Stuck from dinosaurs around 168 million years old and discovered two decades ago in a deactivated quarry in Pedrógão, in the municipality of Torres Novas (Santarém), were made public this Saturday, a find that will give more knowledge to paleontology. Several entities have already committed to studying and preserving the footprints.
The paleontological deposit, in the Aire mountain range, was identified by João Carvalho, from the Torrejana Society of Speleology and Archeology, and the dinosaur footprint trails are located in the old Manuel Fernandes Quarry, renamed Pedreira do Espanhol. The new tracks are spread over an area of around 10,800 square meters, in a limestone stratum dating back to the Middle Jurassic.
The finding now disclosed is, in a straight line, half a dozen kilometers from Pedreira do Galinha, where, on July 4, 1994, João Carvalho also discovered the largest trail of footprints of dinosaurs sauropods of the world, 175 million years old, today the Natural Monument of Dinosaur Footprints of Ourém – Torres Novas.
Pedreira do Espanhol is in the cleaning phase, to recognize the total number of trails and footprints, but sauropod footprints of various sizes have already been recognized.
João Carvalho, who awaited the safeguarding and protection of the footprints of Pedreira do Galinha to publicize this discovery, explained to the Lusa agency that the decision to make this discovery public had to do with the inclusion of that monument and the Deposit with Dinosaur Footprints of Vale de Meios (Santarém) on the list of the 200 most relevant geosites globally. Both are located in the Serras de Aire e Candeeiros Natural Park.
Paulo Cunha/Lusa
Admitting that this was a well-kept secret, João Carvalho stated that the Pedreira do Espanhol was preserved, as it is deactivated. “I always said, including to the Park, that when they needed it one day, I would later make other footprints known”, he declared, assuming that as Pedreira do Galinha is already preserved, this was “the right time to include these in the geomonument” .
The need to publicize the discovery was also related to the existence of clandestine off-road activities in the area. João Carvalho, who highlighted that it was the industrial activity of the quarries that discovered this evidence, wished that the site be preserved, defending, for example, the creation of a pedestrian route to connect this find to the Ourém – Torres Novas Natural Monument, similar to the existing from others in the area.
“The people who walk here are people who preserve and enjoy nature”, he said, highlighting the possibility of “being able to see ‘in situ’” dinosaur footprints. For João Carvalho, “it was very important to leave them almost as they are”, but to clean and mark them, in addition to preventing motorized activities from taking place.
Researcher Vanda Santos, from the Faculty of Sciences of the University of Lisbon, anticipated that, although without understanding the whole, because there are footprints covered in gravel, the discovery “will bring more information, complementary”, to what is already known about Pedreira do Galinha or Vale de Meios. The paleontologist, who has been working on dinosaur footprints for the last three decades, considered this also a challenge for science. “I sincerely hope that this brings us more information”, said Vanda Santos.
In Pedreira do Galinha there is “a set of 20 tracks produced by dinosaurs”, with well-defined foot and hand marks, biologist José Alho, former coordinator of the monument and responsible for the intervention program in the space at the end of the 90s.
One of these trails, measuring 147 meters, is “the longest known produced by herbivorous and quadrupedal dinosaurs with long necks and tails”, explained José Alho, now vice-president of the Lisbon Tagus Valley Regional Coordination and Development Commission with the responsibility of the environment.
This monument opened its doors to the public on March 1, 1997. In addition to a reception area with a small auditorium and shop, it has a tour of the slab where the footprints are, a Jurassic garden with a panel on the History of the Earth and a ‘ Aramosaurus’, a steel replica of the species that left the footprints.
Preserve the footprints
“Firstly, what we have to do is have a scientific study that validates the importance of this slab and the footprints that exist here, this is the first step,” the Institute’s regional director of Lisbon and Tagus Valley told Lusa news agency of Nature and Forest Conservation (ICNF), Rui Pombo.
This head of the ICNF added that, in addition to the study, it is important that the scientific community also indicates the best way to preserve the find. Regarding the promotion of visitation, it must be “cared for, sustained, adequate, regulated”. In this aspect, Rui Pombo pointed out the possibility of having “a different visiting space”, natural, “without artificializing it” for a more massive visitation, and complementary to Pedreira do Galinha, today the Natural Monument of Dinosaur Footprints of Ourém – Torres Novas, from which it is six kilometers as the crow flies.
Paulo Cunha/Lusa
When asked if there is funding to carry out this work, he responded positively. “We will certainly be able to find this money, particularly within the scope of what is the Natural Park Co-management Commission”, he assured, noting that, in the last four years, in the Dinosaur Footprint Depository of Vale de Meios (Santarém) and in Pedreira of Galinha, almost one million euros were invested in terms of geoconservation, visiting conditions and teaching material.
The mayor of Torres Novas, Pedro Ferreira, highlighted the “absolute need for classification” of the space, guaranteeing that, “in every way, the City Hall will monitor and help preserve it”.
“We will have to seek, together with the competent authorities, to, in line with the first steps, classify what is officially recommended, to take advantage in terms of cultural and tourist heritage”, said Pedro Ferreira.
The president of the PNSAC Co-management Commission, Rui Anastácio, also president of the Alcanena Chamber, stated that the finding now made public is another point of interest that must be promoted and publicized to bring value to the territory, while the professor at the University of Évora Luís Lopes, president of the Portuguese Association of Geologists, highlighted the importance of the discovery for geology.
The geologist Galopim da Carvalho, who has already visited the site, sent a message in which he declared that the find, although without the monumentality of the Pedreira do Galinha deposit, “is another important element to add to the already remarkable geological and paleontological heritage of the PNSAC”, and expressed his conviction that the entities will contribute, as they did in that monument, to “care for and value it”.
Source: expresso.pt
