112-million-year-old dinosaur footprints damaged by builders in the US

The newspaper writes that the dinosaur tracks, which have not deteriorated for 112 million years under the scorching summer sun and freezing winters in Mill Canyon in the US state of Utah, were damaged by construction equipment that opened new comfortable roads for tourists in January. Guard.

More than a dozen different species of early Cretaceous dinosaurs left over two hundred individual footprints, but some of the world’s most important historical footprints were irreversibly damaged earlier in the year when a construction crew came to build a new boardwalk for tourists visiting the canyon. he saw. The extent of the damage in detail report US Bureau of Land Management.

According to the bureau, the good news is that the damage is estimated to be “minor,” but things could have been much worse if local residents hadn’t noticed tire marks caused by heavy equipment over time. pavement construction was stopped immediately. However, the Bureau warns that cracks on the edges of several fragile prints can no longer be repaired, and future freeze-thaw cycles threaten to widen these cracks. According to the report, both foot workers and machinery caused the damage as the contractor used a backhoe to remove the old boardwalk at the site’s most popular spot. paths.

“As a result, fossilized footprints were damaged,” according to a report compiled by paleontologist Brent Breitaupt. “Unfortunately, one of the tracks has been crossed multiple times and the tire tracks indicate that an excavator and other vehicles are working in this area.” Breitaupt noted that all damaged areas “must be marked to prevent further damage, and construction crews should avoid driving in the area.”

The boardwalk replacement project is currently on hold until at least the summer, while the bureau makes a final assessment of the damage and decides how to avoid similar incidents in the future.