A recent collaboration between researchers from Southern Methodist University and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro uncovered nearly identical dinosaur tracks in basins on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
The 120-million-year-old tracks, mostly from three-toed theropod dinosaurs and four-legged sauropods, were discovered in Brazil’s Sousa Basin and Cameroon’s Koum Basin, revealing how the Earth’s continents have changed over time.
The tracks paint an intriguing picture of how tectonic plate shifts created desirable conditions for Early Cretaceous dinosaurs as they made the trek across what would become Africa and South America millions of years ago.
Researchers Discover Dinosaur Tracks On Opposite Sides Of The Atlantic Ocean
Ismar de Souza CarvalhoDinosaur footprints in the Sousa Basin in Brazil.
Recently, a research project led by Louis L. Jacobs from Southern Methodist University (SMU) uncovered over 260 footprints in Brazil’s Sousa Basin and Cameroon’s Koum Basin, illustrating how the two continents were connected over 140 million years ago.
Over 3,700 miles apart, these tracks were made by Early Cretaceous three-toed theropod dinosaurs and four-legged sauropods — and their similarities are remarkable.
“We determined that in terms of age, these footprints were similar,” Jacobs stated in a press release from SMU. “In their geological and plate tectonic contexts, they were also similar. In terms of their shapes, they are almost identical.”
Jacobs had first documented the dinosaur tracks in Cameroon in the 1980s. It wasn’t until he met study co-author Ismar de Souza Carvalho, a professor at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, that he realized they matched tracks discovered in Brazil.
Southern Methodist UniversityDinosaur tracks from the Koum Basin in Cameroon.
These footprints help researchers understand the movements and behavior of dinosaurs millions of years ago.
“Dinosaur tracks are not rare,” Jacobs told CNN. “But unlike the bones usually found, footprints are the proof of dinosaur behavior, how they walked, ran or otherwise, who they walked with, what environment they walked through, what direction they were going, and where they were when they were doing it.”
These footprints were likely made when the area was a lush river basin on the supercontinent of Gondwana, which included Africa, South America, Australia, and Antarctica.
“One of the youngest and narrowest geological connections between Africa and South America was the elbow of northeastern Brazil nestled against what is now the coast of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea,” Jacobs stated in the press release. “The two continents were continuous along that narrow stretch, so that animals on either side of that connection could potentially move across it.”
Gondwana Breaks Apart Millions Of Years Ago
Southern Methodist UniversityA map showing the location of the findings and how the continents were connected 140 million years ago.
Over 140 million years ago, dinosaurs roamed the supercontinent of Gondwana. In modern-day Cameroon and Brazil, tectonic plates began shifting, slowly pulling the continent apart.
This gradual separation likely formed basins to which dinosaurs flocked for resources. The tracks at both the basins in Brazil and Cameroon show that dinosaurs frequented the area and treated it almost like a highway.
Jacobs said the team found evidence of two similar “half-graben” basins in Brazil and Cameroon.
“A half graben is an elongate basin formed by pulling apart of the Earth’s surface with a fault forming on one side such that the bottom of the valley tilts down toward the fault along which movement is occurring,” Jacobs explained to CNN. “Hold your hand in front of you. Tilt your fingers down, representing movement along the fault. Rivers will flow down the valley and deposit sediments and sediments will be eroded from the high side of the valley.”
Eventually, these basins became a hotspot for dinosaur activity.
“Imagine a lush, open basin with vegetation for the herbivores and carnivores following,” Lawrence Flynn, a study co-author and assistant director for the American School of Prehistoric Research at Harvard University, told CNN. “If nobody is there on the ‘new’ turf, then animals will disperse into it, given no competition.”
The team’s research study was published by the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science. They hope their findings will help better piece together the evolution of our planet.