166 million-year-old dinosaur highway discovered in UK quarry
Extensive dinosaur trackways discovered in unlikely location
- The most extensive dinosaur trackways ever discovered in Europe have been uncovered at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire.
- The 220-metre trail features nearly 100 footprints, primarily from enormous herbivorous sauropods, believed to be Cetiosaurus, alongside rarer prints from meat-eating Megalosaurs.
- These Jurassic-era prints, dating back 171 to 165 million years, offer new insights into how dinosaurs, estimated to be 15-16 metres long and weighing up to 10 tonnes, moved at speeds of around 4-5 miles per hour.
- Palaeontologists suggest the dinosaurs traversed ancient mudflats between islands in what was then a watery landscape, similar to today's Florida Keys or Bahamas Banks.
- The footprints are being carefully recorded before reburial for protection, with no immediate public access planned, though discussions for future excavations are underway.