Over 60 Early Jurassic dinosaur footprints discovered on a rock that's been at an Australian school for two decades
A remarkable Early Jurassic record has been hiding in plain sight for 20 years on a slab of rock displayed at a high school in Biloela, Australia, according to a new study.
While researchers knew the 1.5-meter-long (about 5-foot-long) slab was around 200 million years old and home to an abundance of visible dinosaur footprints, the significance of the fossil remained unclear.
Now, a team of paleontologists studying the rock's surface has found 66 fossilized footprints from 47 individual dinosaurs belonging to the ichnospecies Anomoepus scambu. Ichnospecies are organisms identified only through trace fossils, or fossils that are of impressions they leave, such as footprints, rather than the actual organisms.
The discovery represents one of the highest concentrations of dinosaur footprints per square meter ever documented in the country, and it provides an 'unprecedented snapshot' of the abundance of dinosaurs during the Early Jurassic, a period during which no dinosaur bones have been uncovered in Australia, according to a news release from The University of Queensland. The findings were published in the journal Historical Biology on March 10.
The fact that this fossil slipped under the radar for decades isn't surprising, said lead study author Dr. Anthony Romilio, a paleontologist and research associate with the university's Dinosaur Lab.
'Fossil dinosaur footprints tend to be vastly under-rated even by many (paleontologists),' Romilio said in an email.
But in Australia, since the oldest fossilized dinosaur bones come from the Middle Jurassic, about 160 million years ago, 'footprint fossils are the only direct evidence our country has of the types of dinosaurs we had here (during earlier times),' Romilio said. What's more, the slab provides a rare glimpse into the behavior and activity of a dinosaur that has only been described by its footprints found in various parts of the world, experts say.
Dinosaur footprints from Early Jurassic
By using advanced 3D imaging and light filters, Romilio was able to uncover hidden details in the stone slab, revealing the multitude of footprints and other features such as the direction in which the animals that made the tracks were headed.
The 66 fossilized footprints, which range in size from about 5 centimeters to 20 centimeters (about 2 to 8 inches) in length, reveal that the dinosaurs had likely been crossing a river or going up and down the length of a river, Romilio said. Since there are no ripple marks on the surface of the rock, it is difficult to tell the river flow's direction, but the tracks clearly show the dinosaurs walking in two directions, he added.
Through his analysis, Romilio found a total of 13 sequences of footprints that belonged to 13 dinosaurs that made the trackways. The remaining footprints, coming to a total of 34, were classified as isolated footprints, accounting for the 47 total individuals. The dinosaurs that made the tracks would have had legs ranging from 15 to 50 centimeters (about 6 to 20 inches) in length along with a chunky body and short arms, Romilio said.
Although trace fossils are often overlooked because they are more common than dinosaur bones, they can 'provide a huge amount of information when they're properly analyzed,' said Dr. Paul Olsen, a paleontologist and Arthur D. Storke Memorial Professor of Earth & Environmental Sciences at Columbia University. Olsen, who has studied Anomoepus, was not involved with this new study.
'(Footprints) provide information about animals that were present even though we don't have the bones … They're really like a parallel dataset that allows us to track, pun intended, what's going on when the bones are rare. That's why they're so important,' Olsen said.
From what is known about the other tracks that have been found across parts of the US, Europe, Africa and China, A. scambus was a three-toed, two-legged dinosaur that belonged to the ornithischian family, which includes other plant-eating dinosaurs such as duckbills and triceratops, and had beaks at the front of their mouths with grinding teeth, Olsen said.
These new footprints, which preserve a lot of anatomical detail, further support that 'small ornithischian dinosaurs achieved a global distribution by the beginning of the Jurassic Period,' he added.
Hidden in plain sight
The study authors also analyzed two other instances of trace fossils that were found in unexpected locations. They found that a 2,000-kilogram (about 4,400-pound) boulder used as a parking lot entry marker at the Callide mine near Biloela had two distinct footprints left by a slightly larger dinosaur. And a third rock from a personal collection (in use as a bookend) had a single footprint.
