Did the stars of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom once roam in packs around China?
Footprints found in Shandong province suggest beasts were social and travelled together, scientists say
The discovery of dozens of dinosaur footprints in eastern China could be evidence that the carnivorous beasts that inspired the raptors in the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World film franchises once roamed the country in large groups, researchers have said.
Scientists have been studying about 70 prints believed to have been made by Deinonychus antirrhopus, and hundreds more by other species, in a mountainous region of Tancheng county in Shandong province for more than a year, according to various newspaper reports.
Deinonychus was a small- to medium-size dinosaur that grew to a length of about 3.4 metres (11 feet). Its prints were among 300 first found in 2015 by Tang Yonggang, a well-known “dinosaur hunter” and visiting professor at Linyi University in Shandong.
But it was not until last year that scientists were able to conduct a thorough investigation of the site.
