Rare polar dino tracks found in Australia

William Atkins
Thursday, 11 August 2011 22:36

Science - Biology

Researchers have discovered over 20 polar dinosaur tracks in Otways National Park in Australia. The discovery is the largest discovery of polar dinosaur tracks ever found in the Southern Hemisphere.

The tracks of the polar dinosaur are believed to have been from the Early Cretaceous Period of about 105 million years ago.

The three-toed tracks of the polar dinosaurs, called theropods, were found to be preserved in two sandstone blocks along the shoreline of Milanesia Beach in the Great Otway National Park in Victoria, Australia, about 160 kilometers southwest of Melbourne.

Theropods, which means "beast feet", is a suborder of bipedal saurischian dinosaurs. Dinosaurs belonging to the suborder theropoda were primarily carnivorous.

American palaeontologist Antony Martin, a professor within the Department of Environmental Studies at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, who led the team, stated, 'These tracks provide us with a direct indicator of how these dinosaurs were interacting with the polar ecosystems, during an important time in geological history.' [Hindustan Times (8-10-11): 'Rare dinosaur tracks discovered in Oz']

For more on the story, please read the DailyMail.co.uk article 'The wonderful lizards of Oz: Over 20 three-toed dinosaur tracks found on Australian coast,' which includes pictures and a video of the discovery.