World's biggest dinosaur footprint found in 'Australia's Jurassic Park'
A team of palaeontologists discovered prints measuring a staggering 5ft 7in
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
You are now subscribed
Your newsletter sign-up was successful
Palaeontologists have discovered the world's biggest known dinosaur footprints along a remote stretch of coastline in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.
At least 21 different species have been found - so many that researchers have dubbed the area "Australia's Jurassic Park".
One of the tracks features footprints of a sauropod measuring 5ft 7ins, eclipsing the previous record of 3ft 6in, discovered in Mongolia.
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.
Dr Steve Salisbury, who has studied the prints, says the animal that made them would have measured around 18ft from floor to hip.
Speaking to ABC News, he said a footprint that big might at first seem scientifically impossible and the sheer size of the prints had caused them to be overlooked at first.
"These animals did exist," he added. "They were out there and we're seeing evidence of them having existed in the Kimberley 130 million years ago based on these tracks."
The sauropod family, which includes the brontosaurus, lived around 130 million years ago at Walmadany in Kimberley, north of Broome. That makes them considerably older than the previously oldest-known dinosaur fossils in Australia, which are between 90 million and 115 million years old.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The soft ground the prints were made in has since hardened to form sandstone rock platforms on the coast.
-
Health insurance: Premiums soar as ACA subsidies endFeature 1.4 million people have dropped coverage
-
Anthropic: AI triggers the ‘SaaSpocalypse’Feature A grim reaper for software services?
-
NIH director Bhattacharya tapped as acting CDC headSpeed Read Jay Bhattacharya, a critic of the CDC’s Covid-19 response, will now lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
-
Epstein files topple law CEO, roil UK governmentSpeed Read Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the US, is caught up in the scandal
-
Iran and US prepare to meet after skirmishesSpeed Read The incident comes amid heightened tensions in the Middle East
-
Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
-
China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
-
Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
-
Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
-
Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
-
US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military