Dinosaurs have always fascinated people—especially kids—and that fascination often persists into adulthood. For many, the thrill of learning about dinosaurs creates lasting memories and opportunities for bonding, such as watching dinosaur videos with family.
A recent discovery in the United Kingdom is making waves—not for unearthing bones or fossilized remains, but for uncovering a “dinosaur highway” of nearly 200 footprints. This extraordinary find was made in a limestone quarry in southern England when a worker noticed unusual bumps. Researchers at the universities of Oxford and Birmingham have dated the tracks back 166 million years to the Middle Jurassic period.
After an extensive excavation by over 100 team members at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, the discovery is shedding light on an era when dinosaurs thrived. According to Kirsty Edgar, a micropaleontology professor at the University of Birmingham:
“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs, revealing details about their movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited.”
The tracks include paths created by massive sauropods, such as Cetiosaurus, which could grow up to 60 feet (18 meters) in length. Another set of tracks is attributed to Megalosaurus, a 9-meter-long predator with distinctive triple-claw prints, known as the first dinosaur to be scientifically named two centuries ago.
Interestingly, some of the tracks overlap, raising questions about interactions between these herbivores and carnivores. Were they crossing paths peacefully, or could this be evidence of a predator stalking prey? These tracks are invaluable for understanding behavior—something bones alone cannot reveal. For example, the length and depth of strides can indicate how fast an animal moved, and the presence of overlapping tracks could hint at dramatic encounters.
Dinosaurs dominated Earth for 200 million years, from the mid-Triassic period until the catastrophic asteroid impact that ended the Cretaceous. During this vast span of time, countless species evolved, ranging from the charismatic Tyrannosaurus Rex to the colossal Titanosaurs. Discoveries like these trackways allow us to glimpse their behavior, movements, and interactions, bringing the distant past to life.
While the age of giant dinosaurs has ended, their legacy continues. Not all dinosaurs went extinct—many survived and evolved. Today, there are more species of dinosaurs than mammals. We now call them birds.
