Dinosaur Tracks, Clayton Lake, NM
Sept 14, 1998
Forecast
Dinosaur Tracks, Clayton Lake, NMSept 14, 1998 |
Forecast |
Grandma Fran Reiser told us about Clayton Lake State Park. Her fourth grade class recently studied dinosaurs and learned about the fossilized dinosaur tracks in Clayton, New Mexico. The tracks were discovered 16 years ago by an amateur paleontologist. A season of high water washed away the layer of sediment that was covering the tracks at the spillway of the dam across Seneca Creek. We traveled 400 miles from the Petrified Forest and were very disappointed when we found out the boardwalk around the tracks was closed for repairs. But luckily, Dad found a friendly ranger who took us on an up-close tour of the site. Her name was Nona and she was cool. She gave us sunflower seeds to eat and let us take home some of the small pieces of recycled plastic "wood" that had been cut from building the new boardwalk. We also found out that if we had been one day later, the trail to the tracks would have been closed for a big paving project. These tracks (called traces by paleontologists) were made in the middle of the Cretaceous period about 100 million years ago. About 500 tracks have been counted, made by at least eight kinds of dinosaurs. Some were plant eaters (herbivores) and some were meat eaters (carnivores), but all of them walked on their hind legs (bipedal). Try some of these links: (See below for additional resources you can buy online) |
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It's fun to be so close to the tracks! |
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There were living creatures at the track site too. We discovered a frog living inside a muddy dino track, and we saw some raccoon footprints. |
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Some people thought that these are tracks made by prehistoric worms that crawled under the sand. We think it is just the dried cracks in the mud. |
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These petrified waves were made by wind pushing wet sand into ripples. Harrison thinks they look like sideways slithering snakes (SSS for short). |
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"This track is funny because it has a puddle in it." |
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Nona laid us down to show how far apart the dinos hips were that made these tracks. Just from tracks scientists can tell how much a dinosaur weighed, the way it stood, the way it walked and how fast it walked. From the surrounding rocks they can tell how long ago the dinosaurs walked there. |
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You can tell this is a therapod track because it has three separate toes and claws. |
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This complex track is actually two prints made at different times. The three-toed track is deep and was probably made first. The other long, skinny track is from a flying dino. |
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What? Is that an ancient petroglyph in the shape of the Learning Family logo? No, our ranger guide Nona let us carve in "Graffiti Rock," where thousands of people have carved their initials. It was soft sandstone, the same kind that preserved the dinosaur tracks. The Learning Family logo will be preserved for hundreds of years, though it will eventually erode, just as the dino tracks will. That is why we need to be careful when we explore. |
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Resources |
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On
the Tracks of the Dinosaurs How do dinosaur footprints become fossils? |
 Dino Stompers by Playskool Pretend to make your own dino tracks as your little ones stomp around the living room with these stompers! Helps build balance while developing interest in dinosaurs! |
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Dino
Matchup!
Try
out some of these recommendations for your own learning activities.