Quarry worker accidentally discovers the largest dinosaur footprint site in the UK
At Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, more than 200 well-preserved dinosaur footprints were discovered by accident. What is this? Quarry worker Gary Johnson spotted the impressions while clearing clay, and paleontologists soon arrived to inspect the same surface.
The excavation team documented each footprint, then backfilled sections so the surface stayed readable after machines returned.
Rocks holding the impressions date to the Middle Jurassic, which was a central chapter of the Jurassic Period.
Lagoon mud formed the prints, and later layers buried the depressions before waves smoothed the surface.
Rounded and three-toed tracks link to Cetiosaurus and Megalosaurus, likely left during different walks.
Two dinosaur footprint styles
Two distinct footprint styles on the same surface help separate plant-eaters from meat-eaters.
Sauropods, long-necked plant-eaters with pillar-like legs, left rounded hind footprints.
Theropods, meat-eaters that walked mainly on two legs, left narrow impressions ending in sharp claw marks.
The direction in which they were traveling is clear because toe tips point forward, and stride length links to body size and pace.
Mud, water, and burial
Throughout eons, mud and sand settled into the dinosaur footprint holes and filled them in, helping the impressions remain clear.
Sediment protected the prints from later pressure. Fine ripples and squeeze rims can survive around a print, since pressure pushes wet mud outward before it dries.
One area includes a place where a three-toed print presses into a larger rounded print.
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