The extreme weather in Texas has left about 70 tracks exposed in Dinosaur Valley State Park, and experts believe some of them belong to a massive 60ft-tall Paluxysaurus
One of the longest dinosaur tracks in the world has been exposed in the United States thanks to a drought.
Footprints thought to date back a staggering 110 million years have been spotted in Dinosaur Valley State Park, Texas.
They are usually hidden under water and mud in the Paluxy River, but the exceptionally hot weather has left them exposed.
It’s not the first time drought has revealed some of these prehistoric tracks but this year there are about 70 that can be seen, and Chron reports that’s more than before.
One part of the track dubbed the ‘Lone Ranger Track’ is thought to be one of the longest dinosaur tracks in the world, according to WKYC Channel 3.
The tracks are thought to belong to two types of dinosaur.
Three-toed tracks are likely to belong to an Acrocanthosaurus, a 15-foot-tall dinosaur that weighed nearly seven tons, according to Paul Baker of the Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park.
The larger tracks, which look as though they belong to an elephant, are likely to be from a Sauropodseiden, which was a massive 60ft-tall, 44-ton dinosaur sometimes called a Paluxysaurus.
Paul said: “This is not normal for us, but due to two consecutive years of high temps and drought conditions it has given us the opportunity to uncover new tracks.”
Palaeontologists are scrambling to research and cast the fascinating tracks, though, because they’ll soon be back out of sight.
“Once we receive a decent rain most of the tracks will be covered up again,” said Paul.
Dinosaur tracks – mainly belonging to mainly ancient sauropods and theropods – can be seen all-year round in the park, which is in Glen Rose, just south of Fort Worth.
Herbivore species such as Diplodocus and Brontosaurus – with their elephant-like feet – are among the dinosaurs that were classified as sauropods. Theropods, like the T-rex, had clawed, three-toed feet.
More than half of Texas is currently suffering from a drought.