Ancient dinosaur footprints dating back 115 million years were discovered in Northwest Travis County, Texas, after recent flooding swept away layers of sediment and brush that had long hidden them, according to officials.
The discovery was made in the Big Sandy Creek area over the weekend by a group of volunteers, Travis County Judge Andy Brown, who serves as the county’s chief executive, told ABC News. The tracks were found on private property, with the exact location being kept secret at the owner’s request.
University of Texas paleontologists confirmed at least 15 individual footprints, Matthew Brown, a paleontologist at UT Austin, told ABC News. Each footprint measured approximately 18-20 inches long and dated back 110-115 million years, according to Brown.
The tracks were left by meat-eating dinosaurs similar to an Acrocanthosaurus, a roughly 35-foot-long bipedal carnivore, Brown said. Additional prints found nearby might have represented a large herbivorous sauropod dinosaur called Paluxysaurus, which is the official state dinosaur of Texas.
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Brown and fellow UT Austin paleontologist Kenneth Bader on Tuesday afternoon visited the spot where the tracks were discovered to assess them and to advise officials on protecting them during ongoing flood cleanup efforts.
“We expect to return to the site in the near future to more thoroughly document the tracks with maps and 3D imaging,” Brown said. He said his team hoped to determine whether multiple dinosaurs moved together as a group or if individuals crossed the area independently.
Dinosaur tracks aren’t unusual in central Texas, Brown said.
“Often people don’t realize that it is possible to find them in their own backyards,” he said.
Last month, deadly floods ravaged parts of central Texas, claiming more than 130 lives. The disaster was severe in Kerr County, where at least 36 children lost their lives at nearby Camp Mystic.
According to Brown, the discovery would not impact ongoing cleanup efforts in the area. Local officials encourage anyone who finds additional tracks to report them to the University of Texas paleontology department
