Limping dinosaur's twisted path puzzles paleontologists, 150 million years later: 'Very rare'

Paleontologists may have uncovered the traces of a dinosaur that may have been limping, thanks to fossilized footprints preserved in stone for over 150 million years.

In a Nov. 25 press release from the University of Queensland (UQ), Australian officials announced that the discovery was made at an ancient trackway near Ouray, Colorado.

Measuring over 310 feet long, the trackway consists of around 130 footprints. The dinosaur that made the track was likely four-legged and long-necked, belonging to the sauropod clade. 

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Speaking to Fox News Digital, UQ paleontologist Anthony Romilio said a long, looping dinosaur trackway like the Colorado one is "very rare."

"Trackways that are turning are even rarer," he said. "Trackways that loop - well, there are only two known in the world: the one in Colorado and one in China."

"However, a rockslide has destroyed the one in China. So, that leaves this to be the only existing looping dinosaur trackway in the world."

Though the exact species is unknown, Romilio said that Camarasaurus and Diplodocus are two dinosaur species that roamed Colorado at that time.

"Camarasaurus was equivalent to being 'front-wheel drive', with its weight shifted more over the shoulders and front feet, and so there is a tendency to leave deeper handprints than footprints," he said.

"Diplodocus, on the other hand, was equivalent to being 'rear-wheel drive' with weight shifted over the hips, meaning its footprints are deeper than handprints."

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Whether the dinosaur was limping because of a conflict with another dinosaur is also unknown, for now.

"It is difficult to determine whether other dinosaurs were present at the time," said Romilio.

"As paleontologists, we work carefully within the bounds of the evidence, and in this case the information doesn't yet indicate a confrontation or interaction with another dinosaur," he added. "That said, the looping path is unusual…the idea that the trackmaker might have been avoiding something is certainly a compelling speculative interpretation."

Footprints and trackways, Romilio noted, can only be made when an animal is alive - and the remnants can reveal how these ancient creatures walked and ran in ways that fossil bones can't.

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"In terms of taking trackway measurements, long trackways like this one allow us the opportunity to even undertake statistical analyses," he noted. 

"By assessing the difference between the steps made with the left leg versus that from the right, we found there was a statistically significant difference across the 130-plus footprints."

Romilio added, "There was clearly a difference, but whether that was due to a prior injury resulting in a persistent limp and simply having preference for one side over the other is speculation. We'd need a time-machine to know for sure."

Romilio noted that it was local residents - not scientists - who first discovered the site.

"The looping trackway has been known to residents since the mid-1950s. It was accessible, frequently visited and quietly appreciated long before it entered scientific discourse," he said. 

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"It was only much later that the site was formally communicated to researchers, with the first scientific study undertaken roughly five years ago."

The paleontologist said that the long trackways make detailed analysis logistically difficult, but thanks to digital tools, they're able to analyze them "with far greater precision and completeness than was previously possible."

The latest discovery is one of many dinosaur-related finds that made headlines in 2025.

Earlier this year, a Connecticut high school student found a 150 million-year-old fossil from the Jurassic era at a Montana dig.

At around the same time, scientists announced the discovery of a new dinosaur species called Joaquinraptor casali in Argentina.