A Discovery of Hundreds of Dinosaur Footprints Dating Back 166 Million Years Has Been Made in England

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During the previous summer, an employee at a limestone quarry located in southeast England was excavating clay when he observed some unusual protrusions in the vicinity.

Recently, a collaborative effort involving more than 100 researchers from the Universities of Birmingham and Oxford has confirmed that the bumps discovered are indeed dinosaur tracks, dating back approximately 166 million years to the Middle Jurassic era.

Approximately 200 footprints have been uncovered across five distinct trails at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire. This recent discovery sheds light on the behaviors of dinosaurs, offering valuable information regarding their speed, size, locomotion, and social interactions.

“According to our speed estimates, it is likely that all dinosaurs were more inclined to walk than to run,” stated Kirsty Edgar, a micropaleontology professor at the University of Birmingham.

Edgar suggests that the habitat of the dinosaurs may have been similar to the modern-day Florida Keys. Scientists uncovered five trackways preserved in the mud, with the longest measuring nearly 500 feet.

Four of the trackways were created by long-necked herbivorous sauropods, probably belonging to the 60-foot, two-ton species known as Cetiosaurus.

The fifth set was created by a meat-eating Megalosaurus, a predator that stretched 30 feet in length and had clawed feet with three toes. In 1824, it was William Buckland, a geologist from Oxford, who became the first to scientifically name the Megalosaurus, marking a significant moment in paleontology.

In one section of the site, the tracks of carnivores and herbivores intersected, prompting inquiries into the nature of their interactions