Paleontologists are scientists who study dinosaurs and fossils. Fossils are preserved remains of prehistoric life. Bones, teeth, and footprints are types of fossils. Paleontologists use this information to understand what life was like when dinosaurs were alive millions of years ago. Dinosaur footprints were recently found in a dried-up riverbed at Dinosaur Valley State Park. They are from dinosaurs that lived over 113 million years ago!
Dinosaur Valley State Park is in Texas. The summers in Texas are hot and dry. This summer, there was a drought. A drought is a time with very low rainfall. The drought dried up the river that runs through the park. This event exposed the dinosaur footprints. These tracks will not be visible for long, though. Rainfall will soon fill up the riverbeds. The flow of the river will bring in small rocks and sand. The small rocks and sand will pile on top of the tracks and preserve them once again.
What Do You Think? What can paleontologists learn from dinosaur footprints?
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Photo Credit: (t)McGraw Hill, (b)McGraw Hill
