These deep fingerprints were once buried, filled with sediments and covered by the water from the Paluxy river, which helped their conservation.
Le Monde with AFP
The drought that rages in the United States does not only reappear human remains, as on the dry bank of Lake Mead, near Las Vegas. that which touches Texas revealed the traces left , some 113 million years ago, by an acrocanthosaurus (acrocanthosaurus, literally “lizard with high thorns”).
The footsteps of this bipede predatory dinosaur have been revealed in the bed of a dry river, announced Stephanie Salinas Garcia, the department in charge of the Parks and the Fauna of Texas.
These deep imprints were once buried, filled with sediments and covered by the water from the Paluxy river, which helped their conservation. “Because of extreme drought conditions this summer, the river has completely dried up in most places, which has revealed new traces in [ Dinosaur Valley State Park ]”, located 120 kilometers from the city of Dallas, explained Stephanie Salinas Garcia.
longer follow -up of traces of dinosaurs in the world
It could be one of the longest follow -up of fingerprints of dinosaurs in the world, according to the images broadcast by the park on social networks. We see volunteers helping to clean them in order to better distinguish them. “Most of the traces that have recently been discovered in different places in the river in the park have been left by an acrocanthosaurus,” said Stephanie Salinas Garcia. Adult, this theropode could measure up to 5 meters and weigh 7 tonnes.
Other traces have been left by a sauroposeidon, a dinosaur which could measure up to 18 meters in length and weigh 44 tonnes once adult. Visitors will probably not be able to admire these prehistoric footprints for a long time, because they will soon be covered with water with the arrival of the rain.