Workers digging through clay at a British limestone quarry have discovered a ‘dinosaur highway’ made up of 200 railway tracks dating back 166 million years. The footprints in Oxfordshire are a mix of those of herbivores and at least one carnivore. Most dinosaurs’ toes pointed north.
So who are these creatures, where are they heading, and why did they go there?
At least four of the footprints were likely made by Setiosaurus, a long-necked herbivorous dinosaur that grew to nearly 60 feet long. Another set looks like the distinctive three-toed feet of the 30-foot-long predator Megalosaurus. One stretch shows carnivore and herbivore tracks intersecting, raising questions about whether and how the two were interacting.
Richard J. Butler Paleontologists from the University of Birmingham working at the site applied some deductive reasoning to pinpoint the dinosaur’s intentions.
“Most of the tracks seem to be heading in the same direction (roughly north) and probably along the coastline,” Butler said. “The herbivore must have been heading somewhere with food, because there was no vegetation on the tidal flats where footprints are favored. One possibility is that the carnivore was heading somewhere with food. It is possible that he was following or tailing him.
read more: Why is the Isle of Wight so rich in dinosaur fossils?
Sauropod sweet spot
South-east England seems to have been the perfect place for sauropods. The first megalosaurus bones were discovered within 25 miles in 1824, essentially marking the beginning of dinosaur science. Then, in 1997, researchers found similar footprints less than half a mile away, in another quarry of the same type of rock. The two are probably connected.
“They’re on the same limestone surface, so the one discovered in the 1990s and the newer one actually form part of a huge track site,” Butler says.
Together, these sites record hungry sauropods that were likely constantly on the march in search of food.
“It’s clear that many large sauropods probably moved in groups in this particular area,” Butler said. “Where were they traveling? We don’t know, but they must have been somewhere where there was vegetation, because these giant herbivores need to consume large amounts of plants every day.
read more: Jordanian dinosaur prints highlight largely unexplored region
record the past
Until this summer’s discovery, this early site was thought to be the most scientifically significant dinosaur footprint. However, these have been buried and are now largely inaccessible.
A similar fate is unlikely to befall newcomers. And they are already well documented. Scientists took more than 20,000 digital photos and deployed a drone to create 3D models of the prints. Paleontologists use this data to help understand each dinosaur’s size, stride length, and speed. The quality of the footprints should facilitate such calculations and help reconstruct the world these dinosaurs roamed.
“The preservation is so detailed that you can see how the mud deformed as the dinosaur’s feet moved in and out.” duncan murdochsaid one of the scientists studying the site, a geoscientist at the Oxford Museum, in a paper. press release. “Together with other fossils such as burrows, shells, and plants, they can bring to life the muddy lagoon environments that the dinosaurs walked through.”
article source of information
our writers are discovermagazine.com We use peer-reviewed research and high-quality sources in our articles, and our editors review them for scientific accuracy and editorial standards. Check out the following sources used in this article.
Before joining Discover Magazine, Paul Smaglik was a science journalist for more than 20 years, specializing in U.S. life sciences policy and global scientific career issues. He started his career in newspapers but switched to scientific magazines. His research has appeared in publications such as Science News, Science, Nature, and Scientific American.
