Environment

Discovery of Dinosaur Footprints in France

by amyellensoden | October 7, 2009 at 04:01 pm

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Dinosaur prints found in France near Plagne have been authenticated by scientists at the Centre of Scientific Research. The tracks were found on a hiking path by fossil hunters Marie-Helene Marcaud and Patrice Landry.

Fossil hunters in France have found some of the largest dinosaur footprints ever documented, measuring 1.5 metres in diameter.

The prints were made about 150 million years ago by large, long-necked, herbivorous dinosaurs called sauropods, which were more than 25 metres long and weighed up to 40 tonnes.

Paleontologist Jean-Michel Mazin of France's National Centre of Scientific Research (CNRS) said 20 prints have been found on a 10-hectare site near Plagne in eastern France.

Paleontologist Jean-Michel Mazin believes that the tracks were left in mud which subsequently dried into plaster. The prints would have been solidified by sediments being washed into their formations, thus creating fossilized footprints.

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