EARTH: Making Tracks Through the Dinosaur Diamond

“Connecting earth, science, and people”

Alexandria, VA - Between Utah and Colorado lies a geographical diamond that contains a rich collection of fossils and dinosaur footprints. This region records the history of when dinosaurs inhabited this area, with all major ages of dinosaur life represented here. Paleontologists have debated for over a hundred years which dinosaurs existed based on bones and abundant dinosaur tracks, which provide clues that allow geoscientists to interpret dinosaur daily life.

EARTH Magazine travels through time to meet the major players of the Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous - from sauropods and theropods to protomammals - that created the rich tapestry of life in this region millions of years ago. We follow dinosaurs along the hundreds-of-kilometers-long “Dinosaur Freeway,” learning perhaps as much about them from just their footprints as we do from bones. Read more about the latest trackway findings at http://www.earthmagazine.org/article/making-tracks-through-dinosaur-diamond.

The May 2016 Issue of EARTH Magazine is now available at www.earthmagazine.org and is filled with breaking news from the geoscience community. Find out about the softer side of hydrothermal vents, what role magnesium plays in Earth’s geodynamo, and how climate and the seafloor are linked. In addition to exploring the Dinosaur Diamond, explore Denver’s dinosaurs in this month’s Travels in Geology column. All this and much more in EARTH Magazine.

Keep up to date with the latest happenings in Earth, energy, and environment news with EARTH Magazine online at: www.earthmagazine.org. Published by the American Geosciences Institute, EARTH is your source for the science behind the headlines.

Contact: Maureen Moses press release mmoses@americangeosciences.org