What is the best place to meet your friends? For the theropod dinosaurs about 100 million years ago, the answer was probably Lek. A rec, or wrecking site, is a special area where members of the species, usually male members, come together to dance, dance and generally show their appearance, to attract the attention of female peers.
According to a new study of Cretaceous Research, Scientists have identified a new wrecking site in Dinosaur Ridge, Colorado. Stegosaurus, Apatosaurus, Allosaurus, more. Based on OstendichnuThe S, or fossilized theropod tracks discovered there, suggest that the site was visited by the dancing dinosaur Gaggles about 100 million years ago.
“Newly documented theropod scuffs (Ostendichnus) On the dinosaur ridge, this site suggests that it is a lec,” the study authors said in their study, providing “insights into the social behavior of trace-making theropods.”
read more: The dancing dinosaur twisted and turned to attract mates
Traces of dancing dinosaurs
Drone imaging of trace fossils at dinosaur ridge sites. (Images courtesy of Caldwell Buntin)
Over the years, a lot Ostendichnus or “Ostendichnus– Trucks have been discovered in North America, including one site in Alberta, Canada and five sites in Colorado. Based on the density and distribution of these tracks across several levels, scientists believe that the cellopods gathered at these sites have returned repeatedly over several seasons in groups.
New research supported that theory and found 25 new ones Ostendichnus and “OstendichnusThe truck at the Dinosaur Ridge Site about 15 miles west of Denver was discovered through drone images. The track appears on two different stratigraphic surfaces (24 in one and one in the other) with less common circular indents and more abundant scratches or scuffs, thinner clumps.
According to the study authors, the circular hollows may be linked to theropod attempts in nest buildings, but the wounds are ritual dance-off ruins, where male dinosaurs dig deep into the sand, slashing its claws, and sending gushes of dust into the air.
“The high density of these trace fossils and the way they are grouped,” says Caldwell Bunting, a research author and paleontologist at Old Dominion University in Virginia, “seems to be most consistent with a group of individuals who carry out nest exhibition court actions.”
read more: Anyway, how did the dinosaurs have sex?
Learn how to dance like a dino
Digital elevation model of the red, green and blue dinosaur ridge site. (Images courtesy of Caldwell Buntin)
Indeed, Bunting says these traces were not left by the scary dinosaurs looking for food or water. And they probably didn’t follow from territorial actions.
“If this is territorial action, we would expect to find one or two traces on a surface of this size,” he says.
But if the best explanation is dance, what were the dance moves of these dinosaurs? According to Buntin, thanks to the shape, orientation and organization of Tracks, you can decipher the steps of Theropods.
“These trucks teach us quite a bit. First off, these animals alternate between each leg when they kick the sand in the back, and when they’re done, they walk backwards from the area they were rubbing,” says Bunting. “If they’re really excited, they step back a few feet and repeat the movement. […] When this happens three or more times, some [the tracks] Show me a counterclockwise turn. It’s like a moonwalk with a bit of spin. ”
Some digital elevation models of some dinosaur ridge trucks. (Images courtesy of Caldwell Buntin)
The study authors suggest that the track was made by theropods at the size of our biggest bird today. “The trucks found alongside some of the scuffs show that they are small dinosaurs and are of a very similar size and appearance to Cassowires and EMUs,” says Bunting. “They were probably plant eaters and omnivores.”
Of course, dinosaurs were not the only creatures dancing in the exhibition arena. Birds, a modern relative of Cellopod dinosaurs, still gather at wrecking sites to show off their movements.
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Sam Walters is a journalist covering evolution for archaeology, paleontology, ecology and discovery, and has an assortment of other topics. Before joining the Discover team as an assistant editor in 2022, Sam studied journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.
