A team of scientists working in Oxfordshire, England, has uncovered a trail of dinosaur footprints from the Middle Jurassic Period, about 166 million years ago. They found so many tracks in one place, they have nicknamed it the “dinosaur highway.”
The footprints had been buried under clay in a limestone quarry. (A quarry is a large open pit where rocks are dug up.) Gary Johnson, a quarry worker, was using a vehicle to remove a layer of clay from the bottom of the quarry when he noticed unusual bumps in the hard surface underneath.
Experts from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham came to investigate. In June 2024, they arranged for the quarry to be excavated (dug up). More than 100 people spent a week excavating the site. The workers included paleontologists (scientists who study fossils), geologists (experts in earth sciences), students and quarry workers.
The dig was completed last June and the research team announced the details of their discovery in January.
200 footprints, 5 trackways
The team uncovered more than 200 footprints, following five separate trackways. Four of the trackways were made by sauropods—probably a species called Cetiosaurus. They were huge long-necked, herbivorous (plant-eating) dinosaurs which could grow to be up to 18 metres long. The footprints are a mixture of sizes, which could mean there was a herd of sauropods of different ages travelling together.
The fifth set of tracks was made by a Megalosaurus—a carnivorous (meat-eating) dinosaur about nine metres long, that walked on its hind legs. Its footprints show three-toed feet with claws. Each footprint is about 60 centimetres long.
At one part of the trail, the Megalosaurus footprints cross over the sauropod prints. The research team says this may show that the meat-eater was following, and possibly hunting, the sauropods.
Helping scientists understand how dinos moved, interacted
Kirsty Edgar, a professor of micropaleontology at the University of Birmingham, said in a media release that the footprints are “a window into the lives of dinosaurs.” They help researchers understand how the dinosaurs moved, how they interacted with each other, and the type of environment they lived in.
Duncan Murdock, an earth scientist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, said the footprints are so well preserved that it’s possible to see how the dinosaurs’ feet “squelched” the mud as they walked. He said this suggests that the area they were walking through was a muddy lagoon–a shallow pond–at that time.
The tracks will eventually be covered up again. During the dig, the research team used drones to take more than 20,000 digital images of the site. They have also created 3D models of the prints.
They wanted to record as much information as possible so they can continue to study the tracks even after the dinosaur highway is reburied.
Think & Discuss
The facts in this article describe an interesting scene. Draw your own “dinosaur highway.” Or, using information you find through research, draw a Cetiosaurus or a Megalosaurus.
Create a timeline of everything in this article that has a timeframe–right from the earliest dinosaur mentioned up to the time of the researchers (and possibly into the future, with their future plans for the site).
The word “squelched” in this article is an example of onomatopoeia. That’s a word that sounds like the noise it describes. Think of 5 more onomatopoeiac words.
What is your favourite type of dinosaur? Write down 5 things you know about it.
When was the Middle Jurassic Period? What do you know about it?
More Information
This 3-minute video by University of Oxford, takes you right into the pit with the footprints and features team members talking about the find: Dinosaur Tracking Across Time (Official Video of the Dinosaur Highway Dig) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8WAS4WjQZ0&t=12s
Megalosaurus Facts (Natural History Museum, UK website): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/megalosaurus.html
Megalosaurus Video (This wonderful 2-minute video was created by ITV, UK. It shows a FICTIONAL (either an illustration or AI) “dinosaur” running through London. It could be a bit scary for some kids unless they are aware that the dinosaur is a cartoon. Keep in mind that humans and dinosaurs never existed at the same time–dinosaurs were extinct long before humans came into being.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-GMasWCbaQ
Cetiosaurus Facts (Natural History Museum, UK website): https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/dino-directory/cetiosaurus.html
Cetiosaurus Video (This excellent 2-minute video was created by ITV, UK. It shows FICTIONAL (either an illustration or AI) “dinosaurs” walking across a bridge and in a park. It could be a bit scary for some kids unless they are aware that the dinosaur is a cartoon. Keep in mind that humans and dinosaurs never existed at the same time–dinosaurs were extinct long before humans came into being.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdd4ceB8iOw
What is Paleontology? (Website for kids by American Museum of Natural History) https://www.amnh.org/explore/ology/paleontology#all