The rock slab located at the high school was also originally from the Callide Mine, which is an open-cut mine, meaning that the overlying rock is removed to get to the coal underneath, Romilio explained. During the extraction of the overlying rock, which spans many miles and dates to the Early Jurassic period, fossil footprints such as these can be found.
'There are definitely many more fossils occurring there,' Romilio said. 'Whether they are spotted in time, or whether it is safe to pick them up is another thing entirely. We are just lucky that these and some others have been spotted, recovered and available for people like me to study them and share the findings.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
Increased screen time linked to aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem in kids, study finds
A major international study looking at nearly 300,000 children has revealed a two-way link between the amount of time kids spend on screens and their emotional and social well-being. Children who spent more time using devices like TVs, tablets, computers, and gaming consoles were at a higher risk of developing problems like aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem later in life, the study found. The connection also works in reverse: Children who were already struggling with social or emotional challenges tended to spend more time on all types of screens. Time spent on gaming consoles was particularly linked to a greater chance of developing issues, according to the study, published Monday in the academic journal Psychological Bulletin. Excessive screen time during infancy may be linked to lower cognitive skills later in childhood "Rather than breaking it down by the exact game people were playing, it's safe to make some assumptions," Dr. Michael Noetel, one of the study's authors and associate professor of psychology at The University of Queensland, Australia, told ABC News. "The most games that were included were console games, computer games and mobile games." When asked if violent games, such games that involved shooting, led to more behavioral issues, Noetel said that was not necessarily the case. "Some studies broke the games down by whether they were violent, but our interpretation was that most parents knew to limit the amount of violent content to give kids under 10," he said. "Instead, [the] key finding was that gaming in general -- regardless of the specific type -- showed much stronger links to emotional problems than other screen activities like watching TV or using educational apps." The study is one of the largest of its kind, analyzing 117 long-term studies conducted between 1972 and 2024. By focusing on children aged 10 and under and tracking them over time, the researchers could more clearly determine cause and effect. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children between the ages of 2 and 5 to limit recreational screen time to one hour per day on weekdays and three hours on weekends. Children who exceed recommended screen time guidelines were more prone to socioemotional issues compared to those who stayed within the recommended limits, according to the study. "More than 40% of kids [ages] 8 to 12 are using screens for more than four hours per day," Dr. Tara Narula, ABC News chief medical correspondent, said about the study's findings Tuesday on "Good Morning America." "You add to that the fact that we are seeing rising rates of mental health disorders in kids, and half of these disorders start before the age of 14 -- you can understand why we need to understand the effects of screens on our kids." 48-hour screen-time experiment: What happens when kids have no limits So, what's the key takeaway for parents? The goal isn't to eliminate screens entirely, the study authors said. When children engage in moderate amounts of screen time, especially for educational purposes, there is a lower risk for social or emotional problems in the future. Children should learn not to use a screen as their sole outlet to manage their emotions and should be encouraged to interact with friends and family to develop resilience and emotional skills. The most important thing is to ensure that screen time doesn't interfere with essentials like a full night's sleep and regular physical activity, the study added. "We've all been guilty of it, but it's OK to say no and to set limits and boundaries, and do it in a noncontrolling way as a parent, if you can," said Narula, who was not involved with the study. Dr. Brendan Huang serves as the chief resident physician in adult neurology at Northwell Health and is also a member of the ABC News Medical Unit. Increased screen time linked to aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem in kids, study finds originally appeared on
a day ago
Increased screen time linked to aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem in kids, study finds
