Dinosaur footprints set for public display in Utah

Published August 23, 2014
This artists rendition provided by Matt Celeskey shows the foot of a dinosaur.—AP
This artists rendition provided by Matt Celeskey shows the foot of a dinosaur.—AP

SALT LAKE CITY: A dry wash full of 112-million-year-old dinosaur tracks that include an ankylosaurus, dromaeosaurus and a menacing ancestor of the Tyrannosaurus rex, is set to open to the public this fall in Utah.

There are more than 200 tracks near the city of Moab from 10 different ancient animals that lived during the early Cretaceous period, said Utah Bureau of Land Management palaeontologist ReBecca Hunt-Foster.

They were first discovered in 2009 by a resident.

Since then, palaeontologists led by a team at the University of Colorado at Denver have studied them and prepared them for display. The tracks include a set of 17 consecutive footprints left by Tyrannosaurus rex ancestor and the imprint of an ancient croc odile pushing off into the water.

The site is one of the largest areas of dinosaur tracks from the early Cretaceous period known to exist in North America, she said.

Theropod tracks left by large, three-toed, meat-eating dinosaurs, related to the Siats dinosaur.—AP
Theropod tracks left by large, three-toed, meat-eating dinosaurs, related to the Siats dinosaur.—AP

“We don’t usually get this,” said Hunt-Foster, a palaeontologist for 16 years. “It is a beautiful track site, one of the best ones I’ve ever seen.” There are footprints from duckbilled dinosaurs, prehistoric birds, long-necked plant eaters and a dromaeosaur similar to a velociraptor or Utah raptor that had long, sharp claws.In one rock formation, a footprint left behind by a large plant eater is right in the middle of prints from a meat-eating theropod, Hunt-Foster said.

The imprint of an ancient crocodile shows the chest, body, tail and one foot. Palaeontologists believe it was made while the crocodile was pushing off a muddy bank into water. Palaeontologists believe the tracks were made over several days in what was a shallow lake.

They likely became covered by sediment that filled them up quickly enough to preserve them but gently enough not to scour them out, Hunt-Foster said. Over time, as more sediment built up, they became rock. They’re near a fault line, where the land has moved up and down over the years, she said.

Rains slowly eroded away layers of the rock, exposing the footprints. When it opens in October, the site will have a trail leading people to the tracks with signs explaining what they are looking at.

Officials are trying to raise funds to provide shade and a boardwalk so people can look at the tracks without being tempted to touch. Earlier this year, a Utah man was arrested and slapped with a federal charge after authorities say he pried a piece of sandstone with a three-toed ancient dinosaur track from the Sand Flats Recreation Area near Moab.

He pleaded guilty while accepting a deal that calls for him to serve one year of probation with six months under house arrest.

Palaeontologist Martin Lockley of the University of Colorado at Denver has taken the lead in studying, cleaning and preparing the tracks. Their uniqueness has lured paleontologists from several countries, including from Poland, Korea and China, Hunt-Foster said.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Judiciary’s SOS
Updated 28 Mar, 2024

Judiciary’s SOS

The ball is now in CJP Isa’s court, and he will feel pressure to take action.
Data protection
28 Mar, 2024

Data protection

WHAT do we want? Data protection laws. When do we want them? Immediately. Without delay, if we are to prevent ...
Selling humans
28 Mar, 2024

Selling humans

HUMAN traders feed off economic distress; they peddle promises of a better life to the impoverished who, mired in...
New terror wave
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

New terror wave

The time has come for decisive government action against militancy.
Development costs
27 Mar, 2024

Development costs

A HEFTY escalation of 30pc in the cost of ongoing federal development schemes is one of the many decisions where the...
Aitchison controversy
Updated 27 Mar, 2024

Aitchison controversy

It is hoped that higher authorities realise that politics and nepotism have no place in schools.