Message #109507

[Bianca]

Crossing Dino Paths



Chan noted that the prints appear in what was once very wet, soft sand, which allowed for deep impressions.

"You can see the mounds of the sand going around their toes," she said.

Dinosaur footprints are named according to their shape and can't be linked conclusively to an exact species and genus without other evidence, such as bones. But some of a creature's habits can be guessed from its tracks.

The site's 16-inch (40-centimeter), three-toed Eubrontes tracks, for instance, are believed to come from an upright-walking meat-eater that was smaller than Tyrannosaurus rex, the scientists say.

Smaller tracks could be smaller species or younger dinosaurs. "Sometimes it's really hard to tell," Chan said.

Other large prints may have come from unknown sauropods, Chan said, referring to the long-necked herbivores that eventually evolved into Earth's most gigantic creatures