Chinese paleontologists have discovered more than 3,000 dinosaur footprints in a region of eastern China. The tracks, which probably date back more than 100 million years , appeared after more than three months of excavations at a site near the city of Zhucheng , in the coastal province of Shandong, in an area where since the years 60 50 tons of dinosaur bones have been found.
Ranging in size from 10 to 80 cm, the tracks belong to at least six different types of dinosaurs , including tyrannosaurs. The steps are all oriented in the same direction, said Wang Haijun, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. This could indicate that they occurred during a migratory movement or of sudden panic between herbivorous dinosaurs by an attack of carnivores, according to the scientist.
Zhucheng is also known by the nickname "dinosaur city", and recent discoveries in the area include the fossil remains of a 20-meter-long hadrosaur , the largest known to date. Currently, the creation of a park with fossils is being studied in this area of China.
