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Paleontologists have revised the hypothesis of a “swimming brontosaurus,” which left footprints mostly of its forelimbs, and concluded that this giant animal simply moved through shallow water, rather than swimming.
In 1940, American paleontologist Roland T. Byrd discovered sauropod tracks in Texas, mostly forelimb impressions. This led him to speculate that the brontosaurus, having fallen into a body of water, pushed off with its hind legs and swam, walking only with its forelimbs. However, when these tracks were rediscovered in 2002, and another similar track found nearby, researchers doubted this version.
A new analysis published in the journal Historical Biology, showed that the water depth in this area did not exceed one meter, which would make it impossible for such a massive dinosaur to swim. In addition, a large theropod footprint was found nearby, which also could not move in water of such depth. Scientists suggested that the water simply smoothed out the traces of the brontosaurus' hind legs, while the forelimbs left deeper prints due to higher pressure on the substrate.
Similar unusual tracks were found in other parts of the world - in Morocco, China, Portugal and Korea, where they were also initially interpreted as traces of "floating dinosaurs". However, further studies have shown that the formation of such prints is influenced by various factors: substrate characteristics, animal behavior and environmental conditions. Thus, the idea of a "floating brontosaurus" has finally lost scientific support.
