Fossil fans dug deep to decide dino should get Queensland nod

She said she would engage Minister for Tourism Industry Development Stirling Hinchliffe to lead public consultation, “given the important link to outback tourism”.

In a statement, a spokesman for the Premier said it was not a “key priority” for the government but the proposal was being considered “at no additional cost to taxpayers”.

The Diamantinasaurus fossil, known as Matilda, had been selected by students from schools in the region from a shortlist of two dinosaur fossils and two plant fossils, all of which are found only in Queensland.

Grace Elliott, the museum’s education co-ordinator, was the driving force behind the petition.

“At Winton we’re the epicentre for fossils, particularly dinosaur fossils, so we thought we’d put forward a couple of the fossils we’ve found out here,” Ms Elliott said.

“We got the local kids to vote on it. We gave them some information about them, we even showed them some actual pieces of a few of the fossils, and at the end they voted for Diamantinasaurus.”

The dinosaur was a large sauropod, a four-legged long-necked dinosaur growing up to 16 metres long and weighing up to 20 tonnes, which roamed the region 94 million years ago.

NSW, Western Australia and South Australia have official state fossils – two ancient fish and an ancient sea worm.

John Long, a palaeontologist from Flinders University, said while all states had various animal and plant emblems that showed off their unique character, fossil emblems should be part of that mix.

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“I actually discovered the West Australian fossil which was eventually chosen but it wasn’t chosen by me, it was a democratic process,” Professor Long said.

“And during that process all the schools in Western Australia could learn about fossils in their local area and nominate a fossil.

“That’s the value of something like thais, kids all around the state are learning about fossils and getting involved.”

Professor Long said the famous Muttaburrasaurus, whose replica skeleton was in the Queensland museum, would be a good choice, or even another Winton discovery, the predator Australovenator wintonensis, nicknamed “Banjo”.

Ms Elliott said they were committed to their choice of Diamantinasaurus, but would not be bothered by more competition.

“It’s more fun if there’s a bit of competition,” she said.

“But we’d love Diamantinasaurus to be chosen. We’ve got a lot of sauropods in Australia, and all of those are being found in Queensland, it’s a good example of what makes our fossil history so unique.”