ON LOCATION Introduction In the Field Back in the Lab What We Can Learn What We Can Learn We can learn a lot of things about an animal from looking at the impressions its feet made on the ground. A distinct individual track can tell us what part of the animal's foot came in contact with the ground, how many weight-bearing toes the animal had, how long its foot was, and whether the track was made by a right or left foot. The track can also provide clues as to what the animal ate. Meat-eating dinosaurs made uniquely shaped footprints that often had sharp claw impressions at the ends of the toes. A track can also offer clues as to the type of animal that made it, whether it was a three-toed or a five-toed animal, for example. The length of the foot can even give scientists an idea of how long the animal's leg was and, in general, how tall the animal was. By studying both modern animals and the bones of dinosaurs, scientists have developed several formulas to calculate hip heights. The easiest way to do this is to multiply the foot length by 4. Trackways can tell us a lot about the animals that made them. The tracks shown below indicate that these animals walked by putting one foor in front of the other. These images were created by mapping the locations of the tracks and creating a graphic representation. Here we can see that one dinosaur was following another (possibly a parent and child). And this one tells us that three were walking side by side. A series of tracks from the same animal offers scientists even more information. They can tell if it is bipedal (two-legged) or quadrupedal (four-legged). They can also get an idea of how fast the animal was traveling by measuring the distance covered by a stride (two steps, left to right to left foot). Scientists from the University of Wyoming studying the tracks at the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite in Wyoming have determined that the dinosaurs there were walking at a speed of less then 6.5 miles per hour. When scientists are fortunate enough to find several trackways preserved in the same area they can start to gather even more clues about the dinosaurs' behaviors. For instance, if the footprints in two parallel trackways are spaced at similar intervals, then two animals were most likely walking side by side. Or, trackways with footprints of varying sizes, going in the same direction but with varying footprint intervals, could indicate a parent was followed by offspring. A single, meandering trackway may indicate a solitary individual, not associated with the group. Scientists can also tell, in general, if all the animals traveling through an area were the same kind (three-toed, with claws, walking on two legs like those at the Red Gulch Dinosaur Tracksite.) They can also tell whether all the tracks were made more or less at the same time. An indicator of this is the way the sediment (sand or mud) "holds" the track. If the sediment was wet, it might have squished up between the toes, or if the mud was starting to dry out, cracks could have formed as the track was made. Thus, if all the tracks in an area exhibit the same features, then scientists hypothesize that they were all made when the sediment was nearly the same consistency all over. Dinosaur Tracking Activities HOW MANY DINOSAURS? Here are some tracks for you to color. Color the tracks you think are from the same animal the same color. How many different animals might have been walking together? Click on the picture for a printer-friendly version of the tracks. TRY THIS! Take off your shoes, lay a ruler on the floor, and stand beside it. Note how long your foot is. Multiply that number by 4. Then, find your hip bone and measure from it down to the floor. Compare the two numbers. (they should be very close)