Albertosaurus

Albertosaurus is a member of the tyrannosaurid family and it is the one that is the most documented thanks to the discovery of 22 individuals of its species of various ages, found together in a bone bed. It moves in herds and can weigh up to 5500 lb!

Brachiosaurus

In 2004, in Loulle in France, an important site was discovered. This one would date from the Upper Jurassic (about 155 million years) and more than 500 footprints were identified, while it is estimated that there would be more than 3000! This site is one of the 10 most important sites with dinosaur footprints in the world. We have identified the passage of diplodocus and brachiosaurus, as many adults as young children.

2 What is the main difference between a brachiosaurus and a diplodocus?

Oviraptor

A footprint can provide a lot of information about the type of dinosaur that made it. A three-toed, sharp-clawed print means the print-maker was probably a theropod, so usually a carnivore. A three-fingered print with rounded toes belonged rather to an ornithopod dinosaur, therefore, to an herbivore!

3 If the Oviraptor has three pointed toes, we can therefore deduce that it was a…

Parasaurolophus

By analyzing the distance between the footprints of the same dinosaur, both between the left and right legs and between the front and back legs in the direction of movement, researchers can make good guesses about the posture and distribution of the weight of the dinosaur. These observations make it possible to determine whether the dinosaur was walking or running, and if so, at what speed. It is also possible to know if he held his tail straight or not. A drooping tail leaves a trail behind footprints!

4 Analysis of a dinosaur's footprints reveals how fast it moved!

T-Rex

The first T-REX footprint was discovered in 1983 in New Mexico. Scientists estimate that his running speed was rather slow for his size, not exceeding 25 km/h!

5 What has, like the T-REX, an average speed of 25 km/h?

Triceratops

Fossils help us to know dinosaurs better: what they looked like, what they ate, how they moved... This is thanks, among other things, to fossils, footprints, gastric stones, internal organs, soft tissues, eggs, feathers and even feces (yes, yes, poop!) that we can collect all this information and have the most realistic portrait of each species!

6 What are dinosaur fecal fossils called?