Mental Floss

‘Dinosaur Highway’ of 200 Footprints Uncovered in England

The prehistoric tracks date back 166 million years.

ByCaLea Johnson|
Megalosaurus was an apex predator in Jurassic Britain.
Megalosaurus was an apex predator in Jurassic Britain. | Stocktrek Images/GettyImages

Millions of years before humans entered the scene, dinosaurs roamed what is now Great Britain. The extinct creatures left behind evidence of their lives in many different forms, including a so-called “dinosaur highway” covered in prehistoric footprints.

At least five specimens crossed what’s now known as the Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England, leaving 200 footprints. They were discovered after a quarry worker named Gary Johnson noticed strange humps on the ground while operating his equipment. He reached out to the University of Birmingham and Oxford, which prompted a week-long excavation of the area in June 2024. Scientists were able to examine the site in more detail after building 3D models of it with data gathered by drones. Researchers believe the footprints date back to the Jurassic Period, roughly 166 million years ago.

Moreover, they think four sets of tracks came from cetiosaurus, a species of long-necked herbivore. They grew to be nearly 60 feet long. The fifth animal is assumed to be a megalosaurus, a 30-foot carnivore with razor-sharp three-toed claws. The longest path of a single creature goes on for nearly 500 feet. 

Scientists can learn a surprising amount by examining footprints alone. Dr. Susannah Maidment, a paleontologist at the Natural History Museum in London, states, “Trackways are important because they preserve fossilized behavior, something that we are unable to get from the bones of an animal alone. For example, fossilized trackways have indicated that some dinosaurs lived in herds, and speed of movement can also be roughly calculated.”

Kirsty Edgar, professor of micropaleontology at England’s University of Birmingham who helped lead the dig, shared her enthusiasm for the discovery with The Washington Post. “It’s very rare in the UK to make really big finds. It’s amazing.”

While it’s an exciting discovery, the dinosaur highway isn’t the first case of prehistoric tracks being uncovered in the UK. In 2020, paleontologists shared news of stegosaurus prints they had discovered on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.

Read More About Dinosaurs:

Home/DINOSAURS