{"id":518409,"date":"2026-04-07T22:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/518409\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T22:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T22:32:11","slug":"scientists-discovered-giant-dinosaur-footprints-on-a-cave-ceiling-500-meters-underground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/518409\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Discovered Giant Dinosaur Footprints on a Cave Ceiling 500 Meters Underground"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fossilized dinosaur footprints have been discovered on the ceiling of a cave in southern France, overturning expectations about how such traces are preserved. Found deep underground, these tracks were discovered in 2015 in the Castelbouc cave, located in the Causse M\u00e9jean region. Reaching the site required navigating a narrow, winding, and often flooded passage.<\/p>\n

Trackways like these are valuable because they capture direct evidence of movement and anatomy. In this case, the orientation and preservation of the prints provide an uncommon opportunity to study dinosaur locomotion in detail.<\/p>\n

A Find Far Below The Surface<\/p>\n

The footprints were identified approximately 500 meters below ground, at the end of a difficult route extending over 100 meters. According to the study published in the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology<\/a>, researchers documented three separate trackways within the cave.<\/p>\n

What immediately set the site apart was the position of the prints. They are located on the ceiling, requiring scientists to observe them from below. These are not standard surface impressions but 3D counter-impressions, formed when original footprints were filled with sediment and later exposed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough the deep galleries of natural underground cavities are difficult to access and are sometimes dangerous, they have the potential to preserve trace fossils. Here, we report on the first occurrence of sauropod dinosaur tracks inside a karstic cave,\u201d wrote the authors.<\/p>\n

\"DinosaurDinosaur footprints preserved on the ceiling of the Castelbouc cave, with 3D view, sketch, and close-up. Credit: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology<\/p>\n

Prehistoric Giants Captured In Extraordinary Detail<\/p>\n

Some of the footprints <\/a>reach up to 1.25 meters in length, indicating they were left by massive herbivorous dinosaurs. Researchers attribute them to titanosauriform sauropods, a group known for individuals exceeding 30 meters in length and weighing up to 50 tons.<\/p>\n

Dating back 166 to 168 million years, the tracks suggest these animals once moved across a coastal environment. The findings reported by Moreau and colleagues indicated that several prints preserve fine anatomical details, including toe impressions, pads, and claw marks.<\/p>\n

This level of preservation is rare. It allows scientists to examine not only size but also aspects of foot structure and movement. One footprint, in particular, shows five clearly defined toes on a right foot, a notable feature for such fossils.<\/p>\n

\"GeologicalGeological section of the Castelbouc cave showing inverted layers and ceiling footprints. Credit: Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology<\/p>\n

A New Type Of Track<\/p>\n

One of the three trackways presents a unique combination of features. The researchers said that the footprints show characteristics not previously observed among sauropod tracks<\/a> from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. This led to the identification of a new ichnotaxon named Occitanopodus. The name reflects both the region of discovery and the distinct morphology of the prints.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis discovery demonstrates the great potential of prospecting in deep karst caves that can occasionally offer larger and better-preserved surfaces than outdoor outcrops,\u201d the study team concluded.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The study noted that the evolutionary history of sauropods during this time remains only partially understood. According to the published research, the variability seen in these tracks highlights gaps in current classifications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fossilized dinosaur footprints have been discovered on the ceiling of a cave in southern France, overturning expectations about…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":518410,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[59,90,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-518409","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-science","8":"tag-gb","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=518409"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/518409\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/518410"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=518409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=518409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=518409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}