166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints. University of Oxford/University of Birmingham

Workers at Dewars Farm quarry in Oxford uncovered new dinosaur footprints dating back 166 million years to the Middle Jurassic Period.

At that time, Oxfordshire was covered by a warm tropical sea with mudflats and shallow lagoons.

In June 2024, a team of over 100 scientists, volunteers, and students from Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Oxford University, and the University of Birmingham uncovered around 200 dinosaur footprints.

These tracks form five distinct pathways, including one likely left by a large carnivorous dinosaur, Megalosaurus—the first dinosaur named in 1824.

166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints (4)166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints. University of Oxford/Mark Witton

Megalosaurus, a fearsome predator, may have grown up to 9 meters long, weighed over two tonnes (similar to a white rhino), and walked on two legs. Analysis of its footprints suggests it moved at a speed of about 3 mph (5 km/h), comparable to the walking pace of an average adult human.

166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints (3)Excavated footprint.  Credit Oxford University Museum of Natural History

166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints (2)166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints. University of Oxford/University of Birmingham

166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints (1)166 Million Years Old Dinosaur Footprints. University of Oxford/University of Birmingham

source University of Oxford