In 2015, a major discovery took place, this time not of a human relative, but a new species of dinosaur. Dr Phil Bell, from UNE’s Palaeoscience Research Centre, led the inquiry with the help of the Australian Opal Centre.

The yet-to-be-officially-named beast belongs to a group of large carnivorous theropods called megaraptorids. The nicknamed ‘Lightning Claw’ – after its place of discovery, Lightning Ridge, and its giant talons – grew close to 7m in length, making it the largest discovered
in Australia.