UK’s biggest dinosaur footprint site uncovered with hundreds of massive tracks from 166million years ago
STUNNED experts have uncovered the UK’s biggest “dinosaur highway” with hundreds of massive footprints dating back 166million years.
Around 200 different dinosaur footprints were found in a quarry in Oxfordshire.
The extraordinary site was unearthed after a quarry worker felt “unusual bumps” as he was stripping the clay back with his vehicle.
Scientists were called in to investigate and discovered five extensive trackways – and there’s evidence of more in the surrounding area.
The longest is 150 metres but they could go on much further.
“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited,” said Professor Kirsty Edgar, from the University of Birmingham.
Dr Duncan Murdock, Earth Scientist from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, added: “The preservation is so detailed that we can see how the mud was deformed as the dinosaur’s feet squelched in and out.
“Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants we can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through.”
Among the site are footprints belonging to the nine metre-long ferocious predator Megalosaurus, which had huge distinctive, three-toed feet with claws.
The Megalosaurus was the first dinosaur to ever be named back in 1824.
“Scientists have known about and been studying Megalosaurus for longer than any other dinosaur on Earth, and yet these recent discoveries prove there is still new evidence of these animals out there, waiting to be found,” explained Dr Emma Nicholls, vertebrate palaeontologist from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Other footprint finds are thought to be from the gigantic 18 metre-long plant-eating dinosaur Cetiosaurus.
The discovery follows a similar trackway found nearby in the 90s with more than 40 sets of footprints.
However, that site is largely no longer accessible.
A team of more than 100 people took part in an excavation in the new area over the summer.
Some 20,000 photos were taken to build a detailed 3D model of the site for further study.
Professor Richard Butler from the University of Birmingham, said: “There is much more that we can learn from this site, which is an important part of our national Earth heritage.
“Our 3D models will allow researchers to continue to study and make accessible this fascinating piece of our past for generations to come.”
The journey of their excavation is set to appear in a new episode of BBC series Digging for Britain, appearing on iPlayer from January 7 and airing on BBC Two a day later.
Why did dinosaurs die out?
Here's what you need to know...
- The dinosaur wipe-out was a sudden mass extinction event on Earth
- It wiped out roughly three-quarters of our planet’s plant and animal species around 66million years ago
- This event marked the end of the Cretaceous period, and opened the Cenozoic Era, which we’re still in today
- Scientists generally believe that a massive comet or asteroid around 9 miles wide crashed into Earth, devastating the planet
- This impact is said to have sparked a lingering “impact winter”, severely harming plant life and the food chain that relied on it
- More recent research suggests that this impact “ignited” major volcanic activity, which also led to the wiping-out of life
- Some research has suggested that dinosaur numbers were already declining due to climate changes at the time
- But a study published in March 2019 claims that dinosaurs were likely “thriving” before the extinction event