Paleontologists Question ‘Dinosaur Dance Floor’ Theory

A highly publicized study claiming there were more than 1,000 previously unknown dinosaur tracks in the Arizona portion of Vermillion Cliffs National Monument turns out to be a bust.

A group of paleontologists visited the northern Arizona wilderness site nicknamed a "dinosaur dance floor" and concluded there were no dinosaur tracks there, only a dense collection of unusual potholes eroded in the sandstone.

"We didn’t observe a single footprint," said Andrew Milner, paleontologist at the St. George Dinosaur Discovery Site at Johnson Farm in southwestern Utah.

"We went up there optimistic, really hoping we were going to find footprints," he said.

But Marjorie Chan and Winston Seiler, who conducted the research as part of his master’s thesis, say they are not retracting their study””published in the October issue of Palaios, an international paleontology journal.

But they acknowledge there are strong arguments for the features being potholes rather than dinosaur tracks. The original study cited the possibility that the features were potholes and outlined arguments against it.

"We went through the proper scientific process of careful study, comparisons with other published works and peer review of the study by independent scientists,” Chan added.

"We gave the project considerable critical thought and came up with a different interpretation than the paleontologists, but we are open to dialogue and look forward to collaborating to resolve the controversy."

Chan said if the features are potholes, they are extremely unusual compared with typical potholes on the Colorado Plateau ““ and their formation still needs to be explained fully.

Nevertheless, the geologists felt obligated to inform the public of the difference of opinion because of wide publicity about the "dinosaur dance floor."

"Science is an evolving process where we seek the truth," Chan said. “I’m interested in the truth, no matter what the outcome is."

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Image 1: University of Utah geologist Winston Seiler walks among hundreds of dinosaur footprints in a "trample surface" that likely was a watering hole amid desert sand dunes during the Jurassic Period 190 million years ago. The track site, which also includes some dinosaur tail-drag marks, is located in Coyote Buttes North area along the Arizona-Utah border.

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