Discovery of Europe’s Longest Sauropod Trackway
In a landmark paleontological find, researchers have uncovered what may be Europe’s longest sauropod dinosaur trackway at Dewars Farm Quarry near Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. The 2024 excavation, led by an international team from the University of Oxford, the University of Birmingham, Liverpool John Moores University, and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, added around 200 footprints to a growing fossil map from the Middle Jurassic period, about 166 million years ago.
The new trackways date to a flourishing era for sauropods—long-necked, massive herbivores that include relatives of Cetiosaurus. Among the prints lies a record-breaking stretch that measures roughly 220 meters from the first to the last exposed footprint, suggesting a long, possibly seasonal migratory path or a large herd moving through a favorable feeding ground.
The Scale and Significance of the Find
Professor Kirsty Edgar of the University of Birmingham described the site as a milestone in UK paleontology. “This site in Oxfordshire is the largest dinosaur track site in the UK, and arguably now the largest mapped dinosaur track site in the world when we consider finds dating back to the 1990s on the same surface nearby,” she noted. The discovery not only adds miles of tracks to the record but also enriches our understanding of how sauropods navigated and farmed ancient landscapes.
Over a seven-day field campaign, researchers concentrated on a section with exceptionally large prints, many approaching one meter in length. These footprints run predominantly north-south, crossing the site and revealing a coherent, multi-trackway pattern that includes a continuation of prints first found in 2022. Such continuity helps scientists stitch together a more complete behavior and movement story for these gigantic creatures.
What the Footprints Tell Us About the Environment
Beyond the tracks themselves, the Dewars Farm Quarry yields clues about the ecosystem that supported these sauropods. In addition to the prints, researchers recovered marine invertebrates, plant material, and even a crocodile jaw, painting a picture of a dynamic coastline or riverine plain where fresh water, vegetation, and predators coexisted. Professor Richard Butler from the University of Birmingham emphasizes the importance of footprints as complementary data to skeletal material. “Most of what we know about dinosaurs comes from their skeletons, but footprints and the sediments that they are in can provide valuable additional information about how these organisms lived and what their environment looked like over 166 million years ago,” he said.
Methodology and Scientific Promise
The latest phase focused on meticulous sediment sampling around and beneath the footprints to understand preservation conditions and environmental context. This systematic approach aims to unlock details about deposition, sediment chemistry, and taphonomy—the processes that affect remains from death to discovery. Ongoing analyses seek to interpret how the track surfaces formed, whether shorelines, mudflats, or damp floodplains influenced the prints, and how the surrounding habitat shaped sauropod behavior.
Future Prospects and Public Interest
Although only a portion of the extensive surface is currently exposed, researchers anticipate exposing more of the footprint network in the coming years. The expanded surface could reveal an even longer trackway, potentially surpassing current records. The Dewars Farm site already stands as a magnet for science outreach, inviting visitors and students to peer into a window of life’s deep past.
Conclusion: A Window into Jurassic Life
As excavations progress, the Dewars Farm Quarry footprints promise to deepen our appreciation for sauropod life and the Jurassic environment that sustained them. The collaboration across universities and institutions demonstrates how footprints—often overlooked compared with bones—can illuminate the daily lives and movements of Earth’s most colossal land animals. The next publications and site reports are eagerly anticipated by the global paleontology community and enthusiasts alike.
