Sixty-six dinosaur footprints have been found on a rock displayed in a schoolyard.
The fossilised footprints came from 47 individual dinosaurs.
Scientists found the track impressions on the boulder, which has a surface area of less than one square metre.
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The three-toed prints belonged to a dinosaur called Anomoepus scambus, a small plant-eater that roamed the Earth on two legs.
The slab was dug up by coal miners in the town of Callide in Queensland, Australia, in 2002.
It was gifted to the high school in the town of Biloela by geologist Wes Nichols whose wife worked there at the time.
The boulder then went largely unnoticed for over 20 years.
It was inspected when researchers started asking around for any recently discovered fossils in the area.
Dr Anthony Romilio of the University of Queensland examined the rock and found dozens of fossilised footprints dating back to the early Jurassic period.
The palaeontologist said they were over 200 million years old.
He said they represent “one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints” ever found in Australia, as reported by Need To Know.
Dr Romilio added: “It’s an unprecedented snapshot of dinosaur abundance, movement and behaviour from a time when no fossilised dinosaur bones have been found in Australia.
“Significant fossils like this can sit unnoticed for years, even in plain sight.
“It’s incredible to think that a piece of history this rich was resting in a schoolyard all this time.
“Everyone didn’t quite realise what they actually have.
“They definitely knew it was a dinosaur footprint, but not the level of detail that a researcher like myself would go into.
“The footprints are from 47 individual dinosaurs which passed across a patch of wet, white clay, possibly walking along or crossing a waterway.
“These dinosaurs were small, with legs ranging from 15 to 50 cm in length.
“When they left these marks, they were travelling less than 6 km/hr.
“Fossilised footprints, even though they are the most abundant of dinosaur fossils, tend to be cast aside by a lot of researchers.
“They don’t have the sex appeal of a fossilised bone.”
He added: “The vast majority of dinosaur fossils, they’re not found by palaeontologists, they’re actually found by people on the ground.”
Dr Romilio and his research team published their findings in the peer-reviewed journal Historical Biology.
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