UK's biggest dinosaur footprint site is discovered with hundreds of massive tracks from 166 million years ago
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Just a few hundred metres from the roaring traffic of the M40, scientists have uncovered a very different kind of road. Around 166 million years ago Britain's 'dinosaur highway' was teaming with lumbering giants and fierce predators making their way across the country.
![[In the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, archaeologists have found more than 200 dinosaur footprints in five distinct sets of tracks]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/12/93669273-14243567-In_the_Dewars_Farm_Quarry_in_Oxfordshire_archaeologists_have_fou-a-43_1735820318036.jpg)
Researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham have uncovered a huge expanse of quarry floor filled with hundreds of different dinosaur footprints. Scientists found five of the UK's most extensive dinosaur trackways, with the longest measuring 150m in length.
![[Four of the trackways belong to a long-necked sauropod, most likely the 18-metre-long Cetiosaurus (right). The last remaining set belonged to a Megalosaurus (left), a ferocious predator which grew up to nine metres in length]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/12/93669281-14243567-Four_of_the_trackways_belong_to_a_long_necked_sauropod_most_like-a-49_1735820398895.jpg)
Four of these belong to long-necked herbivores - most likely Cetiosaurus, an 18-metre-long cousin of the Diplodocus. The fifth track was made by a passing Megalosaurus, a ferocious nine-metre-long predator which stalked the boggy lagoons of Britain during the Middle Jurassic period.
![[The trackways extend up to 150 metres along the quarry bed and were discovered when a worker noticed 'unusual bumps' in the limestone]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/12/93669283-14243567-The_trackways_extend_up_to_150_metres_along_the_quarry_bed_and_w-a-44_1735820332412.jpg)
These uniquely well-preserved tracks reveal some stunning insights into the lives of the long-extinct giants, even recording the moment two dinosaurs crossed paths. And researchers say it is 'very likely' that there are still more tracks to be found. Scientists have uncovered Britain's 'dinosaur highway' where giant herbivores and fierce predators would have passed 166 million years ago.
![[By looking at the size and distribution of the footprints, scientists are able to work out how the dinosaurs moved and how fast they were going at the time]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/12/93669275-14243567-By_looking_at_the_size_and_distribution_of_the_footprints_scient-a-45_1735820352499.jpg)
In the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, archaeologists have found more than 200 dinosaur footprints in five distinct sets of tracks. The tracks were found in the Jurassic limestone of the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire. Originally buried under clay, these new tracks were first spotted by quarry worker Gary Johnson when he felt 'unusual bumps' while stripping back the clay to reach the quarry floor.
![[The Megalosaurus (left) produced footprints that are 65cm in length and was likely moving at around three miles per hour (five kmph). The sauropod produced huge 90cm footprints (right) and is believed to have been moving at a similar speed to human walking pace]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2025/01/02/12/93669279-14243567-The_Megalosaurus_produced_footprints_that_are_65cm_in_length_and-a-46_1735820363695.jpg)
