Dinosaur trackway uncovered in England
Researchers have uncovered a dinosaur track in England.
A worker at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire has become the first to discover the dinosaur track, which was built 166 million years ago and is thought to be the largest of its kind unearthed in the world.
Researchers believe the footprints belong to Cetiosaurus, a giant sauropod.
Dr Emma Nichols, from Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History, told the BBC: “There were four tracks of sauropod footprints and none of them were the same size as each other.
“This tells us there are a number of different possibilities; they could all be Cetiosaurus and they could be acting as a family herd, or as a herd of different older individuals that are not related to each other. Or we could have more than one type of sauropod.”
Dr Nichols explained that this was not the first time a major discovery had occurred in Oxfordshire.
He said: “In 1997, at the first major excavation linked to our recent excavations, something truly incredible was discovered: the Megalosaurus track.
“The land in Oxfordshire was ruled by Megalosaurus; they were nine meters long and were Britain’s answer to the T-Rex.”
Dr Nichols explained that in the Jurassic age the area surrounding the tracks would have been “a really lovely tropical, lush environment”.
He said: “England was actually underwater and there was a shallow inland sea covering Oxfordshire, but there were also a number of islands, like the Bahamas or the Florida Keys, and that was where the dinosaurs lived.
“So Megalosaurus, Cetiosaurus and other dinosaurs must have lived on these small islands.”
Dr Nichols observed that one particular footprint stood out among the others due to the unusual spacing.
He explained: “There could be many reasons why the animal might do this, and of course we weren’t there 166 million years ago.
“But it can very easily be explained by Megalosaurus coming from behind, depending on where Megalosaurus was on that path over time at the point where the sauropod landed.”
