Abstract
Eighty-eight tracks of large theropod dinosaurs were found in the mid-Jurassic of Zimbabwe. Among the tracks, at least five adjacent trackways are recorded. The adjacent tracks were probably made by animals traveling as a group, given that they are in relatively close succession; that there are three overlapping tracks (among just 23) suggesting reasonably close associations of the animals; that all the tracks are apparently of the same ichnotaxon; that the preservational types of the tracks are similar; and that the tracks are all of animals traveling in one general direction closely associated in time (there are no returning tracks of the same animals or of those of other species; presence of such tracks would be highly probable if the tracks were made over a period of time of even several hours). Nearby, recently discovered giant sauropod tracks, the first in sub-Saharan Africa, indicate a realistic potential of predator/prey interactions between the two groups of dinosaurs.
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Acknowledgements
We thank Lovemore Mungwashu and Marinzi Karandora Chisora for facilitating our work in Chewore, and Thomas Njiva for providing armed escort. We also thank the director of ZGS. TL-S and TJB extend their appreciation to all the members on our expedition, in particular Mary Blair, Trish Broderick, Carrie Lapham, Rowena Broad, and Rowena Quantrill. Above all we thank Trish Broderick, who engineered and organized the expedition. Thanks to four anonymous referees for constructive reviews.
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Lingham-Soliar, T., Broderick, T. & Ait Kaci Ahmed, A. Closely associated theropod trackways from the Jurassic of Zimbabwe. Naturwissenschaften 90, 572–576 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0477-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00114-003-0477-5