Weird bumps in quarry reveal a dinosaur

highway
By Live Science, adapted by Newsela staff on 02.17.25
Word Count 684
Level 870L

An artist reconstruction of Dewars Farm Quarry during the Jurassic period shows a Megalosaurus walking next to a Cetiosaurus on a beach.
Illustration: Mark Witton Illustration: Mark Witton

Scientists and quarry workers in England have uncovered a dinosaur "highway". This highway is a
stretch of land that includes hundreds of dinosaur footprints.

The tracks were uncovered at Dewars Farm Quarry — a mine for limestone rocks — in
Oxfordshire, England. The tracks date back to the middle of the Jurassic Period. This was the
period of time from about 200 million to 145 million years ago. Back then, dinosaurs were the
most dominant creatures on the planet.

Last year, a quarry worker named Gary Johnson discovered strange bumps on the quarry floor.
They turned out to be dinosaur footprints. In June 2024, scientists worked with quarry staff to
uncover the dinosaur "highway." In January, the scientists shared their findings.

Giants In Prehistoric History

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One of the sets of tracks belonged to the 30-foot-long Megalosaurus. This was the largest meat-
eating dinosaur that lived in what is now the U.K. during the Jurassic.

The other four trackways were from giant sauropods. These dinosaurs had very long necks and
small heads. Scientists think that the sauropod tracks were made by Cetiosaurus. This particular
dinosaur measured up to 60 feet long and was likely the largest-known dinosaur from that time.

"The size of the individual tracks and the area that they cover is just huge," said Kirsty Edgar. She
is a professor at the University of Birmingham in England. She was part of the excavation team.
"I'm in awe that I'm standing exactly where some of the largest animals to have existed once stood,
and I love trying to think about where they were going, and why," she said.

The rocks at Dewars Farm Quarry are 166 million years old. The
rocks connect to another quarry site called Ardley Quarry. At
Ardley, people discovered more than 40 dinosaur trackways in
the 1990s. These two quarries together make up one of the
largest dinosaur track sites in the world.

During the Jurassic period, this area of England was tropical. It

had shallow lagoons and lots of mud, similar to the Florida Keys
today. (A lagoon is a body of water. It is separated from other
larger bodies of water by natural barriers like islands or reefs.) Image 1. The Ardley Quarry is located near
Oxford in England. Map: Newsela staff
This wet environment was good at preserving the footprints of
dinosaurs that stomped through. That's because there was the
right amount of moisture in the ground to ensure that the footprint would keep its definition, said
Edgar. Next, the footprints were most likely covered by a storm. This allowed the footprints to be
preserved before they were destroyed by other animals or natural processes.

Scientists used cameras and drones to document the site. Next, they created models of the
footprints. (A model is a tool that represents or replicates something from the real world.) The
Megalosaurus tracks were around 2 feet long. And the longest sauropod tracks were 3 feet long.

From the size and spacing of the tracks, the team estimates that Megalosaurus and the sauropod
walked at around 3 miles per hour. That is about the same speed as a human walks.

Still More To Learn

When they were first discovered in the 1800s, Megalosaurus and Cetiosaurus were both
misidentified. At the time, scientists thought Megalosaurus had four legs. But today, scientists
know that it had two legs and was similar to Tyrannosaurus rex.

In the past, scientists thought Cetiosaurus was similar to a crocodile and lived in water. Now we
know that it was actually an animal with a long neck that lived on land.

The scientists want to learn more about these dinosaurs and their environment. To do so, they will
use their models and other fossils. (Fossils are the remains of plants, animals, and other tiny living
things that have been replaced by rock.)

Duncan Murdock is a scientist at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History in England.
He also took part in the excavations. "Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants, we

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can bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through," he said.

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Quiz

1 Read the section “Giants In Prehistoric History.” Which sentence from this section supports the conclusion that the dinosaur
“highway” was significant in size?

(A) One of the sets of tracks belonged to the 30-foot-long Megalosaurus.

(B) This particular dinosaur measured up to 60 feet long and was likely the largest-known dinosaur from
that time.

(C) It had shallow lagoons and lots of mud, similar to the Florida Keys today.

(D) These two quarries together make up one of the largest dinosaur track sites in the world.

2 How did scientists figure out the speed of dinosaurs on the “highway”? How do you know?

(A) by counting the bumps on the ground: “Last year, a quarry worker named Gary Johnson discovered
strange bumps on the quarry floor. They turned out to be dinosaur footprints.”

(B) by looking at the height of each giant dinosaur: “The other four trackways were from giant sauropods.
These dinosaurs had very long necks and small heads.”

(C) by looking at the length of the tracks and the space between them: “From the size and spacing of the
tracks, the team estimates that Megalosaurus and the sauropod walked at around 3 miles per hour.”

(D) by comparing them with other fossils: “‘Along with other fossils like burrows, shells and plants, we can
bring to life the muddy lagoon environment the dinosaurs walked through,’ he said.”

3 What caused the dinosaur “highway” tracks to stay preserved?

(A) the limestone in the quarry’s rocks

(B) the large size of the dinosaurs’ feet

(C) the islands and reefs near the lagoon

(D) the amount of moisture in the ground

4 What is the relationship between Megalosaurus and Cetiosaurus?

(A) Cetiosaurus had two legs, while Megalosaurus walked on four.

(B) Cetiosaurus walked slower on the dinosaur “highway” than Megalosaurus.

(C) Cetiosaurus made bigger footprints on the dinosaur “highway” than Megalosaurus.

(D) Cetiosaurus looked like a crocodile, while Megalosaurus looked like Tyrannosaurus rex.

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