Australian scientists hail triple dinosaur find

Australian scientists hailed the country's most significant dinosaur discovery in decades on Friday after three new species were unearthed in a Queensland billabong.

The flesh-eating theropod dubbed Australia's answer to the "Jurassic Park" velociraptors and two sauropods had lain in a 98 million-year-old geological deposit until a recent archaeological dig.

Scientists said the three, named Banjo, Matilda and Clancy in honour of Australia's most famous song, "Waltzing Matilda", opened up an exciting new front in the world of dinosaur research.

"Wow! This is amazing stuff," said John Long, head of sciences at Museum Victoria. "I would regard the paper by Scott Hocknull and his team as one of the most significant papers ever published on Australian dinosaurs to date."

AFP