First discovered in Dinosaur Cove, Australia, Leaellynasaura was a dinosaur from the first Cretaceous. Strangely enough, at this stage in time, Victoria would have been well within the Antarctic Circle, which is now very cold. This means that Leaellynasaura was living and it seems that thriving much further south than any reptile could today.

This is particularly relevant due to Cryolophosaurus being exposed in Antarctica. However, when Cryolophosaurus lived in Antarctica, it was much warmer (this was during the early Jurassic) and it was emotionally involved to the land mass of Pangaea, which caused very strong seasonal monsoon winds across the polar area. In addition, sea currents flowing across the polar area banned a cold pool of air or water from accumulating. However the sun would not have risen for more than a few weeks or months in the winter, depending on latitude. Leaellynosaura had extremely big eyes and its brain had big optic lobes, as if it had evolved to be routinely active in the dark. Regardless, the fact that it lived in tremendously cold temperatures led many scientists to believe that Leallynasaura was warm-blooded.