Jurassic Walk For Dinosaur Family

A set of dinosaur footprints found on the Isle of Skye seems to show that dinosaurs looked after their young once they had hatched.

The set of prints shows an adult dinosaur with about ten young dinosaurs walking close by.

Photo: can you see the footprints in the rock?
© University of Glasgow.

The dinosaur prints date from the Middle Jurassic period, which is nearly 170 million years ago. The dinosaurs were walking along the edge of a muddy lake and left clear prints as they walked.

The find is very important because up to this point experts did not have any evidence that dinosaurs stayed with their babies once their eggs had hatched.

Photo: this diagram of the trackways in the rock will help you see the prints more clearly.
© University of Glasgow.

These dinosaurs would have been plant-eaters and were bipedal, which means they walked on two legs. The adult's body would have been about five metres long and the young dinosaurs, who were probably less than a year old, would have been between one and two metres long.

Imagine meeting ten of those out for a stroll. They may have only eaten plants, but we'd still keep our distance!

Photo: Dr Neil Clark is the expert who has been studying the dinosaur tracks.
© University of Glasgow.

Dr Neil Clark, a paleontologist from the Hunterian Museum in Glasgow, is really excited about the find. He said "It is extremely rare to find evidence of post-hatching parental care in dinosaurs."

Evidence has been found of dinosaurs moving in herds, mainly in South Korea and the United States, but this group is special as it shows adults and young together, from the same time period.

The prints were first found by Dugald Ross, the curator of Staffin Museum on the Isle of Skye. The rock containing the prints will go on display there once research on the tracks has finished.