High-Tech Tools Let Researchers Track Dinosaur Footprints

With the help of cutting-edge research, researchers in Arkansas are unveiling new information about the dinosaurs that existed there 120 million years ago.

What looked like giant potholes in the middle of bedrock terrain in southwest Arkansas has been uncovered as fossilized dinosaur tracks. Now thanks to high-tech light scanner research, scientists from the University of Arkansas are learning more about the biomechanics and behaviors of the extinct species that once occupied the area by taking 3-D images to record the tracks.

With these tech tools, the researchers can view a highly accurate map of the site's dinosaur tracks and take detailed measurements of the height, width and depth of individual tracks, as then as measurements of the trackways. Not only does the research take precise measurements of the entire area with easy and speed, it as well captures minor details of the tracks.

"The innovation allows us to see exquisite detail of the bottoms of some of the tracks," University of Arkansas geosciences professor Stephen K. Boss, who led the National Science Foundation-funded project. "There are things we can see on the computer screen that aren't visible to the naked eye out in the sun and in the field. We can rotate image angles, change the contrast and analyze the tracks with more perspective."

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