Drought in Texas Leads to Discovery of 113 Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Tracks
It was a bittersweet moment when a set of 113 million-year-old dinosaur tracks were uncovered following a massive drought that dried up the Paluxy River in Texas’ Dinosaur Valley State Park. The drought has been devastating major parts of the Western United States, making way for this incredible discovery in the aptly named state park, which sits just outside of Glen Rose.
Speaking to Fox News Digital, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said, “Due to the excessive drought conditions this past summer, the river dried up completely in most locations, allowing for more tracks to be uncovered here in the park,” adding, “Under normal river conditions, these newer tracks are underwater and are commonly filled in with sediment, making them buried and not as visible.”
According to NBC News, the tracks were most likely that of a theropod known as an Acrocanthosaurus, which once stood at 15 feet tall and weighed a whopping seven tons. However, the tracks are not expected to remain visible for long, as an incoming bout of rainfall will most likely cover up the tracks once again.
“With rain in the upcoming forecasts, it is anticipated that the tracks uncovered during the drought will soon be buried again,” said Stephanie Salinas Garcia, a spokesperson for Dinosaur Valley National Park.
CNN reports that Garcia also said, “While these newer dinosaur tracks were visible for a brief amount of time, it brought about the wonder and excitement about finding new dinosaur tracks at the park,” adding, “Dinosaur Valley State Park will continue to protect these 113-million year-old tracks not only for present, but future generations.”
Last week, severe droughts and heat advisories encompassed more than 60% of Texas, with no real end in sight. The rapidly-advancing climate crisis has led to bizarre and unpredictable weather patterns in Texas and around the world, including a recent flash flood in Dallas on Monday, August 22.
These incredible dinosaur tracks weren’t the only discovery made as a result of severe droughts. As the reserve in Utah’s Lake Mead decreased to about 27% capacity, multiple sets of human remains were discovered. Similarly, a drought in Eastern Serbia’s Danube River revealed dozens of German warships still equipped with explosives.
Elsewhere, a prehistoric structure that’s come to be known as “Spanish Stonehenge” was revealed as a result of Spain’s declining Valdecanas reservoir. Perhaps most interestingly, droughts in China’s Yangtze River revealed a previously submerged island and what are believed to be 600-year-old Buddhist statues.
