'Unusual bumps' found by quarry worker leads to discovery of 'dinosaur highway'
A team of 100 researchers from the universities of Oxford and Birmingham uncovered five different trackways of 200 dinosaur prints in June 2024.
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OXFORDSHIRE, England – Hundreds of different dinosaur footprints dating back to the middle-Jurassic period, about 166 million years ago, have been uncovered in a quarry in England, in what scientists have described as a "dinosaur highway."
The tracks were discovered when a quarry worker in Oxfordshire was stripping clay from the quarry floor and felt "unusual bumps," the University of Oxford said in a news release.
From there, a team of 100 researchers from the universities of Oxford and Birmingham uncovered five different trackways of 200 dinosaur prints in June 2024, according to the university.
One of the trackways was made by a Megalosaurus, a carnivorous dinosaur that walked on two legs, according to the university. Megalosaurus had large, clawed feet, with three toes on each foot. Evidence of Megalosaurus has only been found in England, according to the Natural History Museum in London.
Excavated footprint of Megalosaurus discovered at the quarry by the University of Oxford and University of Birmingham. (Oxford University Museum of Natural History)
The four other trackways were left by sauropods, a long-necked, giant, herbivorous dinosaur species. The university said the tracks were most likely made by a Cetiosaurus.
The university said in one area of the quarry, the tracks of the carnivore and herbivore dinosaurs crossed paths, leaving researchers to wonder how and if the two dinosaur species may have interacted.
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One area of the site shows the carnivore and herbivore tracks crossing over, raising questions about whether and how the two were interacting. (University of Birmingham / FOX Weather)
"These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited," said Kirsty Edgar, a professor of micropalaeontology at the University of Birmingham.
Researchers said this new set of trackways indicates the dinosaurs once walked through a muddy lagoon, which is now the quarry.
"The preservation is so detailed that we can see how the mud was deformed as the dinosaur’s feet squelched in and out," said Duncan Murdock, earth scientist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. "Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants, we can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through."
The week-long excavation of the footprints led researchers to discover that the new tracks connected to nearly 40 sets of footprints discovered during previous limestone quarrying in 1997, according to the University of Oxford.
The university said more than 20,000 images of the newly discovered footprints were created and will be used to help further study how these dinosaurs walked, how big they were and if and how they may have interacted.