On dinosaur's trail in Arabian peninsula

Washington, May 21 (UNI) Tracks of a herd of 11 long-necked Sauropods walking along a coastal mudflat have been discovered in the Republic of Yemen on the Arabian peninsula.

''No dinosaur trackways had been found in this area previously.

With the discovery of some tracks, we finally filled in a bit of a blank spot in the dinosaur map,'' researcher Anne Schulp said.

Sauropods, the largest land animals in earth's history, walked on four stout legs and ate plants.

The footprints dating from about 150 million years ago showed the sauropods travelling at the same speed along a river, likely in search of food, the researchers stated.

The creatures roamed the Earth from about 228 million years ago to 65 million years ago, the middle of the age of dinosaurs.

The well-preserved tracks, found about 50 miles north of Yemen's capital Sanaa, ranged from 43 cm to 70 cm and suggested strides of about 2.5 m, Mr Schulp added.

''It's rare to see such a big example of a dinosaur herd, which shows an interesting social behaviour for reptiles,'' he said.

''We really want to learn when did which dinosaurs live, where, and why was that. How did the distribution change over time, why did one replace another and move from one place to another?'' the researchers said.

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