Imagine walking in the footsteps of a 30-foot-long predator. In a major discovery, scientists in England recently uncovered a Jurassic “traffic jam” in an Oxfordshire quarry: hundreds of dinosaur footprints dating back 166 million years. The tracks show how two species—plant-eating sauropods and the carnivorous Megalosaurus—moved through the area. Researchers call it a “dinosaur highway,” with some sets of tracks extending nearly 500 feet. In one section, prints from predators and plant eaters cross paths, sparking questions about how they may have interacted. The discovery builds on a similar find from 1997, but today’s tools, such as drones and 3-D modeling, offer a clearer view than ever before. “There is much more that we can learn from this site,” says Richard Butler, professor of paleobiology at the University of Birmingham. “Our 3-D models will allow researchers to continue to study and make accessible this fascinating piece of our past for generations to come.”
Scientists document the dinosaur prints in detail. Shutterstock.com (dinosaur, flags); Courtesy of Emma Nicholls (scientists)
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