In Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England, paleontologists identified over 200 dinosaur footprints—dubbed a “dinosaur highway”—dating back to the Jurassic period, around 166 million years ago.
The dinosaurs suspected to have left these marks are a mix of herbivores and carnivores, specifically the Cetiosaurus and Megalosaurus. The Cetiosaurus had a silhouette similar to the classic Brontosaurus.
Meanwhile, the Megalosaurus was a T-Rex-looking dinosaur with a name so cool that you’d expect it to wear sunglasses and ride a skateboard. It also has the distinction of being the first dinosaur ever scientifically named, it’s name even predates the use of the word “dinosaur.”
“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited,” Professor Kirsty Edgar of the University of Birmingham, said in a statement.
By studying the paths they walked, we can learn about the size and age of the diverse species of animals that once roamed the area, as well as the relationships between them.
Modern Tech Allows for Deep Analysis of the ‘Dinosaur Highway’
Analysis of these footprints builds on a similar discovery from 1997 in a nearby quarry. Over 40 dinosaur footprints were identified, but researchers lacked the technological capabilities that allow scientists of today to glean the astonishing detail with which we’ve become familiar.
Thanks to advancements in modern paleontological technology, researchers can gather way more information than they ever could before. The team took over 20,000 pictures of the prints during their excavation, allowing them to fully map them from every conceivable angle—a method of record-keeping and preservation so detailed and precise that it could even reveal the specific ways the mud deformed around the dinosaurs’ feet as they pressed into the wet ground.
The paleontologists will be using the overwhelming amount of data collected to better understand how these ancient creatures interacted with one another and get a glimpse into what life was like during the Jurassic period in England.
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