Rare Dinosaur Footprints Reveal Evidence of Multi-Species Herding
Approximately 76 million years ago, a fascinating discovery was made at Canada’s Dinosaur Provincial Park. A team of international paleontologists unearthed a set of trackways preserved in ironstone, shedding light on a possible scenario where different species of dinosaurs walked and potentially hunted together.
Among the footprints found were tracks from at least five ceratopsian dinosaurs alongside those of an ankylosaurid. This finding hints at the possibility of multi-species herding among dinosaurs, a behavior that has long been suspected but lacked concrete evidence until now.
While the researchers confirm that these footprints were formed around the same time, there could be a gap of hours or even days between them. Paleontologist Jack Lovegrove from the Natural History Museum in London explains that previous bone beds only indicated that these animals died together or their bodies accumulated post-mortem, making the trackways a rare piece of evidence for these creatures living together.
The arrangement of these footprints suggests that the dinosaurs were congregating near a water source, possibly following an ancient river. However, parallel tracks running alongside the waterline indicate the presence of predators such as two tyrannosaurs and a small meat-eating dinosaur, possibly a therapod.
Paleontologist Phil Bell from the University of New England in Australia notes the chilling thought that the tyrannosaurs seemed to be eyeing up the herd, although it remains uncertain whether they actually crossed paths with the herbivorous dinosaurs.
Despite the uncertainties, this discovery has opened up new avenues for research within Dinosaur Provincial Park. By identifying more trackways, researchers hope to gain a deeper understanding of how these diverse dinosaur species coexisted in the ancient past.
The study detailing these findings was published in PLOS One.
