Dinosaur Footprints Reveal Ancient Continental Connection Between South America and Africa

Matching sets of 120-million-year-old dinosaur tracks found on two continents provide new insights into Earth’s ancient geography. Researchers discovered over 260 footprints in Brazil and Cameroon, shedding light on the last period when land-dwelling dinosaurs could freely roam between South America and Africa.

A team of international scientists, led by Southern Methodist University (SMU) paleontologist Louis L. Jacobs, uncovered these remarkable fossils. The footprints were found more than 3,700 miles apart, yet they tell a unified story of life on the ancient supercontinent Gondwana.

Uncovering Ancient Connections Through Fossil Evidence

The dinosaur tracks were impressed into mud and silt along prehistoric rivers and lakes. They date back to the Early Cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. At that time, South America and Africa were still joined as part of Gondwana, which had separated from the larger landmass of Pangea.

“One of the youngest and narrowest geological connections between Africa and South America was the elbow of northeastern Brazil nestled against what is now the coast of Cameroon along the Gulf of Guinea,” Jacobs explained. “The two continents were continuous along that narrow stretch, so that animals on either side of that connection could potentially move across it.”

Most of the tracks were made by three-toed theropod dinosaurs, with a few likely created by sauropods or ornithischians, according to Diana P. Vineyard, a research associate at SMU and co-author of the study.

The similarity between the footprints found on both continents is striking. “We determined that in terms of age, these footprints were similar,” Jacobs said. “In their geological and plate tectonic contexts, they were also similar. In terms of their shapes, they are almost identical.”

Tracing the Split of Ancient Continents