Researchers have documented an unprecedented concentration of dinosaur footprints at the Carreras Pampas site in Bolivia’s Torotoro National Park. Across nine study areas, they recorded more than 16,000 tracks left by three-toed theropods at the end of the Cretaceous period. The tracks vary in size (from tiny to large) and capture a range of behaviors: walking, running, swimming, dragging tails, and making sharp turns. Most tracks are oriented roughly northwest to southeast, with ripple marks in the sediment suggesting the dinosaurs were moving along an ancient shoreline. The abundance and parallel orientation of some footprints hint that groups of dinosaurs may have traveled together. This site sets new world records for the number of individual footprints, continuous trackways, tail traces, and swimming traces, offering a unique window into prehistoric animal behavior.
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