Footprints of massive dinosaur discovered in Mongolia

The Japan News/Yomiuri

Huge fossil footprints believed to be those of one of the world’s largest herbivorous dinosaurs have been found in the southeastern Gobi Desert in Mongolia, the Okayama University of Science announced Thursday.

The footprints measure 106 centimeters in length and 77 centimeters in width, the university said.

In August, the university conducted a joint survey with the Institute of Paleontology and Geology of the Mongolian Academy of Sciences, and the fossils were excavated from strata about 70 million to 90 million years old (late Cretaceous Period).

It is believed the footprints are from a dinosaur 25 to 30 meters in length, which would make them twice as large as those of other herbivorous dinosaurs of the same period whose fossils have already been found in Asia, the university said.

According to the university, four fossil footprints were found in an area measuring 200 meters by 200 meters. The footprints were believed to have been formed by sand accumulating and solidifying in holes made by the dinosaur while walking.

Of the four footprints, two are 106 centimeters long, with traces of the dinosaur’s three toenails confirmed on one of the two.

The footprints could be of a dinosaur belonging to the titanosaur group, which is a genus of large quadruped herbivorous dinosaurs, according to the university.