A searing has again uncovered prehistoric dinosaur footprints in a dried river bed.
Multiple tracks belonging to two different species of dinosaur — dating back 113 million years ago — were recently discovered at Dinosaur Valley State Park in Texas.
Although the park is known for dinosaur tracks, the new ones are typically covered with water and sediment from the and are not visible. So far, volunteer researchers have identified roughly 75 new dinosaur tracks in the dried river bed, park superintendent said.
"It has been another very hot, very dry year so our researchers are trying to take advantage of the drought," Jeff Davis said. "This is not normal for us. Normally, this would all be underwater."
This marks the second consecutive year a drought has in the state park. Texas, home to the park, is experiencing a severe drought, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Last year, it experienced an exceptional drought, the most severe classification.
Videos posted to by the park show volunteers brushing away dried silt and dirt to reveal the hidden prints. The dinosaurs would have left their footprints in sediment, which eventually hardened into what is now limestone.
The three-toed tracks likely belonged to an Acrocanthosaurus, which resembled a Tyrannosaurus rex. The 15-foot-tall [4.5-meter-tall] predator weighed roughly 14,000 pounds [6,350 kilograms].
The second tracks likely belonged to a long-necked Sauropodseiden, which could reach more than 100 feet tall and 88,000 pounds. Sauropodseiden is the official state dinosaur of .
Uncovering dinosaur tracks has helped researchers learn more about dinosaurs' day-to-day lives, like how they walked and interacted. For example, the tracks have revealed details about the dinosaurs' posture, the speed they traveled and whether they walked in herds.
The tracks will not remain indefinitely, Davis said. They will be reburied and filled with sediment after a good rain or two, which helps prevent them from eroding away. Eventually, though, the tracks will fully erode.
Before that happens, researchers map the tracks, take photographs, measurements and molds. Dinosaur tracks excavated from the in 1938 are on display at the park.
"These won't be here forever," Davis said. "We do whatever we can to preserve these pieces of history."
