Dinosaur tracks dating back 113 million years revealed in drought-stricken river

Aug. 23 (UPI) -- A river shrinking from severe summer drought in Texas has revealed dinosaur footprints dating back more than 113 million years.

Dinosaur Valley State Park near Fort Worth, Texas released photos Tuesday and a video showing the massive prints in the muddy riverbed of the Paluxy River.

"Most tracks that have recently been uncovered and discovered at different parts of the park belong to Acrocanthosaurus. This was a dinosaur that would stand, as an adult, about 15 feet tall and weigh close to seven tons," park spokesperson Stephanie Salinas Garcia told CNN in an email.

Other tracks discovered at the park belong to Sauroposeidon, which grew to a height of 60 feet and weighed 44 tons millions of years ago.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, more than 80% of Texas has been facing drought conditions most of the year, and in some areas for much longer increasing the risk of wildfires, crop loss and heat stress.

While the longest set of tracks found at the park was likely made by one dinosaur, they are expected to vanish once the rains return.

"It's the river that will bring in silt and sediment and pile those on top of the tracks," park superintendent Jeff Davis told ABC News. "That's what preserves them. That's why they're still here after 113 million years or so."

Prolonged drought has revealed other submerged relics as water levels on lakes and rivers drop around the world. Dozens of sunken WWII German ships have resurfaced along the Danube River, as Europe experiences its worst drought in 500 years, and a number of human remains have been discovered in Lake Mead as water levels in Arizona and Nevada hit historic lows.