LOOK: 113 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks Revealed Due to Severe Drought

Acrocanthosaurus tracks were revealed at the Dinosaur Valley State Park’s Paluxy River due to severe drought. | Image Credit: Paul Baker/Friends of Dinosaur Valley via New York Times

As water levels of the Paluxy River, Texas have fallen due to severe drought conditions in the country, dinosaur tracks dating from 113 million years ago have surfaced at the Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas, U.S.A.

Stephanie Salinas Garcia, the park’s spokesperson, told CNN that they recently uncovered tracks belonging to Acrocanthosaurus – a dinosaur that can grow as tall as 15 feet, with a weight close to 7 tons.

An illustration comparing the size of an Acrocanthosaurus to a 1.8 meter-tall human | Image Credit: Prehistoric Wildlife
Acrocanthosaurus | Image Credit: Adobe/National World

Under normal conditions, these tracks are buried under water, and filled with sediment, making them less visible and less prone to erosion.

While these ichnites “were visible for a brief amount of time”, as rainfall is expected to occur, the discovery has “brought about the wonder and excitement about finding new dinosaur tracks at the park” according to Garcia.

A close-up of the dinosaur tracks | Image Credit: Paul Baker/Friends of Dinosaur Valley

“Dinosaur Valley State Park will continue to protect these 113-million year-old tracks not only for present, but future generations,” Garcia added.

Other dinosaur species’ footprints have been previously discovered at the park. Among these are from the Sauroposeidon – a far taller dinosaur, about 60 feet tall with a weight of about 44 tons when fully grown.

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