Dinosaur Tracks
Glen Rose, Somervell County, Texas
Marker Inscription
Formed 100,000,000 years ago, tracks of 3 kinds of dinosaurs are preserved in the limestone below Paluxy River. Types include Acrocanthosaurus (a meat-eater), Camptosaurus (plant-eater who left 3-toed bird-like tracks), and Pleurocoelus (a plant-eater who made huge 5-toed prints). For years following their discovery (about 1910), the tracks remained a novelty. When Paluxy River ran low, farmers caught catfish stranded in them. Excavations by a prominent museum and several universities in 1938 brought the tracks to the attention of the world. (1970)
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
In the limestone bed of the Paluxy River near Glen Rose lie fossilized footprints left by three kinds of dinosaurs roughly a hundred million years ago — a giant meat-eater, a three-toed plant-eater, and a huge five-toed sauropod. Discovered around 1910, the tracks were long a local curiosity; farmers even scooped stranded catfish out of the water-filled prints in dry seasons. Excavations by a major museum and several universities in 1938 finally brought the site worldwide scientific attention.
Why it matters
Glen Rose's trackways are among the most famous dinosaur footprints in the world, a place where deep geologic time surfaces in an ordinary Texas riverbed and helped shape modern understanding of how these animals moved.
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Related events
- · 1938 Paluxy River excavations
Themes & tags
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