Hundreds of dinosaur footprints dating back 166 million years found in quarry
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Researchers have discovered nearly 200 dinosaur footprints dating back 166 million years buried under mud in an Oxfordshire quarry. The dig, carried out at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire by teams from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham, uncovered five extensive trackways, forming part of a ‘dinosaur highway’ – with evidence of more in the surrounding area.
The longest continuous track of footprints measured more than 150 metres in length, with four made by long-necked herbivorous dinosaurs called sauropods and most likely to be Cetiosaurus, an up to 18-metre-long cousin of the Diplodocus. The fifth trackway was made by the nine-metre long carnivorous Megalosaurus which had distinctive, large, three-toed feet with claws, the University of Birmingham said.
One area of the site shows the carnivore and herbivore tracks crossing over, prompting questions about whether and how the two were interacting. Experts were called into the quarry when worker Gary Johnson felt “unusual bumps” as he was stripping clay back with a digger to expose the quarry floor.
The Universities of Oxford and Birmingham co-led a team of more than 100 people on a week-long excavation in June 2024, uncovering around 200 footprints, creating 20,000 photographs and building detailed 3D models of the site using aerial drone photography.
