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Dinosaur Discoveries in North America

Recent Discoveries in the United States

Were east coast dinosaur tracks found by an amateur paleontologist?

Yes, a large number of dinosaur and flying reptile tracks from around 105 to 115 million years ago were found in local stream beds by Ray Stanford, an amateur paleontologist living in the area around Washington, D.C. Collected over a period of four years, the rocks contain nearly 900 Middle Cretaceous dinosaur (and other vertebrate) tracks, representing at least two dozen species of dinosaur. Stanford’s finds have astonished professional paleontologists, who had thought that tracks like these didn’t exist in this area. He is also the discoverer of a new species of dinosaur.

Besides the unexpected discovery of these tracks on the east coast, there are up to a dozen species of dinosaurs represented by the footprints, including several species that were previously unknown. There appears to be several different species of herbivorous dinosaurs, and perhaps a young ankylosaur.



Believe it or not, it was a toy much like this one that was used when three-year-old David Shiffler discovered the oldest dino egg fossil ever uncovered in New Mexico (iStock).
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