Australian Age of Dinosaurs
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AAOD Reception Centre with bronze Australovenator wintonensis (Banjo)
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 Location in Queensland
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| Established | 2003 |
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| Location | Lot 1, Dinosaur Drive, Winton, Queensland |
| Coordinates | 22°28′45″S 143°10′58″E / 22.4791°S 143.1827°ECoordinates: 22°28′45″S 143°10′58″E / 22.4791°S 143.1827°E |
| Type | Natural History Museum |
| Key holdings | Australovenator wintonensis "Banjo"; Diamantinasaurus matildae "Matilda"; Wintonotitan wattsi "Clancy"; Savannasaurus elliotorum "Wade" |
| Collections | Cretaceous Period |
| Visitors | 27,414 (2015) |
| Director | David Elliott (Executive Chairman/ Founder), Ian Merritt (Company Secretary), Bruce Collins, Dr Scott Hocknull, Bill Wavish, Robert Elliott, Ed Warren, Carol Trewick |
| Website | australianageofdinosaurs |
Australian Age of Dinosaurs Ltd (AAOD) is a not for profit organisation located in Winton, Queensland and founded by David and Judy Elliott in 2003. The organisation’s activities include operation of the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History (the Museum) which holds annual dinosaur digs in the Winton Formation of western Queensland and oversees the year-round operation of Australia’s most productive dinosaur fossil preparation laboratory. Since 2005, the AAOD Museum has accumulated the largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils in the world and holds the holotype specimens of Diamantinasaurus matildae ("Matilda"), Savannasaurus elliottorum ("Wade"), and Australovenator wintonensis ("Banjo"), Australia’s most complete theropod skeleton. The museum is open to the public daily from April to end September and open six days (closed Sundays) from October to end March. In 2016 the Museum was awarded the Major Tourist Attraction Award in the Outback Queensland and Queensland Tourism Awards.
The AAOD Museum is located on top of a large mesa named ‘The Jump-Up’ which is 24 km south-east of Winton, and 600 km south-west of Townsville. Visitors travelling from Longreach, drive northwest along the Landsborough highway for 164 km before turning left onto Dinosaur Drive. From the highway, it is a further 12 km to the Museum (4km sealed and 8km gravel road). Caravans can be towed to the top of the Jump-Up, although the Museum has provided an unhitching area at the base of the mesa for visitors towing a caravan with a small 2WD vehicle.
In 1999 David Elliott, discovered the fossilised bone of what was, at the time, Australia’s largest dinosaur while mustering sheep on his property Belmont near Winton. This bone was later identified as part of a giant femur from a Cretaceous sauropod that roamed the Winton area 95 million years ago. Following the discovery of more fossils during digs held in conjunction with the Queensland Museum, David and Judy Elliott called a public meeting in Winton on 17 August 2002 in view of establishing a dinosaur museum at Winton. On 25 October 2002, ‘Australian Age of Dinosaurs Incorporated’, commenced operations as a not-for-profit organisation aimed at ensuring future dinosaur digs and the preparation and conservation of dinosaur fossils from the Winton Formation could continue. The organisation, with support from a strong member’s volunteer base, began the initial stages of developing a major tourism attraction in the form of a dinosaur museum so that the discoveries could be preserved for perpetuity and be available to the public. While mustering sheep in March 2005, David Elliott discovered a new dinosaur site on Belmont and a subsequent dig in September uncovered the remains of one of Australia’s most complete sauropod skeletons. A total of 17 pallets of fossil bones trapped in a fine siltstone rock were recovered and stored in the Belmont shed. The dinosaur was nicknamed "Wade", in posthumous honour of Australian Palaeontologist Dr Mary Wade who died during the dig. In late 2005, the discovery of a partial sauropod humerus on Elderslie Station, near Winton, led to a series of digs held by the AAOD Museum and the recovery of two dinosaur skeletons preserved together, one being a sauropod skeleton and the other a theropod. The sauropod was nicknamed "Matilda" and the theropod was nicknamed "Banjo" – both in honour of Andrew Barton "Banjo" Paterson and his classic poem "Waltzing Matilda". In mid-2006, David and Judy Elliott opened an "Australian Age of Dinosaurs" temporary fossil preparation facility in their shed at Belmont which was known locally as the "Prep Shed". It was here that fossil preparation was carried out by a small group of staff preparators and volunteers who were accommodated in the station’s Jackeroo and Shearers Quarters. Work commenced on Wade and expanded to include the bones of "Banjo" and "Matilda" as each dig produced further fossils. This work continued for almost three years and incorporated the help of over 100 volunteers. It was during this time that the ‘Free Wade’ project began, supported by an Australian Geographic fundraiser and private donations from numerous volunteers, members and supporters. In September 2006, Peter and Carol Britton, owners of Mt Landsborough Station near Winton donated 1,400 hectares of mesa or "Jump-Up" country to AAOD as a site for the future Museum. Over the following three years funding was raised from Desert Channels Queensland to enable the new site to be fenced. The Winton Shire Council built a new gravel road to the top of the Jump-Up and the Queensland Government contributed $500,000 toward a fossil preparation facility, staff cottages and water and power amenities. The Prep Shed at Belmont was closed and all fossils and equipment relocated to the Jump-Up in early 2009. The new facilities were opened to the public in July 2009 by the Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as part of Queensland’s 150th year (Q 150) celebrations. AAOD Inc was restructured in June 2008 to become a not-for-profit Company Limited by Guarantee with a board of up to nine directors. The new company, Australian Age of Dinosaurs Ltd (AAODL) created a Society of Members (Australian Age of Dinosaurs Society) to carry on the support based work of AAOD Inc with levels of membership including ordinary members and life members, known as "Million Year Members".
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