Saturday, February 15, 2025

116 million year-old ‘dinosaur highway’ uncovered in Oxfordshire

Researchers from the University of Oxford and University of Birmingham have discovered a “dinosaur highway” in North Oxfordshire, one of the most significant paleontological discoveries in the UK. The area revealed hundreds of dinosaur footprints produced by five different species of dinosaurs. Approximately 166 million years old, they date back to the Middle Jurassic Period. 

Footage from the excavation will feature in the Oxford University Museum of Natural History’s (OUMNH) exhibition Breaking Ground, which will run from October to September later this year.

The footprints were initially discovered at Dewars Farm Quarry by employee Gary Johnson whilst using his vehicle to strip back layers of clay. Subsequently, a team of over 100 people, including staff from the Oxford Museum of Natural History and students from  Oxford and Birmingham universities , carried out an excavation which uncovered around 200 footprints.

Four of the tracks are believed to have been made by the sauropod Cetiosaurus, a large herbivorous dinosaur with a long neck, related to the Diplodocus. Although these dinosaurs could reach up to 18m long, the tracks suggest these sauropods were all different sizes, and therefore possibly a herd.

The fifth set of tracks was made by the carnivorous predator Megalosaurus, which was the first ever dinosaur to be scientifically described 200 years ago. The researchers uncovered the carnivore and herbivore tracks crossing, raising questions about possible interactions between the two groups. 

The last discovery of this kind was approximately 30 years ago, when 40 sets of footprints were uncovered in a limestone quarry. Some of these trackways reached 180m, slightly further than the 2024 tracks, the longest of which reaches 150m. This site, however, is now mostly inaccessible.

More than 20,000 images were taken of the footprints during the dig, using photogrammetry, 3D models, and drone photography, to capture as much digital information as possible about the footprints for future research.

Doctor Duncan Murdock, Earth Scientist at OUMNH told Cherwell: “Unlike fossil bones, finds like these tell us about the behaviour of extinct animals. The size, shape and position of the footprints can tell us how these dinosaurs moved, their size and speed.” 

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