Spooked Baby Dinosaur Ran on Two Legs

The footprints, found in the foothills west of Denver, may represent the youngest and smallest known apatosaur ever discovered. Plant-eating Apatosaurus, when fully grown, was as long as three school buses parked end to end, and weighed as much as eight Asian elephants combined.

The little dino, on the other hand, was about the same size as a small pet dog is today.The tracks for the infant dinosaur date to 148 million years ago. This was before the Rocky Mountains rose. At the time, the site was a broad savanna full of dinosaurs. Apatosaurus was the largest of these in the Denver area. It's even possible that the region once served as an Apatosaurus nursery. Paleontologists haven't ruled out that idea.

The tracks are ovular and about the same width as a coffee mug. While one animal left average walking footprints, another infant dinosaur ran parallel to adult tracks. The tracks could represent a scientific first.

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