The Latest Find as Water Levels Fall: Dinosaur Tracks in Texas
As a punishing drought grips parts of the world this summer, bodies of water have been drying up, exposing submerged World War II relics in Europe,
several sets of human remains at Lake Mead outside Las Vegas, and even an entire village in Spain.
The latest find as water levels fall: dinosaur tracks in Texas.
Severe drought conditions at Dinosaur Valley State Park, about 60 miles southwest of Fort Worth, exposed dinosaur tracks from around 113 million years ago that were previously hidden underneath the Paluxy River,
according to Stephanie Garcia, a spokeswoman for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. The tracks belong to Acrocanthosaurus, which are theropods, or bipedal dinosaurs with three toes and claws on each limb.
The dinosaur would have stood 15 feet tall and weighed close to seven tons as an adult. They would have left their tracks in sediment that hardened into what is now limestone, researchers say.
“Due to the excessive drought conditions this past summer, the river dried up completely in most locations, allowing for more tracks to be uncovered here in the park,” Ms. Garcia said in a statement.
“Under normal river conditions, these newer tracks are under water and are commonly filled in with sediment, making them buried and not as visible.”
The tracks are likely to be buried again by rain this week. But the finding — even if for a brief moment — excited researchers and the public.