A major international study looking at nearly 300,000 children has revealed a two-way link between the amount of time kids spend on screens and their emotional and social well-being. Children who spent more time using devices like TVs, tablets, computers, and gaming consoles were at a higher risk of developing problems like aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem later in life, the study found. The connection also works in reverse: Children who were already struggling with social or emotional challenges tended to spend more time on all types of screens. Time spent on gaming consoles was particularly linked to a greater chance of developing issues, according to the study, published Monday in the academic journal Psychological Bulletin. "Rather than breaking it down by the exact game people were playing, it's safe to make some assumptions," Dr. Michael Noetel, one of the study's authors and associate professor of psychology at The University of Queensland, Australia, told ABC News. "The most games that were included were console games, computer games and mobile games." When asked if violent games, such games that involved shooting, led to more behavioral issues, Noetel said that was not necessarily the case. "Some studies broke the games down by whether they were violent, but our interpretation was that most parents knew to limit the amount of violent content to give kids under 10," he said. "Instead, [the] key finding was that gaming in general -- regardless of the specific type -- showed much stronger links to emotional problems than other screen activities like watching TV or using educational apps." The study is one of the largest of its kind, analyzing 117 long-term studies conducted between 1972 and 2024. By focusing on children aged 10 and under and tracking them over time, the researchers could more clearly determine cause and effect. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends children between the ages of 2 and 5 to limit recreational screen time to one hour per day on weekdays and three hours on weekends. Children who exceed recommended screen time guidelines were more prone to socioemotional issues compared to those who stayed within the recommended limits, according to the study. "More than 40% of kids [ages] 8 to 12 are using screens for more than four hours per day," Dr. Tara Narula, ABC News chief medical correspondent, said about the study's findings Tuesday on " Good Morning America." "You add to that the fact that we are seeing rising rates of mental health disorders in kids, and half of these disorders start before the age of 14 -- you can understand why we need to understand the effects of screens on our kids." So, what's the key takeaway for parents? The goal isn't to eliminate screens entirely, the study authors said. When children engage in moderate amounts of screen time, especially for educational purposes, there is a lower risk for social or emotional problems in the future. Children should learn not to use a screen as their sole outlet to manage their emotions and should be encouraged to interact with friends and family to develop resilience and emotional skills. The most important thing is to ensure that screen time doesn't interfere with essentials like a full night's sleep and regular physical activity, the study added. "We've all been guilty of it, but it's OK to say no and to set limits and boundaries, and do it in a noncontrolling way as a parent, if you can," said Narula, who was not involved with the study.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Yahoo
Well-preserved dinosaur skull belongs to new sauropod species
Sauropods were some of the largest dinosaurs to ever stomp across the planet, and they did their stomping pretty much everywhere. But while paleontologists have discovered fossils from species like Apatosaurus and Brachiosaurus on almost every present-day continent, those found in China have been largely relegated to the nation's southern and western regions. Well-preserved remains of non-neosauropod eusauropods are even more rare. These relatives existed through the Middle Jurassic approximately 174 to 161 million years ago. According to a recent study published in Scientific Reports, a team led by researchers at the China University of Geosciences has discovered a new sauropod species they call Jinchuanloong niedu. And their specimen's skull is one of the most well-preserved ever excavated. Almost all giant, long-necked dinosaurs beyond their earliest evolutionary forms belong to the eusauropod clade. They eventually became the only sauropod line to survive past the Early Jurassic's global mass extinction event, with many species evolving to make up the neosauropoda later clade includes Brachiosaurus and Apatosaurus. While these newer neosauropods were the majority, some non-neosauropod continued to exist through the Middle Jurassic. But of those, paleontologists have recovered very few with well-preserved skulls, leaving large gaps in the overall fossil record. Jinchuanloong niedu, however, is helping to fill in those missing pieces. The remains discovered at the Xinhe Formation located in northwestern China encompass five articulated cervical vertebrae, 29 articulated caudal vertebrae, along with a nearly complete skull that includes its mandible. The fossil trove's location in the sedimentary layers indicate the dinosaur lived sometime around the Middle Jurassic's late Bathonion period–roughly 165 to 186 million years ago. After comparing their specimen with other East Asian sauropods, the university's announcement noted a mix of 'primitive and derived features' that pointed to a unique, previously undiscovered its preservation, the first known Jinchuanloong niedu specimen doesn't appear to be an adult. Physiological features including unfused neural arches in the caudal vertebrae imply that the dinosaur was a juvenile or subadult when it died. But given that it was already nearly 100 feet long, it's a near-certainty that Jinchuanloong niedu still grew to colossal proportions.
