Plastčni dinosaur u pijesku - ilustracija. Izvor: Unsplash
Fossilized footprints are among the most common traces left by dinosaurs. Sometimes scientists discover a single isolated print, sometimes vast surfaces covered in chaotic trackways resembling a dance floor. Identifying which dinosaur made which footprint has long been one of the most difficult challenges in paleontology.
Why dinosaur footprints are difficult to identify
Unlike bones or teeth, footprints rarely allow a direct link to a specific dinosaur species. The shape of a track depends on many factors beyond the animal itself, including speed, behavior at the moment the track was made, the type and moisture of the ground, burial by sediment, and millions of years of erosion.
As a result, the same dinosaur can leave footprints that look completely different.
A new AI based method
Scientists have now developed a method using artificial intelligence to help determine which dinosaur species was responsible for fossilized footprints. The system analyzes eight distinct characteristics of each footprint and compares patterns across known samples.
“This is important because it provides an objective way to classify and compare tracks, reducing reliance on subjective human interpretation,” said physicist Gregor Hartmann from the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin, co-author of the study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Analyzing 150 million years of dinosaur history
The method was refined by analyzing nearly 2,000 fossilized footprints spanning about 150 million years of dinosaur history. Artificial intelligence identified eight key features that explain most of the variation in footprint shapes.
Many of these tracks had previously been confidently linked to specific dinosaur species. Researchers used those known examples to map how the identified features correspond to different dinosaur groups, helping guide future identifications.
Why uncertainty remains
Despite the progress, researchers emphasize that identifying the maker of a fossil footprint will always involve uncertainty.
“The problem is that determining who made a fossil footprint is inherently uncertain,” Hartmann said. He explained that footprint shape reflects not only anatomy but also behavior, substrate conditions, burial processes, and long-term erosion.
A paleontological detective story
“When we find footprints, we have to play detective,” said Steve Brusatte, a paleontologist at the University of Edinburgh and lead author of the study. “It’s like the prince in Cinderella comparing the shoe to the foot. We try to find the dinosaur foot that fits the footprint.”
The new AI method does not eliminate all doubts, but it provides scientists with a powerful tool that improves accuracy and reduces subjectivity in one of paleontology’s most complex problems. Source HINA.
