Illustration of dinosaurs walking a dirt highway

Illustration by Luke Newell

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Dinosaur Highway

April 28, 2025
By Alicia Green

In 2023, Gary Johnson was working in a quarry in Oxfordshire, England. While digging up clay with his vehicle, he felt unusual bumps in the ground. Researchers took a closer look and realized that Johnson had made a remarkable discovery. In January of this year, they announced that the bumps were part of a “dinosaur highway” with about 200 footprints. 

Paleontologists say the tracks were created 166 million years ago. They’re spread across five trails. Four of the trails were likely made by long-necked herbivores, or plant eaters, called Cetiosaurus (see-tee-oh-SOR-uhs). Some of their footprints are 35 inches long. A foot that big would need a men’s size 83 shoe! The tracks in the fifth trail belong to Megalosaurus (meh-guh-loh-SOR-uhs). These ferocious carnivores, or meat eaters, are known for their clawed, three-toed feet. 

Courtesy of Emma Nicholls (tracks); Dr. Luke Meade/University of Birmingham (footprint)

A team works to uncover dinosaur tracks in Oxfordshire, England.

More to Find

During a week-long dig last summer, researchers carefully uncovered the prints and made casts of each one. They also used drones to take more than 20,000 photos, then used the images to build 3-D models of the site. This information may help scientists better understand what life was like in the tropical, swampy environment where the dinosaurs lived. 

Kirsty Edgar is one of the paleontologists involved in uncovering the prehistoric highway. She says the tracks may give new clues about these dinos’ size and speed, and how they interacted with each other.

“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs,” Edgar said in a statement. 

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