Projected onto the wall is an image as high and long as a double decker bus. The picture is of a lake with a muddy shoreline surrounded by tall trees, spiky palms and green shrubbery. The scene is a reconstruction of the environment of Winton, Queensland, 95 million years ago. What happens next is based on a scientific interpretations of a fossil trackway found in Winton in the 1960s.
In the left bottom corner is “what happened 95 million years ago at Winton in Queensland” with the number of minutes counting down until the video begins. The show plays every 10 minutes.
While the minutes count down, birds soar in front of gently drifting white clouds in a bright blue sky.
As the video begins, the sky darkens and long shadows are cast on the ground. A relatively large, grey striped, plant-eating dinosaur appears out of the shrubs, heads to the lake, then bends to take a drink - cautiously checking its surroundings between each gulp. It then turns around and casually lumbers away. It leaves a neat footprint.
The scene darkens and then reopens on a herd of 10 brown and white stripped ornithopods, each the size of a large motor bike, scuttling to the water’s edge. They are followed by a dozen poodle-sized, meat-eating theropods. Together they drink from the lake lifting their heads every few seconds to check for danger.
In the distance, at the right of the screen, a huge meat-eating dinosaur approaches towards the lake, increases its speed and then bursts through the surrounding shrubs, trying to trap the group at the water’s edge. In a panic, the ornithopods and theropods turn and race toward the trees in an effort to escape. One of the ornithopods trips while trying to get away and is snapped up in the jaws of the large dinosaur.
The large dinosaur shakes its head, violently snapping the ornithopod’s neck then drops it to the ground. It places its right foot on the lifeless body, triumphantly raises its head and roars.