Paleontologists Discover First Evidence of Multispecies Dinosaur Herding
Paleontologists say they discovered the fingerprints of 76 million years of a herd dominated by Ceratopsian dinosaurs in the Dinosaurs Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. The discovery provides the first proof of mixed breeding behavior in dinosaurs, similar to the way in which modern gnou and zebra move together in the African plains.
A herd of ceratopsians (Styracosaurus albertensis) accompanied by an ankylosaurus (Tutus Euplocephalus) Browse an old river channel under the vigilant eyes of two tyrannosaurs (Gorgosaurus Library). Image credit: Julius CSOTONYI.
The Dinosaurs Provincial Park in southern Alberta in Canada is undoubtedly one of the first localities in the world to understand the land ecosystems in the upper Cretaceous.
The park gave hundreds of dinosaurs skeletons and a large number of bones and teeth, making it a model system to understand the evolution, behavior, biostratigraphy and paleoecology.
Despite the remarkable abundance of skeletal elements, the fingerprints of dinosaurs and the tracks are surprisingly rare.
“In 2024, we discovered a new tracksuit, the Skyline Tracksite comprising tracks of natural mold` typical ”, which had not been identified in the park, “said Dr. Phil Bell and his colleagues at the University of New England.
On the site, paleontologists have uncovered 13 ceratopsian traces (horns dinosaur) of at least five animals walking side by side, with a probable ankylosauride (armored dinosaur) walking in the middle of the others.
They were also surprised to find the tracks of two large tyrannosaurs walking side by side and perpendicular to the herd, which raises the prospect that multispecific farming could have been a defense strategy against common Apex predators. An imprint of a small meat eater dinosaur was also discovered.
Views on the Skyline track site shortly after the discovery (A) and the next excavation (B). Image credit: bell and al., DOI: 10.1371 / Journal.pone.0324913.
“I have collected dinosaurs bones in the Dinosaur provincial park for almost 20 years, but I have never thought about fingerprints,” said Dr. Bell.
“This rock edge had the mud look that had been suffocated between your toes, and I was immediately intrigued.”
“The tyrannosaurus tracks give the feeling that they really looked at the herd, which is a rather frightening thought, but we do not know with certainty if they really crossed the paths.”
“It was incredibly exciting to walk in the footsteps of dinosaurs 76 million years after having dropped them off,” said Dr. Brian Pickles of Reading University.
“Using the new research images for these footprints, we were able to discover several other tracksites in the varied field of the park, which, I am sure, will tell us even more about how these fascinating creatures have interacted with each other and behaved in their natural environment.”
“This discovery shows how much there is to discover in the paleontology of dinosaurs,” said Dr. Caleb Brown, Dr. Caleb Brown of the Royal Tyrrell.
“Dinosaur Park is one of the assemblies of best included dinosaurs in the world, with more than a century of intense collection and study, but it is only now that we have a meaning for its full potential for dinosaur tracks.”
The discovery is described in an article in the review Plos a.
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Bell and al. 2025. A predominantly ceraced tracksuit of the formation of Dinosaur Park (Campanian) at the Dinosaur Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada. Plos a 20 (7): E0324913; DOI: 10.1371 / Journal.pone.0324913
