Two brothers have discovered the paving slabs they’ve walked on for decades are actually covered in 400 dinosaur footprints dating back 190 million years.
The incredible find was confirmed after scientists examined the stones, which had originally been dug up years earlier.
The Ding brothers first spotted the slabs – marked with what looked like “chicken claw” prints – in 1998 and casually laid them down as stepping stones.
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The pair live in Wuli Village, Sichuan province, China, which is known as the “home of Chinese dinosaurs”.
It boasts around 200 dinosaur and vertebrate fossils, including rare pterosaurs and preserved dinosaur skin.
A museum now stands on the site where the slabs were dug up.
In 2017, the daughter of one brother posted photos online showing sharp claw marks and rounded imprints.
Experts soon confirmed the stones were packed with dinosaur tracks, as reported by What’s the Jam.
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Scientists say most of the prints belonged to Grallators and Eubrontes – bipedal dinosaurs that used a “ground-running” gait similar to modern birds, moving at 5.8 to 8.6 km/h.
Researchers also identified rare tail-drag marks.
Associate professor Xing Lida, from China University of Geosciences, said the markings were likely left when dinosaurs slowed down, paused to observe their surroundings, or displayed aggressive behaviour.
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