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The newly-discovered footprints of theropod and ornithopod dinosaurs go back to the Early Cretaceous date, over 120 million years back, when Australia was still linked to Antarctica.
Melissa Lowery and Anthony Martin take a look at a dinosaur track. Image credit: Ruth Schowalter.
The Early Cretaceous dinosaur footprints were found in the Wonthaggi Formation south of Melbourne, Australia.
They consist of 18 tracks made by medium to big theropods (0.8-1.9 m hip heights) and 4 tracks made by little ornithopod dinosaurs (40-48 cm hip heights).
“These many tracks are the very best proof yet that these previous polar environments supported big predators,” stated Emory University’s Professor Anthony Martin.
“The big theropods would likely have actually fed upon victim such as smaller sized dinosaurs, fish and turtles.”
“The hip height of that theropod would have had to do with the like the complete height of a high, modern-day human.”
“The Australian state of Victoria’s rocky seaside strata mark where the ancient supercontinent Gondwana started to separate around 100 million years back, separating Australia from Antarctica.”
“The polar environment at that time was a rift valley with braided rivers.”
“Although the mean yearly air temperature level was greater throughout the Cretaceous than today, throughout the polar winter seasons the environments experienced deep freezing temperature levels and months of darkness.”
“The Wonthaggi Formation has actually yielded among the very best assemblages of polar dinosaur body fossils in the southern hemisphere, however the majority of these remains are little pieces of bones and teeth.”
“These pieces might have been reached the website where they were buried by torrential spring floods.”
“Our discover of a lot of theropod tracks, nevertheless, validates that a range of dinosaurs in fact lived and strolled on the ground where their bones were discovered.”
“Dinosaur tracks are in fact far more typical at the website than we formerly understood.”
The theropod footprints in the Wonthaggi Formation variety in length from 18 to 47 cm (7-18.5 inches).
They are differentiated by fairly thin toes tipped with sharp claws.
The ornithopod footprints vary in size from 10 to 18 cm (4-7 inches).
The variety in sizes of the tracks recommends a mix of juvenile and adult ornithopods and theropods.
“That suggests that these dinosaurs might have embedded and raised their young in the polar environment,” Professor Martin stated.
The discovery is reported in a paper in the Alcheringa, an Australasian Journal of Palaeontology
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Anthony J. Martin et alPolar dinosaur tracks of the Wonthaggi Formation (Lower Cretaceous), Victoria, Australia and their palaeontological significance. Alcheringa, an Australasian Journal of Palaeontologyreleased online September 8, 2024; doi: 10.1080/ 03115518.2024.2392498
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