Dinosaur Footprint Fossils

Dinosaur footprints or "tracks" are a type of trace fossil, meaning evidence (as opposed to actual body parts). Dinosaur tracks were usually created in fine sane or mud and have been discovered in over 1,500 sites. Scientists have discovered far more dinosaur tracks than actual dinosaur fossils, since each dinosaur had only one body but created many tracks by walking, and also since footprint fossils are generally well-preserved.

Big Shoes to Fill: Dinosaur Tracks

What can we tell about a dinosaur from its footprint? Elementary, my dear Watson. Paleontologists can examine a footprint's features to make certain logical conclusions. For example, scientists can study the track's size, shape, depth, pattern, pairing, location, distance between tracks, whether or not a tail trail is present, etc. From this information, they can determine such characteristics as the creature's speed, length of stride, whether it was hunting (or stalking), whether it walked on two or four legs, how the tail was carried, the foot's bone structure, whether it traveled in packs, and so forth.

Most dinosaur tracks were found in riverbeds, coal mines, quarries, deserts and mountains. Carnivorous dinosaur footprints have been more commonly discovered than those of herbivorous dinosaurs. This is probably due to the fact that plant-eating dinosaurs searched for food in grassy plant areas (less likely to leave a print, or to fossilize), while carnivorous dinosaurs walked through muddier areas while hunting for food.

While it is very difficult to determine exactly which dinosaur species made a particular track, usually the general group of dinosaurs can be identified, since foot structure varies greatly between types of dinosaurs. Actual dinosaur trackways (sets of footprints) can be seen in several areas, including Dinosaur State Park in Rocky Hill, Connecticut, Holyoke Site in Massachusetts, Dinosaur Ridge in Denver, Colorado, and the American Museum of Natural History in New York. Alternatively, casts made from dinosaur tracks may be viewed in many natural history museums.