THESE dinosaur footprints have long been a firm favourite for visitors to the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
But last year they were taken away while landscaping work was done on the front lawn of the museum in Parks Road.
Now the megalosaurus footprint casts are back with the completion of the work in a new formation.
Juliet Hay, conservator for the museum’s Earth Collections, plotted out a ‘walking phase’ with a short stride length and added a ‘running phase’ based on research in an article in the journal Nature.
In the new formation the footprints show the dinosaur walking at 4.23mph, breaking into a run reaching 18.14mph, before slowing back to a walk on the lawn’s south side.
Chris Jarvis, education officer, said: “From five-year-olds skipping along them, making giant steps and roaring, to secondary students honing their maths skills to determine the dinosaur’s size and speed, the footprints are a favourite discovery.”
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