back to article Two new dinosaurs walked from South America to Australia, via Antarctica

Australian paleo-boffins have revealed two new dinosaurs, Savannasaurus elliottorum and Diamantinasaurus matildae. As detailed in the Nature: Scientific Reports paper New Australian sauropods shed light on Cretaceous dinosaur palaeobiogeography, the dinos are remarkable because they are the first sauropods to be found in …

  1. wayne 8

    Just in time to pop the Flat Earth bubble.

    Hah, so it is possible to go from Australia to South America via Antarctica.

    1. Ragarath
      Joke

      Re: Just in time to pop the Flat Earth bubble.

      Of course it was, and it is all the fault of man made global warming that we now cannot.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Go

      Re: Just in time to pop the Flat Earth bubble.

      @Wayne8

      Anyone who grew up with a Risk set as I did already knew that!!

    3. Faux Science Slayer

      Wiki/Earth_Tide

      Variable internal fission causes Earth's molten core, which lunar gravity lifts the thin, cooled

      crust 18 inched daily, causing plate tectonics.

      "Corollation of Seismic Activity and Recent Global Warming"

      by Dr Arthur Viterito, posted at Principia-Scientific

  2. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken
    Pint

    Finding dinosaur fossils while mustering sheep - how very Australian. Cheers!

    1. You aint sin me, roit
      Trollface

      "Mustering sheep" ?

      Don't think that's legal over here!

      1. CustardGannet

        Obligatory Monty Python Reference

        "Good evening, ladies and Bruces.

        Bruce and myself come from the Philosophical Department of the University of Woolamaloo.

        I'm in charge of Logical Positivism, and Bruce is in charge of the sheep dip."

        1. MrDamage Silver badge
          Headmaster

          Re: Obligatory Monty Python Reference

          "Good evening, ladies and Bruces.

          Bruce and myself come from the Philosophical Department of the University of Wooloomooloo.

          I'm in charge of Logical Positivism, and Bruce is in charge of the sheep dip."

          FTFY

  3. tiggity Silver badge

    Waltzing Matilda

    NO info on naming of second dino.

    I assume Diamantina is ref to geographical area / river in Queensland

    But is Matildae a reference to the classic Oz song?

    That;s the sort of thing we reg readers need to know on a Friday

    1. Stevey

      Re: Waltzing Matilda

      Looks like it's a reference to being found in a billabong:

      http://australianmuseum.net.au/diamantinasaurus-matildae

      The bones of Diamantinasaurus (nicknamed ‘Matilda’) were found with those of the theropod Australovenator (‘Banjo’) in the remains of an ancient billabong.'

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    What we need now is a film about dinosaurs crossing great plains of ice, could be a cartoon, possibly aimed at kids to get them interested in dinosaurs. Add some humour to make it entertaining. If it works make some sequels.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Linux

      Works even better if the protagonist is a non-conformist dinosaur that tap dances.

      (Tux, because his ancestors had to move fast or get stepped on)

      1. Mark 85
        Coat

        Should the dinosaur be purple and somewhat furry also? Just for <$DEITY> sake, don't have it sing.

    2. ma1010

      But..

      Back then, Antarctica wasn't covered in ice. It was temperate. Of course, that doesn't mean your movie idea isn't a good one...

  5. Locky

    Length

    Is that a Routemaster or a Bendy-Bus?

    1. muddysteve

      Re: Length

      >is that a Routemaster or a Bendy-Bus?

      Neither, funnily enough. A Routemaster is about 9m, and a bendy bus nearer 18. The dinosaurs fall between sizes.

    2. Elmer Phud

      Re: Length

      Is that the old Routemaster or the new one?

      1. Arctic fox
        Happy

        @Elmer Phud Re: "Is that the old Routemaster or the new one?"

        It will of course be the old imperial Routemaster. You were surely not expecting that El Reg would go metric?

        1. Charlie van Becelaere

          Re: @Elmer Phud "Is that the old Routemaster or the new one?"

          One also assumes the beast had the power of 97 horses. (tip of the had to Flanders and Swann)

      2. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

        Re: Length

        "Is that the old Routemaster or the new one?"

        European or South African?

  6. Stevie

    Bah!

    I just found an old serial bus extender card in a drawer of bits. Extrapolating from similar parts in my laptop I estimate the computer it came from was the size of the Chrysler Building.

  7. cortland

    Does she

    WALTZ?

  8. Red Bren
    Joke

    There were only two of them?

    No wonder they died out...

    1. MrDamage Silver badge

      Re: There were only two of them?

      It wasn't the fact there was only 2 of them that meant they died out.

      It was the fact that the rest of the Australian Wildlife reminded them that no matter how big you are, we've got the poison/venom/jaws to take you down without breaking a sweat.

      1. Snapper

        Re: There were only two of them?

        Too right.

        Walking all that way to Australia for a bit of peace and quiet!

        That'll teach them a lesson they won't forget in a hurry......

  9. RW

    Very bad headline wording

    That headline was very badly worded in that it pretends that S. America, Australia, and Antarctica have always been in the same relative positions as a way of exciting astonishment and awe.

    They haven't, thanks to continental drift.

    I grow a plant in my garden (Myrteola nummularia, a little low creepy crawly) that is native both to Tasmania and the southern tip of South America. Lots of plants have the same kind of distribution, as any book on the geography of plants will point out.

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