Archaeologists uncover world's largest dinosaur foot
THE fossil of the largest dinosaur foot ever found - almost a metre wide - has been identified as being from a brachiosaur - one of the largest land animals to ever roam Earth, and made famous in the films Jurassic Park and Jurassic World. Archaeologists were surprised when they found the enormous dinosaur foot among fossils excavated in Wyoming in the United States. They used 3D scanning and detailed measurements to compare the specimen to feet from numerous dinosaur species.
The foot was excavated in 1998 by an expedition team from the University of Kansas which included Anthony Maltese. But until now the identity of the dinosaur it belonged to, had remained a mystery. The new findings, published in the journal PeerJ, also confirm that 150 million years ago brachiosaurs - featured in the movies Jurassic Park and Jurassic World - lived across a huge swathe of North America.
Study lead author Dr Maltese, now at the Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Centre, said: "It was immediately apparent that the foot, nearly a metre wide, was from an extremely large animal, so the specimen was nicknamed 'Bigfoot'." Now, after thorough preparation and examination, the researchers have identified the foot as belonging to an animal very closely related to the long-necked, long-tailed sauropod Brachiosaurus, best known as the sauropod featured in the movie Jurassic Park.
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