Overview

• Early August flood cleanup at Big Sandy Creek uncovered a mix of previously recorded and newly revealed dinosaur footprints on private property near Leander.
• The limestone imprints date back 110 to 115 million years to the Early Cretaceous period when Central Texas formed a shoreline of the Western Interior Seaway.
• Large three-toed tracks are attributed to the carnivore Acrocanthosaurus and round impressions to the herbivore Paluxysaurus, with some parallel sets suggesting collective movement or pacing.
• UT Austin paleontologists led by Matthew Brown and Kenneth Bader plan return visits to deploy drones and laser surface scanning for detailed 3D mapping.
• Researchers are advising landowners and Travis County officials on measures to protect the tracks during ongoing flood debris removal.