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The newly-discovered theropod and sauropod footprints become part of the Late Jurassic Majala Formation, and represent the earliest dinosaur footprints reported for Chile and the western margin of the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.
Paleoartistic restoration of Quebrada Huatacondo throughout the Late Jurassic date. Image credit: Nahuel Vásquez.
“The Late Jurassic fossil record shows noteworthy variations in the abundance and circulation of dinosaur tracksites in between Laurasia and Gondwana,” stated Dr. Marko Yurac from the Unidad de Patrimonio Paleontológico and his associates.
“In Europe alone, numerous websites have actually been recorded, consisting of those in Italy, Croatia, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany, and Portugal.”
“Additionally, North America hosts comprehensive tracksites with plentiful ichnological proof.”
“In contrast, the dinosaur performance history in Gondwana is significantly more minimal and fragmented. Noteworthy exceptions consist of track-bearing outcrops in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco.”
“Beyond these, ichnological proof is fairly limited, with just a few records from Australia.
“In South America, many dinosaur tracksites are focused along the eastern margin of the continent, especially in Brazil, Guyana, and Uruguay, with extra reports from northern areas such as Colombia.”
“In contrast, the western margin of South America– representing the western limit of Gondwana– has actually yielded Late Jurassic dinosaur tracksites solely from Chile.”
Trackway with 4 successive tracks of a big tridactyl trackmaker in the Majala Formation in Chile. Image credit: Yurac et aldoi: 10.1186/ s13358-025-00419-9.
The paleontologists determined an overall of 5 track-bearing levels within the Majala Formation in the Quebrada Huatacondo location of Chile.
The footprints were produced by theropod and sauropod dinosaurs roughly 160 million years back, throughout the Late Jurassic date.
“Around 160 million years back, northern Chile experienced cycles of flooding and dry spell,” the scientists discussed.
“While the environment was mainly dry, seasonal water build-up produced ephemeral wetlands that drew in animals of all sizes– from little theropods to enormous meat-eating dinosaurs.”
“As dinosaurs strolled throughout moist mud near these water sources, their footprints were inscribed in the soft sediment.”
“Subsequent flooding carefully covered the tracks, maintaining them for countless years.”
The Majala footprints expose the existence of giant (lengths in between 51 and 52.8 cm), big (lengths in between 43.5 and 46.5 cm) and medium (lengths in between 25 and 27 cm) theropod dinosaurs.
One surface area has more than 25 footprints of minute to little theropods (footprints lengths varying from 8 to 13 cm).
“These footprints make up the tiniest theropod performance history up until now in Chile, and perhaps throughout the whole western margin of Gondwana,” the researchers stated.
Another surface area represents the sole stratigraphic level displaying specifically sauropod tracks (possibly undertracks).
“Due to their bad conservation state, quantitative measurements might not be gotten,” the authors stated.
“Nevertheless, analysis of the digital design allows the reasoning of the existence of a minimum of 9 footprints that reveal a positioning which might represent a possible trackway.”
According to the paleontologists, their finds represent the earliest dinosaur tracks understood from Chile and the western margin of Gondwana.
“These footprints function as the main proof for rebuilding the paleoenvironmental and behavioral characteristics of dinosaurs in northern Chile throughout the Late Jurassic, showing episodic profession of semi-arid floodplain and ephemeral wetland environments,” they concluded.
The discovery is reported in a paper in the Swiss Journal of Palaeontology
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M. Yurac et al2025. Upper Jurassic dinosaur tracks from the Majala Formation in the Huatacondo location (Tarapacá Basin, Chile): reappraisal of recognized areas and brand-new tracksite discoveries. Swiss J Palaeontol 144, 72; doi: 10.1186/ s13358-025-00419-9
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