Dinosaur footprints 100 million years old found at the bottom of a dry river in Texas

An estimated 113 million year old dinosaur footprints have been discovered in Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas due to a severe drought that dried up a river. CNN.

Photo: IStock

“Most of the footprints that have recently been found in different parts of the river in the park are from Acrocanthosaurus. It was a dinosaur that, as an adult, was about 4,5 meters tall and weighed about seven tons," spokeswoman Stephanie Salinas Garcia said.

Another species that left footprints in a park in Glen Rose, Texas, was Sauroposeidon, which reached about 16m and weighed about 44 tons when fully grown, Garcia added.

Excessive drought this summer has caused the river in the park to dry up completely in most places, exposing dinosaur footprints.

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More than 60% of Texas was hit by drought in the two most intense categories last week, according to the US Drought Monitor. The state has also recently experienced heatwaves, putting millions of people at risk of extreme heat.

The human-induced climate crisis has also increased the likelihood of more frequent dry spells and heavy rainfall, such as this week's flash floods in the Dallas area.

Under normal weather conditions, dinosaur footprints found in the riverbed are underwater and filled with sediment, making them less visible, Garcia said.

“Being able to see these discoveries is always an exciting time in the park!” Garcia added.

Meanwhile, the tracks are expected to be buried again as rain is predicted, Garcia said, adding that the process helps protect the tracks from natural weathering and erosion.

“Although these new dinosaur tracks were only visible for a short period of time, they created surprise and excitement about their discovery in the park,” Garcia said. “Dinosaur Valley State Park will continue to protect these 113-million-year-old footprints not only for the present, but for future generations.”

Footprints are just the latest discovery revealed by falling water levels due to drought both in the US and abroad: human remains have been unearthed at Lake Mead in Utah in recent months as the reservoir's water level dropped to about 27% of its full volume.

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In Eastern Serbia, dozens of German warships, still loaded with explosives, have been found in the drying up Danube River. A prehistoric stone circle called the Spanish Stonehenge has been discovered in the Valdecanas reservoir in rural Spain. And Buddhist statues believed to be 600 years old have been found in the depleted Yangtze River.

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