In 2024, a new major sauropod dinosaur footprint site was discovered. disclosed at Dewars Farm Quarry, near Bicester in Oxfordshire, England. This year, paleontologists from the University of Oxford, the University of Birmingham, Liverpool John Moores University and the Oxford University Museum of Natural History discovered around 200 more tracks, making up four trails, one of which is Europe's longest sauropod dinosaur trail.
166-million-year-old sauropod dinosaur tracks at Dewars Farm Quarry in Oxfordshire, England. Image credit: University of Birmingham.
The four new footprints discovered at the Dewars Farm quarry date back to the Middle Jurassic period, about 166 million years ago.
These were left-handed sauropod dinosaurs: large, long-necked herbivores such as Cetiosaurus.
The finds include Europe's longest sauropod dinosaur track, measuring approximately 220m from the first to the last track discovered.
“We were delighted to return to Dewars Farm Quarry earlier this year to continue excavating and uncovering new dinosaur tracks,” University of Birmingham professor Kirsty Edgar said.
“This site in Oxfordshire is the largest dinosaur track site in the UK and may currently be the largest mapped dinosaur track site in the world, based on finds dating back to the 1990s on the same surface nearby.”
For seven days, the team battled on much drier, harder surfaces than last year, focusing on a set of approximately 80 very large (up to 1m in length) sauropod prints that ran roughly north to south across the site, forming a record-breaking trail.
In addition to the long sauropod track, three other shorter tracks were discovered, one of which is a continuation of prints first found in 2022.
Although it is not subject to constant disclosure, it may be an even longer path once all the data is put together.
Smaller finds at the site included marine invertebrates, plant material and a crocodile jaw.
“Most of what we know about dinosaurs comes from their skeletons, but the tracks and sediments they are found in can provide valuable additional information about how these organisms lived and what their habitats looked like more than 166 million years ago,” said University of Birmingham professor Richard Butler.
“Key new work in this latest excavation has involved systematic sampling of the sediments that underlie and fill the tracks, with their analysis currently underway to learn more about the environment in which they were created and how they are preserved.”
“Much of the footprint surface is likely to be exposed in the coming years, and a full description of the significance, new scientific discoveries and potential for future conservation of the site is expected shortly.”
