Scientists have found a 166-million-year-old ‘dinosaur highway’ at Dewar’s Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, containing the footprints of numerous dinosaurs. Discovered by quarry worker Gary Johnson, this significant site features traces of four Setiosaurus footprints and one from a Megalosaurus. The quarry spans 150 meters and reveals insights into dinosaur behavior, such as interactions between species. Full-scale excavations yielded over 200 footprint fossils and a 3D model of the site. Researchers anticipate more discoveries as quarry operations continue. This find enriches our understanding of the Jurassic ecosystem and the movement of these prehistoric giants.
Just a few hundred meters from the roaring traffic of the M40, scientists have discovered a completely different kind of road.
Around 166 million years ago, Britain’s ‘dinosaur highway’ crept across the country in collaboration with logging giants and ferocious predators.
Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham have discovered a vast quarry floor filled with the footprints of hundreds of different dinosaurs.
Scientists have discovered five of Britain’s most extensive dinosaur footprints, with the longest reaching 150 meters long.
Four of the specimens belong to Setiosaurus, a long-necked herbivore and likely a cousin of the 18-metre-long Diplodocus.
The fifth track is from a passing Megalosaurus, a ferocious nine-meter-long predator that roamed the bog lagoons of Britain during the mid-Jurassic period.
These unique, well-preserved footprints reveal surprising insights into the lives of long-extinct giants, including recording the moment when two dinosaurs passed each other.
And researchers say it is “very likely” that more footprints will be discovered.
Scientists have discovered Britain’s ‘dinosaur highway’, which would have been traversed by giant herbivores and ferocious predators 166 million years ago
Archaeologists have discovered more than 200 dinosaur footprints in five different footprints at Dewar’s Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire
The footprints were discovered in Jurassic limestone at Dewar’s Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire.
These new footprints, originally buried under clay, were first spotted by quarry worker Gary Johnson, who noticed an “unusual bump” while peeling back the clay to get to the quarry floor. discovered.
Recognizing the importance of the discovery, experts were contacted and full-scale excavation of the site began.
Last June, more than 100 scientists and volunteers carefully excavated more than 200 footprint fossils.
In addition to creating print molds for further study, the researchers also took more than 20,000 photographs to create a complete 3D model of the site.
This discovery connects to earlier discoveries made in the area in 1997. At this time, more than 40 footprints of sauropods and theropods, a group of bipedal dinosaurs including Tyrannosaurus rex, were discovered in a former limestone quarry.
However, the site was buried before digital cameras and drones became popular, so it was not possible to create a 3D model of the track.
This means this latest discovery is an especially valuable insight into a vibrant prehistoric ecosystem.
Four of the orbits belong to a long-necked sauropod, probably the 18-meter-long Cetiosaurus (right). The last remaining set belonged to Megalosaurus (left), a ferocious predator that grew up to 9 meters long.
The track extends up to 150 meters along the quarry and was discovered when workers noticed an “unusual uplift” in the limestone.
Around 166 million years ago, before this limestone layer was formed, this area of Oxfordshire was a warm, shallow lagoon sitting on a thick layer of mud.
Dr Duncan Murdoch, a paleontologist at the University of Oxford, told MailOnline: “When the feet of giant animals weighing up to 10 tons went into the mud, they left behind both foot prints and edges of mud that moved around the prints.”
“The surface was then flooded and filled with clay-rich mud, preserving the footprints. Over time and with further burial, these deposits turned into rock.”
This thick mud preserves an incredible level of detail, allowing scientists to see how the mud deformed as the dinosaur’s feet moved in and out.
“Unlike fossil bones, finds like this can tell us about the behavior of extinct animals,” Dr. Murdoch says.
“The size, shape, and position of the footprints can tell us how these dinosaurs moved, their size, and their speed.”
Each three-toed megalosaurus footprint is approximately 65 cm long and spaced 2.7 m apart.
Based on these measurements, scientists estimate that this ancient predator roamed at about 3 miles per hour (5 kilometers per hour). This is approximately the same walking speed as a human.
By studying the size and distribution of footprints, scientists can learn how dinosaurs moved and how fast they were moving at the time.
Megalosaurus (left) left footprints 65 cm (65 cm) long and was thought to have traveled at approximately 3 miles per hour (5 km/h). Sauropods left gigantic 90 cm footprints (right) and are thought to have traveled at the same pace as humans.
At one point on the track, paleontologists also discovered a meeting point between a megalosaurus and a sauropod.
Scientists believe that sauropods passed through first, followed some time later by megalosaurs, based on disturbances in the mud.
Dr Murdoch said: “Where the tracks intersect, we can glimpse potential interactions between different species, such as carnivorous megalosaurs and giant herbivorous sauropods.”
These discoveries are already interesting, but experts say there’s more to come.
Professor Kirsty Edgar, a micropalaeontologist at the University of Birmingham, told MailOnline it was “very likely” that more footprints would be discovered.
she says: “When animals walk on the surface and leave traces in the soft sediment, [tracks are] They are most commonly found around the edges of rivers, lake lagoons, or more commonly coastal environments.
In addition, the Dewar’s Farm quarry is still actively mining the rock formations above the track surface, and more discoveries may be made as the Jurassic limestone is exposed.
The quarry’s owners, Smith Bletington, are working with Natural England to consider options to preserve the site for the future.
