One of the largest dinosaur footprints in the world has been discovered near the city of Sucre in central Bolivia.
Tour guide Grover Marquina came across the print earlier this month, some 80 million years after it was made, while researching a tourist route through the area, which is well known for fossil finds.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This is one of the major findings of this type of print," local palaeontologist Omar Medina told AFP. Based on its size, the dinosaur who left it behind "must have had a height of about 15 metres [49ft]", he added: "It was big."
Argentinian palaeontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, who is overseeing investigations of the site, believes the footstep came from an abelisaurus. The bipedal predator is thought to have stood around 30ft tall on average so the new finding suggests the species could have been "much larger", he told La Razon.
From the shape of the track, it appears the dinosaur was moving from north to south, in the direction of northern Argentina, where several abelisaurus skeletons have been discovered.
The Sucre area is home to Cal Orcko, a prehistoric treasure trove that is in the process of becoming a Unesco World Heritage site. Its limestone cliffs bear the traces of thousands of dinosaur footprints dating from the Cretaceous era, which ended 66 million years ago.
-
September 14 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday’s political cartoons include RFK Jr on the hook, the destruction of discourse, and more
-
Air strikes in the Caribbean: Trump’s murky narco-warTalking Point Drug cartels ‘don’t follow Marquess of Queensberry Rules’, but US military air strikes on speedboats rely on strained interpretation of ‘invasion’
-
Crossword: September 14, 2025The Week's daily crossword puzzle
-
China is silently expanding its influence in American citiesUnder the Radar New York City and San Francisco, among others, have reportedly been targeted
-
How China uses 'dark fleets' to circumvent trade sanctionsThe Explainer The fleets are used to smuggle goods like oil and fish
-
One year after mass protests, why are Kenyans taking to the streets again?today's big question More than 60 protesters died during demonstrations in 2024
-
What happens if tensions between India and Pakistan boil over?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As the two nuclear-armed neighbors rattle their sabers in the wake of a terrorist attack on the contested Kashmir region, experts worry that the worst might be yet to come
-
Why Russia removed the Taliban's terrorist designationThe Explainer Russia had designated the Taliban as a terrorist group over 20 years ago
-
Inside the Israel-Turkey geopolitical dance across SyriaTHE EXPLAINER As Syria struggles in the wake of the Assad regime's collapse, its neighbors are carefully coordinating to avoid potential military confrontations
-
'Like a sound from hell': Serbia and sonic weaponsThe Explainer Half a million people sign petition alleging Serbian police used an illegal 'sound cannon' to disrupt anti-government protests
-
The arrest of the Philippines' former president leaves the country's drug war in disarrayIn the Spotlight Rodrigo Duterte was arrested by the ICC earlier this month
