Overview
- Residents in San Juan de los Plátanos alerted authorities and INAH teams began technical recording of the site on October 21, 2026.
- INAH confirmed on October 26 that at least 50 fossil footprints cover about 40 square meters on a river‑edge sedimentary platform and date to roughly 65 million years ago.
- The prints measure 12–48 cm long and up to 30 cm wide and show shapes that preliminarily match large theropods possibly tyrannosaurids, raptor‑like dromaeosaurids, and hadrosaurid herbivores.
- Specialists are using photogrammetry, mold making and geological sampling to preserve the impressions, refine taxonomic IDs and test hypotheses about locomotion, walking direction and species interactions.
- If further surveyed areas produce more prints this site will join three other Michoacán localities and more than 30 Mexican ichnite sites, offering local educational value and new data for paleontology in the region.