Scientists from Spain, China discover Jurassic lizard tracks in Europe

BEIJING -- A team of international scientists from China and Spain has identified two well-preserved fossilized lizard trackways in Asturias, Spain, marking the first record of Jurassic lizard trackways in Europe.

Conducted by the team led by Laura Pinuela from the Jurassic Museum of Asturias (MUJA), in collaboration with scholars including Xing Lida from the China University of Geosciences (Beijing), the study provides key data for the extremely scarce record of Late Jurassic lizard tracks.

It also highlights a "field fossil discovery plus lab simulation" cooperation model, setting a good example for interpreting the behavioral evolution of ancient reptiles, according to the scientists.

The tracks were found in the Lastres Formation on the coastal cliffs of Villaviciosa, known as the "Dinosaur Coast" due to the discovery of numerous dinosaur and other ancient reptile footprints.

One of the trackways consists of seven footprints, with the trackmaker estimated to be nearly 50 centimeters in body length; the other trackway comprises six footprints, with the trackmaker approximately 30 centimeters in body length.

The discovery sets a new record as the most recent find of this footprint type worldwide, and it offers new clues for understanding the diversity of Jurassic small reptiles, the study noted, which was published in the journal Ichnos on Thursday.

Xing said that the Chinese researchers conducted comparative lab tests in Wuxi, East China's Jiangsu province, to compare with the ancient footprints. They studied the crawling behavior of two types of modern lizards by watching them move in containers filled with sand.

By comparing traces of modern and ancient creatures, the researchers have confirmed that certain locomotor mechanisms and alert postures of modern lizards may have existed as early as 150 million years ago, reflecting "a degree of conservatism in the evolution of life," said Xing, adding that the study provides valuable evidence for the study of evolutionary behavior.

According to co-author Jose Carlos Garcia-Ramos, also a European expert in the study of ancient vertebrate relics, the aid of modern technology enables scientists to reconstruct the scene where these prehistoric creatures crawled, turned, and possibly paused to observe in the delta wetlands, providing a new window for the global study of Jurassic lizard evolution.

These fossils are currently preserved and on public display at the MUJA.