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Dinosaur Tracking

© Beverly Eschberger

When we think about paleontology, we usually think about scientists digging up large bones, but there are many other pieces of information left behind by dinosaurs and other extinct animals. Although the actual bones of dinosaurs can tell us plenty about the animals, their footprints are also very informative. Paleoichnology is the study of trace fossils, the study of tracks and traces left behind by extinct animals.

Although paleontologists can get a good idea of stance and gait, how an animal stood and walked, by reconstructing its skeleton, only the footprint evidence can tell us for certain. Some trackways have even showed that certain species of dinosaurs were pigeon-toed!

Once the species of dinosaur that made the trackway has been identified, then paleontologists can use the height of the dinosaur's legs and the length of the animal's stride (the distance between footprints) to calculate how fast it was moving. Although it does not tell us the dinosaur's maximum speed, we can get an idea of what its average speed might have been. Small bi-pedal dinosaurs were probably able to move at about 20 km/h (12 mph), and large quadrupedal sauropods were probably only able to move at about 4 km/h (2.5 mph), with a top speed of maybe 20 km/h (12 mph).

One type of information that can be gleaned from trace fossils is paleobiological, pertaining to the behavior of living dinosaurs. Perhaps the most famous example is the "attack sequence" seen at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, Texas, which shows a theropod stalking, and then actually attacking a sauropod.

Another important type of information is paleoenvironmental, relating to ancient dinosaur habitats. Imprints of fossil plant matter, including leaves and pollen which can be identified, can tell us what sort of plants herbivorous (plant eating) dinosaurs might have been eating, and also tell us what the climate was like millions of years ago.

Trackways have also helped paleontologists to dispel some of the early myths about dinosaurs. The most notable being the belief that dinosaurs were unable to stand with their legs directly under their hips, but instead stood in a sprawling posture, similar to that of lizards. Trackways have shown that dinosaurs stood and walked in a posture more similar to that of mammals than lizards. (See my article "Dinosaur Primer" for more information about dinosaur hips.)

The lack of tail marks in trackways helped paleontologists determine that dinosaurs did not drag their tails behind them, as had been believed for years.

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