Texas Flood Volunteer Unearths Mysterious 35-Foot Dinosaur Tracks Hidden for Millions of Years
Texas Floods Reveal 15 Acrocanthosaurus Footprints Near Big Sandy Creek
Wikimedia CommonsPaleontologists believe the tracks were likely made by the Acrocanthosaurus.
The massive, three-toed tracks were found near Big Sandy Creek in central Texas. The brush and sediment washed away by the powerful floods had kept the tracks hidden, according to CNN.
The 15 tracks range from about 18 to 20 inches long, and were formed in 110-million-year-old Glen Rose Formation limestone. Based on the age of the rock, paleontologists estimate the footprints are somewhere between 110 million and 115 million years old.
When the footprints were made, the area that’s now Travis County was located right along the waters of the Western Interior Seaway, an inland sea that split present-day North American in two millions of years ago. Paleontologists believe the tracks could’ve been left by the Acrocanthosaurus, which was the largest carnivore in North America during this period.
Like T. rex, the Acrocanthosaurus could measure up to 35 feet long and had a slender build with small arms. It also had incredibly sharp teeth, allowing it to rip into its prey. While there are important differences between this fearsome carnivore and T. rex, the two are remarkably similar.
“If they were chasing any one of us you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference,” Matthew Brown, paleontologist at the University of Texas at Austin, told KUT News.
Paleontologists also spotted footprints left by Texas’ official state dinosaur, the Paluxysaurus. This large herbivore is characterized by its tall stature and long neck.
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