Dance of the dinosaurs

Other interpretations have been thought out to explain the trackways, such as digging for food or water, or to build a nest. The researches involved in the discovery however are confident that the finding is the result of a mating dance, very similar to what ostriches, ground parrots or shorebirds do.

They state that during the Cretaceous, the region where the tracks were found was a lush environment, deeming it unnecessary to dig for water. The lack of any remains of carcasses, eggs or nests also seem to rule out those possibilities.

On the other hand, the similarity of the fossilized scrape marks match closely to what is observed today being left behind by a wide variety of birds. All in all, the markings – which were found in four different sites across Colorado, each with up to 60 trackways – seem to suggest something similar to the ceremonies practiced by the sand grouse, in which several males would gather and try to woo passing females with their dance moves.

If the interpreted behavior is true, it is very likely that many other species of dinosaurs practiced similar rituals, since Acrocanthosaurus itself isn’t very closely related to the lineage that gave rise to birds. It seems that along with feathers, wishbones and nesting behavior, mating dances are just one of many things that we though were unique to birds but are actually around for much longer.

Julio
Lacerda

Staff Artist and Writer

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