Мексикийн баруун хэсгийн Апатзинган хотын нутаг дэвсгэрээс 65 сая жилийн тэртээх үлэг гүрвэлийн мөрүүд бүхий тунамал чулуулаг олдсон нь эрдэмтдийн анхаарлыг татаж байна.
Мексикийн Үндэсний антропологи, түүхийн хүрээлэнгийн (INAH) мэргэжилтнүүд Сан Хуан де лос Платанос голын эрэг орчмоос 40 ам метр талбайг хамарсан үлэг гүрвэлийн мөрүүдийг илрүүлжээ. Орон нутгийн иргэдийн анзаарсан ер бусын ул мөрүүдийг судлаачид баталгаажуулсан бөгөөд одоогоор 50 гаруй мөр тоолоод байна. Судалгааны багийнхан тухайн бүс нутагт хийгдээгүй хэсгүүд их байгаа тул мөрийн тоо цаашид нэмэгдэх төлөвтэй байгааг онцолжээ.
Палеонтологичдын урьдчилсан дүгнэлтээр, эдгээр мөр нь гурван хуруутай, махчин болон өвсөн тэжээлт үлэг гүрвэлүүдэд хамаарч байна. Хамгийн том мөрүүд нь Тираннозаврын овогт багтах 4 метр хүртэл өндөртэй махчин үлэг гүрвэлд хамаарах магадлалтай бол, хоёр дахь бүлэг нь 2 метр хүртэл өндөртэй, хурдан шаламгай раптор төрлийн анчид байжээ. Гурав дахь бүлэг нь 4 метр өндөртэй, дугуй үзүүртэй хуруутай нугасан хошуут үлэг гүрвэл буюу гадрозавр ажээ.
Аравдугаар сарын 21-нээс эхлэн INAH-ийн баг тус газарт нарийвчилсан судалгааг эхлүүлсэн байна. Археологич Мария Фернанда Кабрера, Хосе Луис Пунзо Диаз нар фотограмметрийн арга ашиглан платформын 3D загварыг бүтээж байгаа бол биологич Хосе Луис Авила мөрүүдийн хэвийг авч, геологич Жасинто Роблес Камачо чулуулгийн давхаргын үүслийг судлахаар дээж авч байна. Эрдэмтэд үлэг гүрвэлүүд усны эрэг дагуу хооллохоор ирдэг байсан хэмээн таамаглаж байгаа бөгөөд цаашид үлэг гүрвэлүүдийн хөдөлгөөн, зүйлүүдийн харилцан хамаарлыг тодруулах шаардлагатай байна.
Энэхүү олдвор нь Мичоакан мужийн дөрөв дэх үлэг гүрвэлийн мөр бүхий олдворт газар болж байгаа бөгөөд Мексик даяар ийм төрлийн 30 гаруй бүртгэгдсэн цэг байдаг. Тус хүрээлэн нь байгалийн хүчин зүйлээс үүдэн элэгдэж болзошгүй энэхүү олдворт газрыг хамгаалалтад авч, цаашид нарийвчлан судлахаар төлөвлөжээ.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
On a ledge of rock at the edge of a stream near San Juan de los Plátanos, in western Mexico, villagers kept noticing strange marks pressed into the stone. Some were the size of a dinner plate, others longer than a man’s forearm, and most had three toes. They alerted Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History, describing the prints as tracks of “giant animals.”
They were right. Specialists from the institute have confirmed at least 50 dinosaur tracks at the site, in the municipality of Apatzingán, in the state of Michoacán. The prints are about 65 million years old, from the final stretch of the age of dinosaurs.
The tracks cover about 40 square meters (430 square feet) of a flat platform of sedimentary rock, the kind formed when mud and sand harden over time. Large parts of the area have not been examined yet, and the team expects the count to keep rising.
Three Kinds of Dinosaurs Walked Here
Paleontologists sort fossil footprints by their shape, their size, the number of toes and how deep they sank into the ground. Using those clues, the team has made a preliminary identification of three groups of dinosaurs, all of which walked on three-toed feet.
The biggest prints point to a large meat-eating theropod, possibly a member of the tyrannosaurid family, the group that includes Tyrannosaurus rex. That animal may have stood up to about 4 meters (13 feet) tall. A second set belongs to smaller theropods, up to about 2 meters (6.5 feet) tall, that resemble dromaeosaurids, the agile hunters often called raptors.
The third group was a plant-eater: a duck-billed dinosaur, or hadrosaur, up to about 4 meters tall, whose toes ended in rounded tips. The tracks range from 12 to 48 centimeters (5 to 19 inches) long and reach up to 30 centimeters (12 inches) wide. Their position near the old waterline suggests the animals came to the water’s edge to feed.
A Team Racing to Record Every Print
Documentation began on October 21, when a team from the Centro INAH Michoacán arrived at the site. Paleontologist Raymundo Cervantes Barriga confirmed that the prints belong to medium and large dinosaurs, both herbivores and carnivores. “There are many paleontological sites, but few preserve evidence from such time periods,” he said.
To preserve the tracks in detail, archaeologists María Fernanda Cabrera and José Luis Punzo Díaz are building 3D models of the platform using photogrammetry, a technique that stitches together hundreds of overlapping photos into a precise digital copy. Biologist and paleontologist José Luis Ávila is making molds of the prints, while geologist Jasinto Robles Camacho collects rock samples to study how and when the layer formed.
“A find of this kind opens a window onto a period that we all have in our imagination,” said Punzo Díaz. Working out exactly how many species left their marks here will take formal paleontological study, along with the direction the animals were walking and whether different species crossed paths.
Michoacán’s Fourth Dinosaur Track Site
Before this find, Michoacán had only three known dinosaur track sites: Playa Azul, in Lázaro Cárdenas, El Aguaje, in Aguililla, and an area on the border between Tiquicheo and Tuzantla. Apatzingán becomes the fourth.
Across Mexico, the institute has just over 30 registered dinosaur track sites, spread over the states of Puebla, Coahuila, Oaxaca, Chihuahua, Sonora, Durango and Michoacán. Many of them were found the same way, by local residents who spotted unusual marks in the rock. In late 2025, heavy rains in the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán area, between Puebla and Oaxaca, uncovered another set of tracks that specialists later confirmed.
“These tracks bring us closer to a story of Mexico’s territory from millions of years ago,” said Claudia Curiel de Icaza, Mexico’s Secretary of Culture, in the institute’s official announcement.
Molds, Samples and More Rock to Explore
The work at San Juan de los Plátanos is only beginning. Each track is being photographed, measured and copied in molds, and the rock samples will help date the layer more precisely.
The institute has committed to studying and protecting the site, which sits in an exposed stream bed where water and weather can wear the stone away.
The first identification of the three dinosaur groups was made by paleontologist Carlos A. Hernández Luna, based on photos and measurements of the prints. The largest tracks, at 48 centimeters long, are nearly twice the length of an adult man’s shoe.
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