The James Price Point area of Australia’s coastline reveals an amazing concentration of dinosaur tracks — including the largest dinosaur footprint ever found.
The aboriginal Goolarabooloo community first identified the site stretching out along 25 kilometers of the Yanijarri–Lurujarri section of the Dampier Peninsula. The government had chosen the location as part of a liquid natural gas drilling project more than five years ago, outraging locals who reached out to the University of Queensboro for research and preservation.
The Walmandy area was quickly designated a National Heritage Site and the development plan buried, leaving scientists to spend more than 400 hours studying the unprecedented concentration of well-preserved track sites.
Twenty-one different dinosaur tracks were identified from among 150 physical areas. These tracks were recognized from five entirely different groups of dinosaurs including sauropods, ornithopods, thyreophorans, and theropods.
The inclusive coastal area persists on a reef system, making for difficult analysis and the inability to study the tracks out in the field except at low tide. To compensate for these obstacles, scientists implemented drone surveys of the land and relied on laser casts and silicone peels when necessary.
This amazing discovery provides a glimpse into the presence of dinosaurs in Australia during a time period never-before documented and serves as possibly the greatest site of dinosaur track diversity in the entire world.
In addition, the largest dinosaur track ever found was uncovered — measuring 1.75 meters (nearly 6 feet) long — made by a giant herbivorous sauropod.
The research is published in the Journal of Paleontology.
“It is extremely significant, forming the primary record of non-avian dinosaurs in the western half the continent and providing the only glimpse of Australia’s dinosaur fauna during the first half of the Early Cretaceous Period,” lead study author Dr. Salisbury stated in a press release.
“It’s such a magical place—Australia’s own Jurassic Park, in a spectacular wilderness setting.”
Video: The University of Queensland, Vimeo