GPS Coordinates: N32 52.462 E10 14.344
Governorate:
Delegation:
Site Highlights
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Footprint tracks
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Complete Cretaceous section
Access Route: Turning right at PK8 on the Tataouine-Douiret road, you can follow a track that leads to the foot of the Jebel Boulouha cliff. From there, you climb this cliff following a valley on a steep slope to reach the dinosaur footprints.
Site Description: In the absence of bones, the discovery of a fossilized dinosaur footprint is a privileged moment in a paleontologist's life. Generally, the carcasses we discover are the result of long years of fossilization. Conversely, footprints correspond to a precise second in the life of a dinosaur.
The discovery of dinosaur footprints in sandstone or limestone across the planet provides precious and unique information, especially regarding how dinosaurs moved. Numerous footprints oriented in the same direction can reveal that some species lived in herds. We can also determine their posture (bipedal or quadrupedal) and their diet: if there are both foot (hind paws) and hand (front paws) prints, or hoof-like marks, it is likely a quadruped, thus a herbivore. If claw marks are visible, it is undoubtedly a carnivore. Furthermore, travel speed can be estimated based on the distance between footprints.
In the Boulouha locality, an exclusive discovery of theropod (carnivorous dinosaur) footprints of medium size is found in the Zebbag formation of Cenomanian age (approx. 95 million years ago).
All footprints are preserved in the upper deposits of the Kerker member. Additionally, several prints were recovered from isolated blocks located below the in-situ layer.
A) Photo of the Jebel Boulouha outcrop; dashed line indicates the track layer level.
B) Invertebrate traces (Planolites sp.) found on the track surface level.
C) Field image and model,
D) 3D silicone mold of a well-preserved tridactyl footprint referred to a medium-sized theropod,
E) Field photo of a trackway,
F) Simplified drawing of an in-situ trackway.
Contessi Michela 2013
