Dinosaur footprints dating back about 113 million years have been unearthed in Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas due to severe drought conditions that emptied a river, the park said in a statement Monday.
“Most of the footprints that were recently discovered in different parts of the river in the park belong to Acrocanthosaurus. This was a dinosaur that would have, as an adult, been about 4.5 meters tall and [com peso] close to seven tons,” park spokeswoman Stephanie Salinas Garcia told CNN by email.
Another species that left tracks in the park in Glen Rose, Texas, was the Sauroposeidon, which would have been about 60 feet tall and weighed about 44 tons as an adult, Garcia added.
The American summer’s excessive drought caused a river in the park to dry up completely in most spots, revealing the wakes – the last long-hidden and recently exposed secret as water bodies dried up due to drought conditions across the world. .
More than 60% of Texas was hit by droughts last week in two of the most intense categories, according to the US Drought Monitoring (USDM). The state has also recently experienced heat waves that have left millions under excessive heat alerts.
The man-made climate crisis has also increased the potential for more frequent dramatic swings in periods of drought and high rainfall, such as flash floods this week in Dallas.
Under normal weather conditions, dinosaur tracks found on the riverbed are underwater under sediment, which makes them less visible, Garcia explained.
“Being able to make these discoveries and experience new dinosaur footprints is always an exciting time at the park,” added Garcia.
Meanwhile, the footprints are expected to be reburied with rain forecast, said Garcia, who added that the process helps protect the footprints from natural weathering and erosion.
“Dinosaur Valley State Park will continue to protect these 113-million-year-old footprints not just for present generations but for future generations as well,” he added.
The contrails are just the latest discovery revealed by falling water levels due to drought, both in the US and abroad: Five sets of human bones were discovered in Utah’s Lake Mead in recent months as the reservoir fell to about than 27% of its total capacity.
In eastern Serbia, dozens of German warships still laden with explosives were exposed in the dry Danube River. A prehistoric stone circle dubbed the Spanish Stonehenge has been revealed in the Valdecañas reservoir in rural Spain. And Buddhist statues believed to be 600 years old have been found in China’s Yangtze River.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
