Rare Dinosaur Tracks Discovered in Germany

Scientists discovered more than 90 giant dinosaurs tracks in a quarry outside the German city of Hannover.

The scientists said the foot prints belonged to a long-necked dinosaur and are supposed to be between 135 and 145 million years old, from the Cretaceous period, The Local news portal reported.

They compute about 1.20 metres in diametre and stretch over 50 metres.

"What is unusual about the tracks is that they go along for a long distance and then the dinosaur makes a sharp turn - that is exceptional," said excavation director Benjamin Englich.
He added that the footprints were "astonishingly deep", measuring 43 centimetres into the ground.
The paleontologists guess that the dinosaur would have weighed between 25 and 30 tonnes and had a long neck.''

"The foot-shape and type of step taken is very typical for long-necked dinosaurs. They left behind elephant-like footprints," Englich said.

According to the researchers, when the dinosaurs roamed during this time, the area had a tropical to subtropical climate.

There was maybe a huge lagoon area with frequent islands at that time and the long-necked dinosaur would have roamed around from island to island through the low water, looking for food, they added.

Dinosaur skeleton has been seized from home in China

Police in China have seized 213 fossilised dinosaur eggs and skeletal leftovers. Police raided the house in Heyuan city and seized the eggs, which date back to the Cretaceous period.

The skeleton was later recognized as a Psittacosaurus, Xinhua news agency reported.

Heyuan was known as the "hometown of the dinosaur" in China, with many fossilised eggs exposed over the decades. The city's museum has set a Guinness record for having composed more than 10,000 dinosaur eggs.

Chinese laws place fossilised creatures under state ownership and ban any trade or ownership of them except by specialised institutions and professionals.