Dinosaur Discoveries in North AmericaRecent 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.