Paleontologists have discovered the steps of two dinosaurs in north Germany – one larger and one smaller in size. This means that the meat-eating dinosaurs exercised social behavior.
Around 142 million years ago, a couple of dinosaurs had taken a walk through a place, which would later become the coastline of Germany. The steps show that the dinosaurs were in no hurry – the larger dinosaur had been moving with a speed of 6.3 km/hr., and the smaller one with a speed of 9.7 km/hr. At times, the smaller dinosaur had picked up the pace, probably to catch up with the larger one.
“The footprints of the dinosaurs show us that they were just walking around and about,” explains lead researcher, Pernille Troelsen, from the University of South Denmark.
Troelsen further explains that the dinosaurs had walked along the beach in an unusually slow tempo. The researcher is not a paleontologist, but rather a biologist and that is why she can contribute with knowledge of the behavioral traits in different species.
It is still unclear exactly what species the dinosaurs were, but we do know that they had walked on two feet. The steps of the larger dinosaur measure about 36 centimeters in length, and the smaller – 23.5 centimeters. Furthermore we know that the dinosaurs were most likely carnivores, similar in size and behavior to the Velociraptor.
We don’t know much about the behavioral traits of the dinosaurs. Everything is still just a matter of discussion among scientists, but the fact is that these two dinosaurs were very comfortable with one another and that means that there might have actually been “friendships” between different species. It is also possible that the two dinosaurs were mother and child.
“It is possible that the footprints were made years apart and these are two dinosaurs that just happened to take a walk along the same beach,” adds Troelsen. “We also saw that an Iguanodon had walked on the same path, too, which would mean that the place was frequently visited by dinosaurs.”
