Dinosaur Footprint Tour of Spain and Portugal

May 20, 2009

Dinosaur track sites exist in many places throughout the world, but one of the richest sources is at the Iberian Peninsula. Scientists from the Catalan Institute of Palaeontology (ICP) and the University of Manchester are now trekking through this sunny, rugged region in search of dinosaur footprints. They've already found 10 such dino-rich sites in Portugal and Spain.

Although not yet official, it sounds like the area will soon be declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Here's a look at the trek currently taking place. Credit for all images goes to ICP and the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Paleontologists are using high tech equipment normally reserved for oil prospecting to find places where dinosaurs once trod.

 

Sauropod tracks

If you were a dinosaur, wouldn't you want to savor this view?

 

Tracks galore

 

A pterosaurus left its footprint here

 

This structure shields some of the tracks.

 

You can see why the researchers would want to protect them. Dinosaur tracks don't get much better than this.

 

Getting an up-close look

 

And another

 

Gazing at a sea of dinosaur tracks