The world's largest dinosaur tracks have been found, and a human can fit in them
Scientists have discovered some of the world's largest dinosaur tracks—measuring as long as the average person is tall—in western Australia. The 5.5-foot-long tracks likely belonged to a long-necked, small-headed sauropod. They're part of an unusually diverse array of dinosaur tracks imprinted into the rocks on Australia's Dampier Peninsula. Paleontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University recently identified 21 different types of tracks on the 16-mile stretch of coastline. Rocks in the Kimberley region date back to 127 million to 140 million years ago, the team said in a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology. "It's such a magical place—Australia's own Jurassic Park," Steve Salisbury, the study's lead author a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Queensland, said in a news release. Salisbury and his team spent more than 400 hours investigating and documenting the "unprecedented" panoply of dinosaur tracks. They found five different types of predatory dinosaur tracks and at least six types of tracks from herbivorous sauropods, including the human-sized footprints. "Most people would be able to fit inside tracks that big, and they indicate animals that are probably around 5.3 to 5.5 meters [17.4 to 18 feet] at the hip, which is enormous, Salisbury told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. In terms of size, the sauropod tracks top a dinosaur footprint found in the Mongolian desert that measured about 3.8 feet long. Salinger's team also identified four types of tracks from two-legged, plant-eating ornithopods and six types of tracks from dinosaurs bedecked with spikes and plates, such as the stegosaurus. Their work was prompted by the potential development of a $40 billion liquified natural gas processing plant in Walmadany. Concerned the plant would pave over the area's stunning environment, the Goolarabooloo people, the local traditional custodians, contacted Salisbury and his team. "We needed the world to see what was at stake," Phillip Roe, the Goolarabooloo law boss, said in the news release. Fortunately for residents and paleontologists alike, the west Kimberley region was listed as a National Heritage Place in 2011, and two years later, the natural gas project collapsed.
Featured Video For You
'Ancient Earth' series brings rare and wonderful dinosaurs back to life
- 最近发表
-
- Smiley face on Mars is a telltale sign of its past
- 雅安市红十字会募捐呼吁书
- “大排查、大教育、大整治”货车违法行为保道路交通安全
- Who should we blame for Pakistan’s exit from World Cup?
- Table tennis star Shin Yu
- White supremacists, extremists are a problem on Twitter Spaces
- 四川省雅安市芦山县发生7.0级地震
- USA hold back rising European tide to maintain World Cup dominance
- 中山古镇:到苏炳添家乡看“村BA”,来一场说走就走的美食之旅
- WATCH: Kashmiris celebrate India's Cricket World Cup exit in Srinagar
- 随机阅读
-
- If aliens harnessed solar power, could we detect them? NASA investigated.
- North Korea's ICBM launch ends in failure
- WATCH: Kashmiris celebrate India's Cricket World Cup exit in Srinagar
- US urges Russia, China to hold N. Korea accountable for recent provocations
- 提前谋划部署准备秋季开学
- 灾难摧不垮我们(图片)
- 求生 我们与死神赛跑
- 宝兴县强震死亡22人伤1000余人
- South Korean lawmakers brace for US election as Harris, Trump diverge on North Korea
- Moon meets N. Korean delegation chief in PyeongChang
- US says denuclearization remains goal of any engagement with NK
- 灾难摧不垮我们(图片)
- Top 10 Tech Pranks
- Brazil wins Copa America
- PSA: Instagram polls are NOT anonymous
- Survey: North Koreans still watching South Korean media despite brutal crackdown: survey
- The Best AMD Ryzen Gaming Laptops (So Far)
- North Korea's ICBM launch ends in failure
- Koreans spend 200,000 won monthly on childcare, despite state allowance: study
- Download Apple security updates for iPhone's iOS 15.2
- 搜索
-
- 友情链接
-