【2023 Archives】

Scientists023 Archivesdiscovered some of the world's largest dinosaur tracks—measuring as long as the average person is tall—in western Australia.

The 5.5-foot-long tracks likely belonged to a long-necked, small-headed sauropod. They're part of an unusually diverse array of dinosaur tracks imprinted into the rocks on Australia's Dampier Peninsula.

SEE ALSO: Earliest dinosaurs may have originally come from Britain, new study says

Paleontologists from the University of Queensland and James Cook University recently identified 21 different types of tracks on the 16-mile stretch of coastline. Rocks in the Kimberley region date back to 127 million to 140 million years ago, the team said in a new study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

"It's such a magical place—Australia's own Jurassic Park," Steve Salisbury, the study's lead author a vertebrate paleontologist at the University of Queensland, said in a news release.

Salisbury and his team spent more than 400 hours investigating and documenting the "unprecedented" panoply of dinosaur tracks.

Mashable Trend Report Decode what’s viral, what’s next, and what it all means. Sign up for Mashable’s weekly Trend Report newsletter. By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Thanks for signing up!

They found five different types of predatory dinosaur tracks and at least six types of tracks from herbivorous sauropods, including the human-sized footprints.

"Most people would be able to fit inside tracks that big, and they indicate animals that are probably around 5.3 to 5.5 meters [17.4 to 18 feet] at the hip, which is enormous, Salisbury told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Original image has been replaced. Credit: Mashable

In terms of size, the sauropod tracks top a dinosaur footprint found in the Mongolian desert that measured about 3.8 feet long.

Salinger's team also identified four types of tracks from two-legged, plant-eating ornithopods and six types of tracks from dinosaurs bedecked with spikes and plates, such as the stegosaurus.

Their work was prompted by the potential development of a $40 billion liquified natural gas processing plant in Walmadany. Concerned the plant would pave over the area's stunning environment, the Goolarabooloo people, the local traditional custodians, contacted Salisbury and his team.

"We needed the world to see what was at stake," Phillip Roe, the Goolarabooloo law boss, said in the news release.

Fortunately for residents and paleontologists alike, the west Kimberley region was listed as a National Heritage Place in 2011, and two years later, the natural gas project collapsed.

---

Featured Video For You

---

'Ancient Earth' series brings rare and wonderful dinosaurs back to life

---

• Life
• Deals
• Social Good
• Shopping
• Entertainment
• Digital Culture
• Tech
• Games

• The Tagorean Impulse
• Never gonna give you up: The surprising resilience of the Rickroll, 10 years later
• Google is reportedly launching another messaging app, but this time might be different
• Finally, scooters that shame you for riding on the sidewalk
• Jacked Up
• Amazon is recruiting social media celebrities to start their own stores on its site
• LGBTQ community responds perfectly after being accused of stealing God's rainbow
• Things we wish our pets could say
• The Coronation of Macron
• Sheryl Sandberg's #20PercentCounts is your new Equal Pay mantra

• Ikea is pulling a Netflix with expanded parental leave policy
• Polar vortex
• Top YouTube clips of 2016 prove this country wishes it was the 51st state
• Amazon announces its best
• NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for June 18: Tips to solve Connections #269
• #Pizzagate might have claimed its first casualty in Trump’s team
• Time names Trump person of the year and Twitter has a lot to say
• Man calls out entire office with the perfect ugly Christmas sweater
• The 'Dota 2' Boston Major: How to watch and what you need to know
• Latest 'League of Legends' patch brings buffs, nerfs and winter skins

• How Education Reform Ate the Democratic Party
• The optimistic climate change forecast is catastrophic
• Here's what Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg meant by being 'understood'
• iPhone inspired by Tesla's Cybertruck now available for preorder
• A Brief, Cheesy Interlude
• Here's what my cat thinks of Spotify's customized Pet Playlists
• Snapchat's Bitmoji TV cartoon show is here and it's really, really weird
• Google is reportedly launching another messaging app, but this time might be different
• Who’s Afraid of the Russian Soul?
• Apple rumored to release a stack of new gadgets in 2020. Here's what we know.

• Zucktown, USA
• Avast won't sell data to Jumpshot anymore
• This health and fitness startup is now a Harvard case study
• More than 100 authors ask Oprah to remove 'American Dirt' from her book club
• Us vs. Him
• Vin Diesel laser cut out of ham and cheese is a sandwich masterpiece
• China installs security cameras in churches by force
• Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg doesn't need to be 'liked'
• New Atheism’s Idiot Heirs
• Sheryl Sandberg's #20PercentCounts is your new Equal Pay mantra