The Discovery
In Mexico, local residents in San Juan de los Plátanos, a community within the municipality of Apatzingán, Michoacán, alerted authorities after discovering the tracks of "giant animals." In response, researcher and paleontologist Raymundo Cervantes Barriga from the Centro INAH Michoacán inspected the river's edge stream bed to assess the find.
The site revealed a platform of sedimentary rock covering 40 square meters, preserving at least 50 fossilized dinosaur footprints. This discovery represents the fourth registered site featuring dinosaur footprints in Michoacán, joining previous locations in Playa Azul, El Aguaje, and the border area between Tiquicheo and Tuzantla. Nationwide, the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) has registered over 30 dinosaur track sites across the states of Puebla, Coahuila, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango, and Michoacán.
What Scientists Found
The footprints date back 65 million years to the Late Cretaceous period, an era when the region contained bodies of water that attracted ancient animals to feed. The individual fossilized tracks, or ichnites, range in size from 12 to 48 centimeters in length and measure up to 30 centimeters in width. Based on footprint morphology—including shape, size, depth, and toe count—researchers attributed the tracks to three distinct dinosaur groups:
- A large carnivorous theropod family, possibly tyrannosaurids, which stood up to 4 meters tall and left three-toed prints.
- Smaller three-toed dinosaurs similar to raptors (Dromaeosauridae), reaching up to 2 meters in height.
- Herbivorous duck-billed dinosaurs (Hadrosauridae) growing up to 4 meters tall, whose three-toed footprints feature rounded tips.
Why It Matters
While official paleontological protocols have yet to determine the precise number of distinct species present, archaeologist Punzo Díaz noted that early observations of this track collection significantly expand knowledge about dinosaurs in Mexico. By examining these prints, scientists can gain vital insights into species coexistence, gait direction, locomotion, physical morphology, and ancient animal behavior.
Source: dinosaur fossil discovery - BingNews · Published October 27, 2026 · Photo by Charlotte Hale on Unsplash