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Triops Longicaudatus Red
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Palaeontology: ‘Dinosaur motorway’ discovered in Great Britain
Researchers have made an extraordinary discovery in a quarry in Oxfordshire: around 200 dinosaur tracks around 166 million years old have been uncovered there. According to the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham, this is the largest find of its kind in the UK to date. The longest continuous track measures over 150 metres.
Intensive research for 200 years
The traces come from five different tracks, four of which can probably be attributed to herbivorous sauropods, a group of dinosaurs with typically long necks. They are probably of the Cetiosaurus subspecies, which could reach a length of up to 18 metres – comparable to that of a bowhead whale. The tracks were discovered when a worker came across unusual depressions in the ground during excavations. Around 100 experts then uncovered the more than 200 footprints during a week-long excavation in June. These footprints may form a ‘dinosaur motorway’. Kirsty Edgar, Professor of Micropalaeontology at the University of Birmingham, explained that the finds could provide valuable insights into the dinosaurs’ movement patterns, interactions and environment at the time.
The fifth track is attributed to a carnivorous megalosaur, a dinosaur species known for its three-toed claws. Megalosaurus is considered to be the first scientifically described dinosaur genus. Emma Nicholls from Oxford University’s Natural History Museum emphasised that this species has been the subject of intensive research for around 200 years, but that the traces now discovered provide new clues. They also raise questions about possible encounters between carnivorous and herbivorous dinosaurs.
During the excavations, the research team took around 20,000 photos and detailed 3D models of the site. These will help to better understand the interactions of the dinosaurs as well as their size and movement patterns. Emma Nicholls emphasised how rare it is to find so many well-preserved tracks in one place. According to Duncan Murdock from the Oxford University Museum, the tracks even make it possible to understand the deformation of the mud by the dinosaurs’ footsteps. The area in the south of Great Britain could prove to be one of the world’s largest sites for dinosaur tracks.
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