Researchers in the Jura region of France have uncovered a monumental 155-meter fossil trackway containing 110 footprints left by a 35-ton sauropod 150 million years ago. According to Sciencepost, the exceptional preservation of these marks led scientists to identify a completely new dinosaur species, Brontopodus plagnensis.
Deep in the French Jura, roughly 200 kilometers east of Lyon, a massive prehistoric footprint trail has yielded a rare look at an ancient ecosystem. According to Sciencepost, researchers mapped a 155-meter trackway featuring 110 individual footprints, establishing a world record for a sauropod. The path traces the exact movements of a colossal herbivore that walked the shoreline 150 million years ago.
The animal behind the tracks possessed the classic architecture of the sauropod family: a long neck, a long tail, and four pillar-like legs designed to carry immense weight. While this particular individual weighed about 35 tonnes and stretched roughly 35 meters in length, it remained relatively modest compared to some of its adult cousins capable of reaching 100 tonnes, Sciencepost reported.
Uncovering Brontopodus plagnensis in Plagne
The discovery centers on the small village of Plagne, an area that looked vastly different 150 million years ago. According to Sciencepost, the landscape was then a tropical archipelago covered by a warm, shallow sea dotted with small islands where dinosaurs traveled in search of food.
As the sauropod trod through the soft shoreline mud, its heavy steps left deep impressions. Subsequent layers of sediment buried and protected the tracks from erosion over millions of years. Tectonic uplifts eventually pushed the strata back to the surface, allowing scientists to calculate the creature’s gait, stride length of 2.8 meters, and a steady travel speed of 4 kilometers per hour, Sciencepost noted.
By analyzing the unique size, shape, and depth of the footprints, researchers determined that the prints did not match any previously recorded animal. They established a brand-new species named Brontopodus plagnensis
, a name which translates literally to thunder foot of Plagne, as outlined by Sciencepost.
