Multiple trackways with about 200 dinosaur footprints have been discovered on a quarry floor in Oxfordshire. These dates to the Middle Jurassic Period (around 166 million years ago). There are five trackways of which four were made by the herbivore sauropods. This is significant because sauropods track sites are comparatively rare. Further, the new findings connect to the dinosaur trackways discovered in the same area in 1997. The research team has documented the new footprints in unprecedented detail and built detailed 3D models of the site for future studies in dinosaur science for shedding light on Earth’s heritage.
It started with a worker trying to strip the clay back to expose the quarry floor at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire when felt ‘unusual bumps’. Experts were called in to investigate as previous limestone quarrying in the same area had led to discovery of dinosaur trackways with about 40 sets of footprints.
A fresh, week-long excavation of the site was conducted in June 2024 which has uncovered about 200 different dinosaur footprints buried under mud belonging to the Middle Jurassic Period (about 166 million years old).
The are five extensive trackways. The longest continuous trackway is about 150 metres long. Four of the trackways were made by Sauropods while the fifth was made by the Megalosaurus. Finding of four Sauropod trackways is significant because Sauropod tracks are comparatively rare.
The herbivore Sauropods and carnivore Megalosaurus tracks crossover in one area of the site suggesting interaction between the two. Sauropods were gigantic, long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs. Megalosaurus, on the other hand, were carnivorous theropod dinosaur with distinctive, large, three-toed feet with claws.
The newly discovered trackways connect to the dinosaur footprints discovered in the same area earlier in 1997 which had provided information about dinosaurs inhabiting the area during the Middle Jurassic Period. However, there is limited digital evidence, nor the old site is accessible for new study. This makes discovery of new trackways significant for research.
With over 20,000 images and detailed 3D models using aerial drone photography, the newly discovered site has been documented in an unprecedented detail by the research team. Any future study in dinosaur science for shedding light on Earth’s heritage of that period should benefit from these resources.
There is a history of discovery of dinosaur tracks in the UK. The site at Spyway Quarry in Dorset, southern England was discovered in the late 1990s where more than 130 individual tracks of large sauropods were found.
Dinosaurs were eliminated from the face of Earth about 65 million years ago in Cretaceous period during fifth mass extinction due to asteroid impact.
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Sources:
- University of Oxford. News – Major new footprint discoveries on Britain’s ‘dinosaur highway’. Published 2 January 2025. Available at https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-01-02-major-new-footprint-discoveries-britain-s-dinosaur-highway
- University of Birmingham. News – Major new footprint discoveries on Britain’s ‘dinosaur highway’. Published 2 January 2025. Available at https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/news/2024/major-new-footprint-discoveries-on-britains-dinosaur-highway
- Butler R.J., et al 2024. Sauropod dinosaur tracks from the Purbeck Group (Early Cretaceous) of Spyway Quarry, Dorset, UK. Royal Society Open Science. Published: 03 July 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1098/rsos.240583
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