(Press-News.org) Footprints of a multispecies herd of dinosaurs discovered in Canada demonstrate the social interaction between different dinosaur species 76 million years ago, according to findings in a new study published today [23 July] in the journal PLOS One.
The new tracksite is the first discovery of its kind in Dinosaur Provincial Park in Alberta, Canada. The Park is world-famous for its abundant fossils but dinosaur footprints were virtually unknown.
The discovery, made during an international field course in July 2024, includes footprints from multiple dinosaur species walking alongside each other – providing the first evidence of mixed-species herding behaviour in dinosaurs, similar to how modern wildebeest and zebra travel together on the African plains.
The researchers were also surprised to find the tracks of two large tyrannosaurs walking side-by-side and perpendicular to the herd, raising the prospect that the multispecies herding may have been a defence strategy against common apex predators. However, more evidence is needed to confirm this.
The international team, led by Dr Brian Pickles (University of Reading, UK), Dr Phil Bell (University of New England, Australia), and Dr Caleb Brown (Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, Canada), excavated 29 square metres of the site, revealing 13 ceratopsian (horned dinosaur) tracks from at least five animals walking side by side, with a probable ankylosaurid (armoured dinosaur) walking in the midst of the others.
One footprint of a small meat-eating dinosaur was also discovered. The tracksite extends further into the hillside.
Dr Phil Bell, University of New England, said: “I’ve collected dinosaur bones in Dinosaur Provincial Park for nearly 20 years, but I’d never given footprints much thought. This rim of rock had the look of mud that had been squelched out between your toes, and I was immediately intrigued.
“The tyrannosaur tracks give the sense that they were really eyeing up the herd, which is a pretty chilling thought, but we don’t know for certain whether they actually crossed paths.”
Dr Brian Pickles, University of Reading, said: "It was incredibly exciting to be walking in the footsteps of dinosaurs 76 million years after they laid them down.
“Using the new search images for these footprints, we have been able to discover several more tracksites within the varied terrain of the Park, which I am sure will tell us even more about how these fascinating creatures interacted with each other and behaved in their natural environment.”
Dr Caleb Brown, Royal Tyrrell Museum of Palaeontology, added: "This discovery shows just how much there is still to uncover in dinosaur palaeontology. Dinosaur Park is one of the best understood dinosaur assemblages globally, with more than a century of intense collection and study, but it is only now that we are getting a sense for its full potential for dinosaur trackways."
END
Dinosaur tracks show first evidence of multispecies herding
2025-07-23
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Teen smokers and vapers have higher rates of depression and anxiety, study finds
2025-07-23
Adolescents who use either e-cigarettes or conventional tobacco products (CTP)—like cigarettes, cigars, hookah and pipes—are significantly more likely to report symptoms of depression and anxiety than teens who don’t use tobacco products at all, according to a study published this week in the open-access journal PLOS Mental Health by Noor Abdulhay of West Virginia University, USA, and colleagues.
Tobacco use and mental health challenges are known to have a complex, bidirectional relationship. Understanding the interplay between adolescent ...
Immunity to seasonal flu protects against severe illness from bird flu in ferrets
2025-07-23
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The fatality rate for H5N1 highly pathogenic avian influenza in humans historically has been high, with more than half of people dying. Why, then, is the current H5N1 bird flu outbreak — which has caused massive die-offs in wild birds, farmed poultry and even wild mammals — causing mostly mild symptoms in the people it has infected? New research, led by scientists at Penn State and the University of Pittsburgh and published today (July 23) in the journal Science Translational Medicine, indicates that immunity to a seasonal influenza virus known as pandemic H1N1 that began circulating ...
Innovative imaging tool could improve diagnosis and treatment of hearing loss
2025-07-23
Optical coherence tomography (OCT), a tool routinely used to diagnose and plan treatment for eye diseases, has now been modified to collect images of the inner ear. A proof-of-concept study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of USC found that OCT imaging can measure fluid levels in the inner ear, which correlate with a patient’s degree of hearing loss. The findings were just published in Science Translational Medicine.
“These findings are exciting because hearing loss can happen very suddenly, and we often don’t know ...
Researchers develop new microscope for neurovascular coupling imaging
2025-07-23
Neurovascular coupling (NVC) is the dynamic regulation of cerebral blood flow in response to neural activity. Specifically, when neurons become active, nearby blood vessels dilate to increase blood supply, thereby meeting the heightened energy demands associated with neural activity.
NVC is essential for maintaining normal brain function and plays a critical role in non-invasive brain-computer interfaces (BCIs)—such as systems for controlling robotic arms or cursors.
Unfortunately, conventional ...
Scientists propose AI-driven biotech model for future crop breeding
2025-07-23
In a major step toward securing global food supplies and advancing sustainable agriculture, a team of scientists has proposed an integrated framework that combines biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI) to revolutionize crop breeding.
Published in Nature on July 24, the review was co-corresponding authored by Prof. GAO Caixia from the Institute of Genetics and Developmental Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Prof. LI Guotian of Huazhong Agricultural University, with contributions from ...
Collaborative initiative highlights successes and challenges in global bioethics training
2025-07-23
PHILADELPHIA (July 23, 2025) – A new Penn Nursing initiative explores the impact of federally funded international bioethics training programs. The collaborative initiative, published in the Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, highlights both the significant achievements and ongoing challenges in building bioethics research capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
The collaboration, led by Connie M. Ulrich, PhD, RN, FAAN, the Lillian S. Brunner Chair in Medical and Surgical Nursing in Penn Nursing’s Department of Biobehavioral ...
A device developed at the EHU makes it simple to obtain platelet-rich plasma
2025-07-23
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a fraction of blood plasma; its concentration of platelets is of great value in regenerative medicine as they are essential in accelerating healing and repairing tissue. Until now, obtaining them has been based on centrifugation techniques which, in addition to being expensive, could activate the platelets prematurely and reduce their effectiveness.
“We realised that our device not only separated the plasma, but also obtained very high-quality PRP, with functional and minimally activated platelets,” explained ...
Scientists discover brain switch that controls freeze-or-flight survival instincts
2025-07-23
Scientists discover brain switch that controls freeze-or-flight survival instincts
Leuven, Belgium, 23 July 2025 – Researchers have identified a key neural switch that controls whether animals instinctively flee from a threat or freeze in place. By comparing two closely related deer-mouse species, they found that this switch is calibrated by evolution to match the animal's habitat. This neural circuit is hypersensitive in mice living in densely vegetated environments, causing instant escape, but less responsive in their open-field cousins, who are more likely to freeze. In doing so, the research team uncovered an important way in which evolution fine-tunes the brain for survival.
Flee ...
Complex genetic variation revealed in diverse human genomes
2025-07-23
Genome assemblies from 65 individuals, representing a variety of the world’s populations, are advancing the scientific exploration of complex genetic structural variation.
Structural variations are genetic code alterations that span more than 50 base pairs, the rungs on the DNA ladder. These changes were hard to detect until the recent advent of newer sequencing technologies and analytical algorithms, as well as larger collections of more complete, diverse genomes.
Results from the latest work in this area, conducted by the Human Genome Structural Variation Consortium with participants ...
The most complete view of the human genome yet sets new standard for use in precision medicine
2025-07-23
An international team of scientists has decoded some of the most stubborn, overlooked regions of the human genome using complete sequences from 65 individuals across diverse ancestries. The study, published online today in Nature and co-led by The Jackson Laboratory (JAX), reveals how hidden DNA variations that influence everything from digestion and immune response to muscle control—and could explain why certain diseases strike some populations harder than others.
This milestone builds on two foundational studies that reshaped the field of genomics. In 2022, ...