Identical dinosaur footprints discovered in two locations about 6000km apart across the Atlantic Ocean
Modern theory is that some of the continents on Earth have split over the course of many years and were once a single continent. An international research team led by Dr. Louis L. Jacobs, a paleontologist at Southern Methodist University, has reported that they have discovered matching dinosaur footprints in South America and Africa, which are about 6,000 km apart across the Atlantic Ocean.
Matching dinosaur footprints, different continents
Matching dinosaur footprints found on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean
https://phys.org/news/2024-08-dinosaur-footprints-sides-atlantic-ocean.html
Dr Jacobs and his team discovered dinosaur footprints in the Borborema Plateau in northeastern Brazil and the Qum region in northern Cameroon, and conducted a detailed analysis of the age, geological setting and shape of the tracks.
Below are the footprints. The one on the left was found in Brazil, and the one on the right was found in Cameroon.
The footprints were left in the mud of a river or lake at the time, and an analysis of pollen contained in the sediment layer where the footprints were left revealed that they were formed in the early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. It was also found that the shapes of the footprints found in Brazil and Cameroon were almost identical. The majority of the footprints were made by three-toed
The researchers argue that the sediments show that 'rivers and lakes existed before the continents were disconnected,' and that the footprints suggest an ecosystem in which 'plants served as food for herbivorous dinosaurs, which in turn served as food for carnivorous dinosaurs.'
Although South America, where Brazil is located, and Africa, where Cameroon is located, are separated by about 6,000 km across the Atlantic Ocean in modern times, they were part of the same continent 120 million years ago. According to the research team, both areas where the footprints were found show a special geological structure called a 'half graben basin,' which is formed when the earth's crust is stretched.
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'One of the youngest connections between South America and Africa is between northeast Brazil and the Gulf of Guinea coast of Cameroon,' said Dr Jacobs. '120 million years ago, the two continents were connected by a small area that allowed animals to move across it between the two continents.'
Footprints discovered in Brazil show dinosaur tracks that remain intact.
The research team claims that this discovery provides important information not only about the ecosystem and environment of dinosaurs, but also about continental drift, and that by combining the distribution of footprints with the results of geological surveys, the process of continental breakup can be understood in more detail.
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