Texas drought reveals dinosaur footprints from 113 million years ago WSOC TV
GLEN ROSE, Texas — The severe drought plaguing Texas has revealed a long path of dinosaur prints in Dinosaur Valley State Park.
The tracks, which date back 113 million years, had been buried under layers of sediment before they were discovered, CBS News reported.
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Dinosaur Valley State Park offers visitors the chance to observe dinosaur tracks, but the newest discovery is the result of the river dropping lower than normal.
“Due to the excessive drought conditions this past summer, the river dried up completely in most locations, allowing for more tracks to be uncovered here in the park,” Stephanie Salinas Garcia, park spokesperson, told CBS News.
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Garcia told CNN that the tracks most recently uncovered belong to Acrocanthosaurus, which stood approximately 15 feet tall and weighed nearly 7 tons. Garcia said there are also tracks from Sauroposeidon, which was 60 feet tall and weighed 44 tons.
A video posted to Facebook shows the tracks in the riverbed as volunteers came out to carefully expose the prints and map out the tracks.
The trail closed Monday because of rain, but in a Facebook post, Texas Parks and Wildlife said the tracks were still visible.
“While they will soon be buried again by the rain and the river, Dinosaur Valley State Park will continue to protect these 113-million-year-old tracks not only for present, but future generations,” Garcia told CBS News.
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