our Kids Love Dinosaurs article on page 10. We hope you enjoy this publication as much as we have enjoyed putting it together and we look forward to the year ahead.