South Africa’s Western Cape Yields Old Dinosaur Tracks

For the first time, 140-million-year-old dinosaur tracks have been discovered in South Africa’s Western Cape, offering rare insight into dinosaur behavior at the dawn of the Cretaceous period. Found by the Cape South Coast Ichnology Project, the tracks—belonging to sauropods and possibly ornithopods—were uncovered in remote coastal cliffs, where dinosaurs once walked through estuarine environments. Until now, all known southern African dinosaur tracks dated back to the Triassic and Jurassic periods, over 180 million years ago, making this discovery the first of its kind in the region. Initially mistaken for seismic deformation, the track impressions were confirmed using updated ichnological methods. The finding fills a 40-million-year gap in the fossil record and highlights the Western Cape’s untapped paleontological potential. Researchers plan to continue exploring, hoping to inspire the next generation of dinosaur hunters.

Source: Daily Maverick