jillion of years before humans enter the fit , dinosaursroamed what is now Great Britain . The out creatures left behind grounds of their life in manydifferent shape , including a so - hollo “ dinosaur highway ” cut across in prehistoric footprints .
At least five specimens cross what ’s now known as the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire , England , leaving 200 footprints . They were chance on after a quarry actor diagnose Gary Johnson notice strange humps on the soil while operate his equipment . He reached out to the University of Birmingham and Oxford , which propel a workweek - long excavation of the area in June 2024 . Scientists were able to canvass the site in more item after build 3D mannikin of it with data gathered by bourdon . Researchers conceive the footprints date back to the Jurassic Period , roughly 166 million years ago .
Moreover , they think four sets of tracks came fromcetiosaurus , a species of long - necked herbivore . They grow to be about 60 feet long . The fifth animal is assume to be amegalosaurus , a 30 - foot carnivore with razor - sharp three - toed claw . The longest path of a single fauna go on for nearly 500 feet .
Scientists can see a surprising amount by examining footprints alone . Dr. Susannah Maidment , a paleontologist at theNatural History Museumin London , state , “ Trackways are of import because they maintain fossilized conduct , something that we are ineffectual to get from the bones of an animal alone . For illustration , fossilise trackways have indicated that some dinosaur experience in herd , and speed of motion can also be rough calculated . ”
Kirsty Edgar , prof of micropaleontology at England ’s University of Birmingham who helped conduce the slam , shared her enthusiasm for the uncovering withThe Washington Post . “ It ’s very rarefied in the UK to make really big finds . It ’s amazing . ”
While it ’s an exciting breakthrough , the dinosaur highway is n’t the first case of prehistoric tracks being reveal in the UK . In 2020 , paleontologists shared news ofstegosaurusprintsthey had discover on the Isle of Skye in Scotland .
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