For 20 years, an ancient mystery sat unnoticed in a Queensland school’s foyer.
It wasn’t a forgotten trophy or an old science fair project—it was a rock covered in 200-million-year-old dinosaur footprints.
The fossil slab, gifted by coal miners in 2002, was thought to be a cool display piece.
Some teachers even assumed it was a replica.
Enter paleontologist Anthony Romilio, who took one look and knew they had something incredible.
“My jaw dropped,” he admitted.
Densest Footprints Cluster Ever Found In Australia
The rock held 66 dinosaur track impressions—one of the densest footprints clusters ever found in Australia.
“It’s an unprecedented snapshot of dinosaur abundance, movement, and behavior.”
But that wasn’t even the biggest surprise.
While fossil-hunting nearby, Romilio spotted a two-tonne boulder outside a coal mine car park—also stamped with dinosaur prints.
Apparently, prehistoric history was just sitting around, doubling as landscaping.
“Significant fossils like this can sit unnoticed for years, even in plain sight,” Romilio marveled.
That’s right—millions of years in the making, then casually ignored for two decades.
Now, with these footprints officially documented, one thing is clear: dinosaurs left their mark, and we’re only just noticing.
