Central Queensland is a mecca of Australian dinosaur fossils. Home to an inland sea 100 million years ago, the vast floodplains left behind as the waters receded came to accumulate dinosaur bones.

Fragments were found there as early as the 1920s, but it is only this decade that momentous discoveries of uniquely Australian species of dinosaur have been made. These concentrated bone beds are now considered equal to any major dinosaur quarry in the world.

''It's a revolution in natural history in Australia,'' said the Queensland Museum paleontologist Scott Hocknull. ''The last decade has seen an unprecedented number of new dinosaur discoveries in Australia. Children no longer need to learn about North American dinosaurs to fuel their appetite for the beasts. Now they only need to look in their own backyard.''

To make the dinosaur finds accessible to the public, a Paleo Tourism Trail is being developed, linking excavation sites and museums at Lightning Ridge, Eromanga, Winton, Hughenden and Richmond. Visitors will be able to see the digs in action, help prepare fossils for preservation and view full-size replicas of Australia's own dinosaurs.

The trail, which hinges on proper road access being established to certain sites, will be funded in part by a $600,000 grant from the Australian Research Council. It is expected to be completed within three years, and could boost local tourism by as much as 30 per cent.

The tiny western Queensland town of Eromanga is the newest stop on the fledgling trail. Five years ago a local sheep grazier's son found a bone which further digging revealed to be a piece of the largest dinosaur to have walked the Australian continent.

Five metres tall and up to 30 metres long, the plant-eating Cooper is a member of the Titanosaurus family. He is among the top 10 largest dinosaurs in the world, rivalling a T-rex or gigasaurus. ''It's a monstrous beast,'' Mr Hocknull said.