Description
The Tracks are reputed to be the best preserved in the world. On
arrival at the farm, you must open the farm gate ( and please
closeit after you have passed through). You then drive through a
small river bed which could be in flood in the rainy season and
difficult for a sedan car. The drive to the farm house is another
300 metres where you pay a small nominal entrance fee. There is a
car park and camping area with shaded sites and BBQ facilities,
shower and toilets with hot and cold water. A well marked path
leads to the tracks. They occur on sandstones of the 200 Ma Etjo
Formation. The sands forming these sandstones accumulated in arid
conditions as wind blown dunes similar to those existing today in
the Namib Desert. Numerous reptiles lived in the interdune areas,
but as the climate became drier, these animals were forced to
concentrate near waterholes, small lakes and rivers fed by
occasional rainfalls and thunderstorms. Inevitably, their feet left
imprints in the wet sediment around the water. Later, these
imprints were covered by other layers of wind blown sand, and were
preserved as trace fossils when the sand solidified into rock due
to the pressure that built up as they became buried even deeper.
Although worldwide, about 900 dinosaur species are known through
the discovery of body fossils, only a dozen footprints have been
discovered and identified (Lockley 1991). From these it can be
concluded that the Otjihaenamaparero dinosaur possibly belonged to
the large carnivore order of the Therapoda. The dimensions and the
depth of the imprints suggest that the dinosaur had an appreciable
size, and might have looked like the reconstruction in Figure
8.25.2. Due to unfavourable changes in climate, it can be assumed
that the animals became extinct not long after they left their
footprints. There are a number of localities in the Etjo Sandstone
that contain dinosaur footprints, however Otjihaenamaparero is the
most impressive.
The site has been declared a National Monument and the
footprints are protected by law. The larger tracks are from
Ceratosauria and the small tracks (at the posted coordinates) are
from Syntarsus. (Whilst you are here look around the campsite for
hexagonal 'posts' of basalt used as camp seats)
Further Reading
http://www.namibia-1on1.com/dinosaur-tracks.html
http://allafrica.com/stories/200811140535.html
http://dearkitty.blogsome.com/2008/11/14/dinosaurs-of-namibia/ The
Roadside Geology of Namibia, revised edition2, by Gabi Schneider,
2008, ISBN 978-443-15084-6, pub Gebruder Borntrager, Stuttgart (
available for Purchase from the Ministry of Minerals and Energy, /
The Geological Survey of Namibia, 1 Aviation Road (Eros Airport and
opposite the Safari Court Hotel) Windhoek, Namibia
Gührich, G, 1926, Über Saurier-Fährten aus dem Etjo-Sandstein von
Südwestafrika. Paläont.z., 8(1), 112-120 Lockley, M., 1991,
Tracking Dinosaurs 238pp Cambridge University Press
To successfully log this Earthcache Question 1. At the
posted co-ordinates, which direction /bearing was this animal
heading? Question 2. If you follow this course today (use a map or
GoogleEarth) where could you suggest the Dinosaur was going to ?
Optional Question 3 How does this compare with the nearby Dinosaur
Tracks earthcache?