The place:
Dinosaur Cove is located in the Otway Range of Victoria, south east Australia. The fossil bearing rocks consists of layers of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone in a cliff formation. The layers were deposited approximately 106 million years ago in the Early Cretaceous period and are now very hard. The fossils were excavated by tunnelling into the cliff face using dynamite and heavy duty mining equipment to expose the rock layers.

The finds:
The holotype of Leaellynasaura, fossils of Atlascopcosaurus - a medium sized bird-hipped dinosaur related to Iguanodon and Anatotitan, and Timimus - a small lizard-hipped dinosaur from the same group as Coelurus and Coelophysis.

The environment:
In the Early Cretaceous period Dinosaur Cove was a flood plain within a huge valley formed as Australia moved north, away from Antarctica. The rivers flowing through the valley depositing sand, silt and mud that covered up the remains of a number of different dinosaurs.

The people:
Miners, explosives experts and palaeontologists were involved at Dinosaur Cove. Atlascopcosaurus loadsi was named after the mining company Atlas Copco that donated some equipment and Mr William Loads, a former employee.