Dinosaurs lived in large colonies on the coast of Sesimbra, in one of the most beautiful places on the Portuguese coast, 129 million years ago, as evidenced by the discovery of a large deposit of traces of these animals found by Portuguese scientists.
These are 614 dinosaur tracks with approximately 129 million years found by researchers at the Portuguese Center for Geohistory and Prehistory (CPGP) in Cabo Espichel, Setúbal Peninsula, providing new information on the behavior of these ancient inhabitants.
“This finding has led to the discovery of the largest set of Lower Cretaceous dinosaur footprints found in Portugal,” Silvério Figueiredo, president of Portugal’s Center for Geohistory and Prehistory and director of the research, told Efe.
The area is located between Boca do Chapim and Praia do Areia do Mastro, on coastal cliffs at Cape Espichel, in the municipality of Sesimbra, on the Setúbal peninsula, about 40 kilometers south of Lisbon, where others had previously been discovered. .
FOOTPRINTS THAT REVEAL IDENTITY
The footprints, found in three limestone beds next to a cliff about 60 meters high, correspond to herbivorous dinosaurs, such as sauropods and ornithopods, and carnivores such as theropods.
The researchers believe that the dinosaurs stepped on what were shallow marine environments, lagoons and estuaries 129 million years ago, upon which sediments of limestone, marl and sandstone were deposited, forming the footprints.
“The conservation status is not the best,” admits Figueiredo, mainly because of the type of footprint formation themselves. low “.
Intense wave erosion and high tide have also affected conservation, but “you can see the tracks,” he continues.
“The tracks indicate that the area was highly frequented by dinosaurs of different species, we think it could be a transit area between pasture areas where herbivores could feed themselves, and thus carnivore hunting grounds,” he says. the paleontologist.
614 footprints were identified in an area of more than 1,350 square meters divided into three main groups of dinosaurs: theropods (93), sauropods (324) and ornithopods (197), i.e. 15% of the tracks are carnivores. while those 85% are herbivores.
Despite the data provided by the discovery, Figueiredo’s team also found traces they have been unable to identify or relate to any species.
NEW DATA ABOUT YOUR BEHAVIOR
Sesimbra’s is the largest set of Creatic footprints in Portugal, which will help experts “discover other types of data, such as those about its behavior, thanks to the large number of traces of the same animal.”
The researchers also believe the environment was favorable, as it could have included “freshwater reserves close to the coast,” a phenomenon that would explain the large number of dinosaurs.
In addition, there is evidence of routes used by groups of dinosaurs in their migrations and tracks that in their movements, they placed the young in the center of the herd to protect them from predators that hunted alone or in groups.
The researchers believe that theropods could have used that area as a hunting ground and that the scarcity of spores from large specimens suggests they were solitary hunters, while the smaller ones, which left a greater number of spores, could have hunted in groups.
Analysis of the tracks also confirms that dinosaurs did not drag their tails when they walked.
THE FUTURE OF DINOSAURS
According to Figueiredo, this finding provides new data that the researchers will publish in international scientific journals to increase knowledge about dinosaurs.
In addition, the team plans to prepare an exhibition on this discovery, the result of the work of a team of ten Portuguese paleontologists and geologists, who collaborate with colleagues from other countries such as France, Brazil and Spain, such as the Spanish paleontologist Xabier Pereda Suberbiola, professor at the University of the Basque Country.
The work that has made it possible to find the 614 footprints is part of the research that the CPGP has conducted in the region since 1998.