The small village of Huatacondo in northern Chile now holds the distinction of having the most dinosaur footprints in Chile. A group of scientists recently found more than 1,000 of these footprints there, according to a report in Newsweek.
Five professionals from Chile and abroad reached the Tarapaca region in northern Chile between May 23 and June 3, where they discovered several hundred footprints spread out over 30 square kilometres. The scientists gathered evaluated the data gathered by the local community.
One of these researchers is Christian Salazar, from the Universidad Mayor, a private university in the Chilean capital city of Santiago.
"It is something truly unprecedented in my professional experience, incredible. In 10 days, we found more than a thousand footprints... We know that there is huge potential here and it is the beginning of a great project," he told Global Times.
The discovery comprises of more than 1,000 footprints left by young, mature, and adult theropod and sauropod dinosaurs that lived 150 million years ago, said the outlet.
The team discovered footprints that ranged in size from 80 centimetres to one metre, indicating that the enormous animals may have reached a length of 12 metres. In a nearby sedimentary rock, smaller animals including worms, plants, and insects have also been discovered.
Paleontologists are excited about the discovery as it will throw light on the behaviour of the dinosaurs. The fossils will also provide details on the ecology and temperature of the time and place where those dinosaurs lived.
One of the reasons is that there are extremely particular requirements that must be met in order for footprints to fossilise, so the mere fact that the casts are still in place allows the researchers to infer a lot about the original animal.
