Several scientists said they had discovered evidence of a frenzied mating ritual between dinosaurs long furrows in the ground by blows of clawed feet .-
That behavior is common these bird species, and the discovery suggests that carnivorous bipedal dinosaurs called theropods did 100 million years ago, the researchers said.
Martin Lockley of the University Colorado Denver, said that dinosaurs probably were apparently males-groups and “frantically scraping” the floor with her legs three fingers with claws to attract mates. The animals were like younger versions of the tyrannosaurus. The footprints near the grooves suggest that had different sizes, the maximum of about five meters from snout to tail tip.
The grooves are up to two meters long .
It would have been fun to watch the ritual, Lockley said. “These animals were in a state of frenzy.”
Lockley, professor emeritus of geology, is author of a paper released Thursday by the publication Scientific Reports. The grooves were found in three places in western Colorado and west of Denver.
dinosaur specialist Thomas Holtz Jr. of the University of Maryland, who was not involved in the work He said it is reasonable to think that theropods opened the grooves. But was mating motif?
Holtz said he was not convinced that the work had definitely ruled out other explanations. But he added that there was no reason to rule out the idea of mating.
“Whatever the behavior recorded here, is an expression of the fact that dinosaurs, like all animals, made more than hunt and attack and eat and fight and all those behaviors assigned to them by popular culture, “Holtz said in an email.
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