Dinosaur footprints left 166 million years ago found in a limestone quarry 0 87

In the British county of Oxfordshire, paleontologists have discovered the longest dinosaur trackway ever found in Europe. This was reported by The Independent.

During work at the Dewars Farm limestone quarry near the town of Bicester, scientists found a unique chain of fossilized footprints. The length of the trackway, left by giant reptiles, is 220 meters, and it contains hundreds of individual footprints. The age of the find is estimated to be 166 million years.

According to scientists, the footprints belong to dinosaurs of the species Cetiosaurus, which reached lengths of 16 meters and weighed up to ten tons. Researchers from the Oxford University Museum of Natural History and the University of Birmingham were able to determine from the footprints that the animal moved at a speed of about 6–8 kilometers per hour. "We have been working at this site since 2022 and are gradually uncovering more and more," said Dr. Duncan Murdoch from the Oxford Museum. "This summer we cleared four trackways, the longest of which is 220 meters, with nearly a hundred individual footprints. Each is almost a meter long."

Paleontologist Kirsty Edgar from the University of Birmingham noted that such a large find is rare for the UK. Currently, the footprints are being carefully documented, after which they are planned to be covered with soil for preservation. Discussions about potential future excavations are ongoing with conservation authorities and quarry operators.

It was previously reported that the remains of a small herbivorous dinosaur that lived 67.5 million years ago were found beneath the parking lot of a museum in Denver, USA.