“These footprints offer an extraordinary window into the lives of dinosaurs,” says Kirsty Edgar. Dr. Edgar is a micropaleontology professor at the University of Birmingham. (A micropaleontologist studies microscopic fossils.)
According to Dr. Edgar, these footprint fossils tell us a lot. They show details about dinosaurs’ “movements, interactions, and the tropical environment they inhabited.”
But how can mere footprints reveal what the world was like during dinosaur times?
Other fossils fill in the blanks. Non-dinosaur fossils are an important part of the tale. Scientists study fossils of shells and plants. Pollen samples can help tell how old bones are. And, of course, nearby dino bones give hints. When fossils lie near one another, one of the creatures may have killed the other.
So paleontologists dig up all kinds of pieces. Then they spend months studying them. This requires imagination. Imagine what plants surrounded these creatures. Imagine what the land looked like. Imagine what the dinosaurs themselves looked like. Did they have feathers? Extra skin flaps? What colors were they? Feathers and skin don’t last like fossils do. Still, artists draw their idea of dinosaurs. They’re showing much more than fossils can actually tell them.
Dinosaur science requires humility too. New discoveries build on old ones. And sometimes they correct old ones. Take the Brontosaurus, for example. Back in 1879, scientists identified a new dinosaur as a “Brontosaurus.” (In the movie The Land Before Time, Little Foot is a Brontosaurus.) But then scientists changed their terms. They decided the Brontosaurus was so similar to a known dinosaur—the Apatosaurus—that it should share its name. Then after more than 100 years, in 2015 scientists changed their minds again. Brontosaurus and Apatosaurus were different species after all.
Another fossil flub: Once, scientists thought a dino called Styracosaurus was a born killer. Why? Spike, claw, and horn fossils made it look like one. The truth: It was a salad-eater. New discoveries showed it used those sharp bits to cut plants.
