Scientists have discovered South Africa’s youngest known dinosaur tracks along the remote coastline of the Western Cape. The newly identified footprints, estimated to be around 140 million years old, date back to the early Cretaceous period. They provide fresh insight into the region’s prehistoric past and mark the first documented dinosaur tracks in this area.
For centuries, dinosaurs have fascinated researchers and the public alike. Their fossilized bones and teeth offer glimpses into the creatures that once roamed the Earth. However, tracks preserved in rock formations reveal something even more compelling—how these animals moved and interacted with their environment.
While South Africa has a well-documented fossil record from the Mesozoic Era, most known remains predate a massive volcanic eruption approximately 180 million years ago.
Most recent ever dinosaur tracks reported in southern Africa
Until now, all documented dinosaur footprints in the region came from the Triassic and Jurassic periods. The discovery in the Western Cape changes that timeline, making these tracks the most recently reported in southern Africa.
The search for the footprints began in 2022 when researchers explored areas along the Cape’s southern coast with ancient land-based sediments. Their initial findings suggested the presence of dinosaur tracks, prompting a more detailed investigation in 2023.
Unlike fossilized footprints on flat surfaces, many tracks were embedded in vertical cliff faces. Scientists had to study them in cross-section, analyzing deformations in the rock layers beneath the original footprints.
This technique allowed them to confirm the presence of distinct tracks left by dinosaurs walking through wetlands millions of years ago.
The findings, published in the journal Ichnos, identify tracks from sauropods—massive, long-necked herbivores—and possibly ornithopods, another group of plant-eating dinosaurs.
These creatures once moved through estuaries and tidal channels, leaving footprints in the soft, muddy ground. Some walked on sandy bars near the water’s edge while others waded through deeper channels. The tracks’ preservation provides rare evidence of their behavior in these ancient habitats.
Deformations in rock layers cause a challenge
It is challenging to differentiate authentic dinosaur footprints from other geological formations. Natural processes like earthquakes can create rock layer deformations that mimic tracks.
Scientists had to analyze the imprints, ensuring they were shaped by living creatures rather than seismic activity. The pattern of compression left beneath the footprints helped confirm their authenticity.
This discovery offers a new perspective on South Africa’s dinosaur history. It fills a gap in the fossil record, showing that dinosaurs inhabited the region well after the Jurassic period.
The tracks also provide insight into the shifting landscapes of the early Cretaceous, a time when Africa and South America were beginning to drift apart.