Fossilised footprints uncovered in an Oxfordshire quarry have revealed important clues about how large meat-eating theropod dinosaurs moved.

The tracks were found by researchers from the University's Department of Earth Sciences in Ardley Quarry, near Oxford and they are among the best preserved and most extensive in the world. One set of prints in particular interested the team because it clearly shows the dinosaur breaking from a walk into a run.

The research team, led by Dr Julia Day, have been unable to confirm the dinosaur's species from the prints, but believe it to be a large theropod, possibly a Megalosaurus, a relative of Tyrannosaurus rex.

Scientists have long believed that these dinosaurs could run, but the Cambridge team believe they are the first with proof from tracks of medium-sized or large theropods running. The results were published in the journal Nature and have attracted international media attention.

"We knew that small theropods could run fast, but it wasn't clear if the same was true for large theropods," said Dr Day in an interview with the Daily Telegraph this week.

"The evidence here shows that these animals weren't lumbering beasts. They were much more agile than some people have imagined. Although we don't know if they could sustain a run, they could clearly run for short bursts."

The team also found tracks from Sauropod dinosaurs - long necked plant-eaters - on the same site and suggest that the Megalosaurus could have put on its burst of speed while chasing prey.


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