GLEN ROSE, Texas — Drought conditions at Dinosaur Valley State Park have exposed hundreds of Therapod and Sauropod tracks never seen before.
Volunteers are hurrying to make molds of the unearthed tracks before rain replenishes the Paluxy River, filling in the prints with water and mud.
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," volunteer site digger Glen Kuban said. "It might be a once-in-forever opportunity."
Park staff say it hasn't rained nearby since May. The area is so dry, workers can shovel away sediment covering portions of the limestone riverbed.
So far, volunteers have unearthed about 400 tracks at the Ballroom site near the park's entrance. Each is roughly 110 million years old.
The exposed three-toed tracks belong mostly to the Acrocanthosaurus, which resembled a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Sauroposeidon, the state dinosaur of Texas once nicknamed Paluxysaurus, are likely responsible for the larger impressions resembling bear tracks.
"They were stepping on each other and running around," volunteer site digger Philip Scoggins said, joking that the dinosaurs' dance at the Ballroom site was far from elegant.
At the time, the limestone riverbed was soft mud located in a sort of bay in the ancient Gulf of Mexico. Sediment gently filled the dinosaurs' footprints, preserving their shape.
"Then, more and more layers built up," Kuban said. "It was buried for most of geological time until 1908, when a big flood came through and lifted off the overlying layers."
Visitors and scientists often discover tracks at Dinosaur Valley State Park, but park superintendent Jeff Davis said he's not seen this many prints exposed at once.
Tents now dot the riverbed, covering excavation sites. The activity is welcome, especially amid historic heat.
"The air temperature is 110 degrees, but it may feel like 120 to 125 degrees," Davis said. "People just don't want to be out in that for any length of time."
Drought conditions aren't typically good for business, Friends of Dinosaur Valley State Park retail manager Paul Baker said. But there is a caveat: newly-exposed tracks will likely draw visitors from around the country during the coming weeks, until rain replenishes the Paluxy River and the prints are again filled with mud.
"We'll be very busy," Baker said.