On Monday, a park official in Texas said that the absence of water in a dry riverbed had revealed dinosaur footprints believed to be 113 million years old. Widespread tracks have been preserved thanks to past enfouissement, sedimentation, and water covering.

According to Stephanie Salinas Garcia of the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, the river dried up in most locations due to the severe drought this summer, enabling researchers to find fresh footprints in the park.

The park’s employees were pleased by the find because of the region’s reputation as “Dinosaur Valley” owing to the prevalence of dinosaur fossils in the area around the park in the Dallas metropolitan area. One of the longest suites of dinosaur footprints in the world may have been captured in the stunning images released by the park on social media. A group of volunteers is working to tidy them up so that they can be seen more easily.

“the bulk of the tracks recently found at different spots along the river in the park were left by an Acrocanthosaurus,” Stephanie Salinas Garcia said. This theropod could reach a length of 5 meters and a mass of 7 tons when fully mature. Another kind of dinosaur whose tracks can be seen in the park is the long-necked Sauroposéidon, which could reach a length of 18 meters and a weight of 44 tons at maturity.

“Dinosaur tracks in the park date back 113 million years,” Stephanie Salinas Garcia piped in. This park, which was established in 1972 in order to protect these landmarks, has a webpage describing their history. Visitors won’t have much time to take in the atmosphere of these ancient pathways, however, since it’s forecast to rain soon.