Scientists A. Guy Plint and Charles W. Helm discovered Canada's first dinosaur tracks from the Coniacian age, a rarely documented sub-stage of the Cretaceous period spanning 89.75 to 86.5 million years ago. Located in the Tumbler Ridge area of northeastern British Columbia, the site preserves footprints within the Marshybank Formation delta plain sediments. The authors emphasize that these tracks provide crucial empirical evidence of terrestrial dinosaur communities during an era when much of western North America was submerged beneath an inland seaway. The findings highlight an ecosystem dominated by duck-billed ornithopods alongside carnivorous theropods and rare armored dinosaurs. The research reveals how river floods and crevasse splays formed natural casts of dinosaur tracks impressed in soft mud. Furthermore, the diversification of flowering plants during this period directly supported the proliferation of large herbivorous ornithopods and the predators that hunted them. These discoveries significantly enhance our understanding of high-latitude Cretaceous ecosystems and paleontological gaps in North America. The research underscores the value of remote geological formations like the Tumbler Ridge UNESCO Global Geopark in preserving vertebrate fossil tracks.
