The Rosewood Theropod dinosaur sculpture is a replica of a dinosaur called Pianitzkysaurus floresi. It lived in the Jurassic period and was around 3 metres tall and 7 metres long. Its bird-like footprints were discovered in the Darling Downs in the 1960s, and later research identified the footprints as belonging to the largest meat-eating theropod to have lived in Australia.
Natureworks reconstructed the adult theropod, juvenile theropods and their nest of eggs in consultation with dinosaur experts. The sculptures are modelled after similar theropods from the genus Piantizkysaurus and have a fur and feathered finish. Created for display in parklands at Rosewood in Queensland, replicas of these fascinating creatures can now be yours to buy or hire.
(Piatnitzkysaurus is pronounced pee-aht-nit-skee-saw-rus)
History
In the 1950s & ’60s, dinosaur footprints were discovered in a Queensland coal mine near Oakey on the Darling Downs. As miners removed underground coal seams, what was left on the ceiling was prehistoric sand, now turned to sandstone. This had covered the footprints.
Whilst the footprints were reported in newspapers at the time they were not scientifically assessed and the casts of the footprints were left in museum drawers for decades. There were very few palaeontologists in Australia at the time.
Identification of the largest meat-eating theropod found in Australia
More recently, Professor John Long from Flinders University and Dr Anthony Romilio from Queensland University published a paper in “Historical Biology” describing Australia’s largest carnivorous dinosaur. It lived in the Jurassic period (over 165 million years ago) and was approximately 3 metres tall and over 7 metres long. New research identified the bird-like footprints as belonging to the largest meat-eating theropod found in Australia.
Natureworks sculpture masterpiece
In 2017 the Ipswich City Council engaged David Joffe from Natureworks in Samford Valley near Brisbane to undertake a full reconstruction of this theropod, now named Pianitzkysaurus floresi. It’s also known as the ‘Rosewood Swamp Tramper‘, and can be found at Johnston Park in Rosewood, Southeast Queensland. The adult and two juvenile theropods and their nest of eggs have now been completed. The sculpture was modelled after similar theropods from the genius Piantizkysaurus found previously in Argentina. The animal has been textured with a fur/feathered finish in keeping with recent conclusions now confirmed by many of the world’s leading raptor experts.
Dr Romilo consulted with the Natureworks team of sculptors for over 5 months during the sculpting process, to ensure the accuracy of the sculptured pieces. It is now a “living masterpiece of Australian palaeoart”!
Australian Playground Standards
Being fully accessible to the public, the Theropod dinosaur collection has been sculpted to meet Australian playground standards. To aid in the integrity of this sculpture, it has a full steel armature, layered in fibreglass and finished with finely painted details. The fibreglass theropod is formed over a full steel armature anchored on galvanised base plates that are dyna-bolted onto a concrete slab.
Rosewood Theropod Collection
To complete the setting for a playground or display, select from the following sculptures:
