The deep tracks, with long claw marks, are preserved in a riverbed that runs through Dinosaur Valley State Park, about 140 kilometers southwest of Dallas. The long-hidden footprints along the Paluxy River bed are of a carnivorous dinosaur Acrocanthosaurus, which was about four meters tall and weighed about six tons. Park Superintendent Jeff Davis says months of intense, dry weather have dried up more of the Paluxy River than usual. “These are exposed pieces that you see very rarely,” Davis said. “They are typically covered by deep water, gravel and sandbars.” WATCHES | Texas Drought Reveals Dinosaur Tracks Along Paluxy River:
Dinosaur tracks appear after drought in Texas state park
A summer of drought has dried up large sections of the Paluxy River in Texas, leading to the discovery of triangular tracks made by dinosaurs millions of years ago at the aptly named Dinosaur Valley State Park. He says the three-toed footprints of what park staff call “Acro” were made by a bipedal carnivore with a similar body shape to Tyrannosaurus Rex. “But it’s quite a bit older than the T-Rex,” Davis said.
Following in his father’s footsteps
The rare sighting of the footprint thrilled dinosaur enthusiasts and delighted Paul Baker, who grew up in the park following his father, a ranger there for three decades. “Seeing those claw marks, I don’t care how old you are, it’s exciting,” Baker said. “And I can remember going along the river with my father and feeling for those tracks along the river bed … feeling those claw marks under the water and seeing them.” “And it’s a nice feeling, especially when you’re a new kid.” About 20 years before he died, Baker’s father was the first to find the dinosaur tracks, revealed during a different drought. The site was named in his honor and was re-exposed by the recent drought. These are the tracks of a carnivorous dinosaur called Acrocanthosaurus, uncovered in the bed of the Paluxy River in Glen Rose, Texas during the drought of August 2022. (Paul Baker/Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park) “They’re under mud and water most of the time. It’s only during extreme drought that they’re visible,” said Baker, who is the manager of the Dinosaur Valley Park Store and a volunteer at Glen Rose, Texas. He and other volunteers help clear the tracks with brooms and leaf blowers so visitors can see them. Other species that left their mark in the park include Sauroposeidon, a herbivore that was about 18 meters tall and weighed about 39 tons. Sauroposeidon is a type of sauropod dinosaur, whose tracks are large and elephant-like. Davis says Acrocanthosaurus may have fed on young or injured Sauroposeidon children. The footprints were made when the area was a shallow inland sea during the Cretaceous period, long before the rolling prairies of central Texas. Davis said that by Wednesday, the rains had already begun to fill in the ancient tracks and would soon hide the park’s secret treasures once again in the mud and mud of the river. Volunteers are helping clean up and preserve 113-million-year-old dinosaur tracks uncovered at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas after months of drought. (Paul Baker/Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park)
