Dinosaur Chase

Workers in the trenches on Roland T. Bird’s massive excavation in 1940. (R.T. Bird from the Collections of the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin)

Footprints in the mud from more than 100 million years ago are the tracks of the three-toed theropod (left) and the broader-footed sauropod (right) in bed of Paluxy River, Texas. (R.T. Bird from the Collections of the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin)

The chase tracks were divided into segments and shipped off to different museums. (R.T. Bird from the Collections of the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin)

American Paleontologist Roland T. Bird's handwritten notes on the dinosaur tracks for the 1940 excavation. (R.T. Bird from the Collections of the Vertebrate Paleontology Laboratory, The University of Texas at Austin)

Roland T. Bird’s original drawings of  the excavation site. (PLOS ONE, Falkingham, et.al.)

A comparison between Bird’s original sketches and the digital reconstruction. (PLOS ONE, Falkingham, et.al.)

Scientists scanned historic photos to develop the new 3-D mode. Credit: PLOS ONE Falkingham et.al

1.Peter Falkingham, of London’s Royal Veterinary College, on the Paluxy River in Texas. He shot the digital photos used to build 3D models of dinosaur tracks. (Peter Falkingham).

Peter Falkingham on the Paluxy River, Texas. (Peter Falkingham)