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5+ hour, 14+ min ago (54+ words) Scientists in Torotoro, Bolivia, have documented a vast treasure trove of thousands of dinosaur footprints on the bed of an ancient lake. Scientists in Torotoro, Bolivia, have documented a vast treasure trove of thousands of dinosaur footprints on the bed of an ancient lake, with the once-soft sediments long since preserved as rock....

7+ hour, 29+ min ago (196+ words) Legend once had it that the huge, three-toed footprints scattered across the central highlands of Bolivia came from supernaturally strong monsters " capable of sinking their claws even into solid stone. Then scientists came here in the 1960s and dispelled children's fears, determining that the strange footprints in fact belonged to gigantic, two-legged dinosaurs that stomped and splashed over 60 million years ago, in the ancient waterways of what is now Toro Toro, a village and popular national park in the Bolivian Andes. Now, a team of paleontologists, mostly from California's Loma Linda University, have discovered and meticulously documented 16,600 such footprints left by theropods, the dinosaur group that includes the Tyrannosaurus rex. Their study, based on six years of regular field visits and published last Wednesday in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, reports that this finding represents the highest number of theropod footprints…...

7+ hour, 33+ min ago (474+ words) Skin fossils from a sauropod dinosaur examined with an electron microscope feature structures called melanosomes, which are similar to those that create the bright colours in birds' feathers Illustration of a sauropod, with inset showing pigmented structures in the skin as seen with an electron microscopeTess Gallagher Microscopic structures seen in the fossilised skin of a sauropod suggest that these giant dinosaurs may have been as brightly coloured as some birds. Tess Gallagher at the University of Bristol, UK, and her colleagues examined sauropod skin fossils thought to be around 145 million years old, collected in 2019 and 2022 from the Mother's Day Quarry in Montana. The truth about de-extinction: is it even possible, and why do it? Although the fossils couldn't be definitively identified, it is thought they were probably Diplodocus. The researchers took tiny pieces off the four scales from the…...

8+ hour, 53+ min ago (119+ words) Holly Bishop | Tuesday 09 December 2025 17:41 GMT Scientists in Bolivia have discovered the largest collection of dinosaur prints ever found, with the tracks documenting the animals" attempts to swim. Over 16,000 immaculately-preserved theropod prints " the family of dinosaurs that includes the Tyrannosaurus rex " were uncovered in ancient waterways in Toro Toro, a national park in the Bolivian Andes. The tracks were left by dinosaurs attempting to swim through lakes in the area, leaving their footprints in the mud. As the tracks were made before water levels rose, they were protected from erosion, according to scientists. Park Ranger Celso Aguilar described the discovery as the "most important finding in the world that can be observed....

10+ hour, 7+ min ago (18+ words) Paleontologists found not just bones, but potentially preserved skin and tissue, making the discovery extremely rare and consequential....

11+ hour, 6+ min ago (124+ words) Scientists uncover largest collection of dinosaur footprints ever found ASSOCIATED PRESS, TORO TORO NATIONAL PARK Dinosaurs" attempts to swim revealed in largest collection of tracks ever discovered - Scientists in Bolivia have discovered the largest collection of dinosaur prints ever found and the tracks document the animals' attempts to swim. - Over 16,000 immaculately-preserved theropod prints, from the family including Tyrannosaurus rex, were uncovered. - The tracks were found in ancient waterways within Toro Toro, a national park located in the Bolivian Andes. - The prints were left by dinosaurs attempting to swim through lakes, with the mud preserving them before rising water levels could cause erosion. - Park Ranger Celso Aguilar hailed the discovery as the "most important finding in the world that can be observed"....

13+ hour, 49+ min ago (466+ words) New research reveals that anacondas, the largest snakes on Earth, reached their imposing size millions of years ago and have remained giants ever since. A recent study on fossilized remains from Venezuela suggests that the giant size of these anacondas evolved around 12.4 million years ago, challenging previous assumptions about their growth. Surprisingly, the fossil evidence shows no significant increase in size despite warmer global temperatures in the past. The findings, published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, come from an analysis of ancient anaconda fossils discovered in Falc'n State, Venezuela. By examining 183 fossilized backbones representing at least 32 snakes, scientists were able to reconstruct the body size of these prehistoric reptiles. According to University of Cambridge Ph.D. student Andr's Alfonso-Rojas and his team, the giant size of anacondas is a long-standing evolutionary feature. The analysis of the fossils indicated that these…...

14+ hour, 2+ min ago (741+ words) Legend once had it that the huge, three-toed footprints scattered across the central highlands of Bolivia came from supernaturally strong monsters - capable of sinking their claws even into solid stone. Then scientists came here in the 1960s and dispelled children's fears, determining that the strange footprints in fact belonged to gigantic, two-legged dinosaurs that stomped and splashed over 60 million years ago, in the ancient waterways of what is now Toro Toro, a village and popular national park in the Bolivian Andes. "There's no place in the world where you have such a big abundance of (theropod) footprints," said Roberto Biaggi, a co-author of the study led by Spanish paleontologist Ra'l Esperante. "We have all these world records at this particular site." Prints record dinosaur behavior " including attempts to swim The dinosaurs that ruled the earth and roamed this region also made…...

14+ hour, 3+ min ago (350+ words) Scientists in Bolivia have uncovered a record-breaking 18,000 dinosaur footprints and swim tracks, setting a new global benchmark for a single tracksite. The discovery was made at the Carreras Pampa site in Torotoro National Park, an area that was once an ancient coastline and travel corridor, per Live Science... Scientists in Bolivia have uncovered a record-breaking 18,000 dinosaur footprints and swim tracks, setting a new global benchmark for a single tracksite. The discovery was made at the Carreras Pampa site in Torotoro National Park, an area that was once an ancient coastline and travel corridor, per Live Science. "Everywhere you look on that rock layer at the site, there are dinosaur tracks," paleontologist Jeremy McLarty tells CNN. The 16,600 footprints are attributed to theropods'bipedal, three-toed dinosaurs that lived during the late Cretaceous period, around 101 million to 66 million years ago. The Carreras Pampa tracksite…...

14+ hour, 46+ min ago (124+ words) What the world's largest collection of dinosaur footprints tell us - A team of paleontologists has documented an astonishing 16,600 individual theropod dinosaur footprints in Toro Toro National Park, Bolivia. - Published in PLOS One, this discovery represents the world's largest collection of tracks from two-legged dinosaurs, including swim traces, dating back over 60 million years. - The footprints offer a unique insight into the lives and behaviours of dinosaurs at the end of the Cretaceous period, revealing details like movement patterns. - The dinosaurs that ruled the earth and roamed this region also made awkward attempts to swim here, according to the study. - The reason for the dinosaurs' congregation at this site remains a mystery, though research into this extensive tracksite is set to continue....