July 31 , 2016

A footprint measuring over a meter wide that was made by a meat-eating predator some 80m years ago has been discovered in Bolivia, one of the largest of its kind ever found.

The print, which measures nearly 4ft (1.2 metres) across, probably belonged to the abelisaurus, a biped dinosaur that once roamed South America, said Argentine paleontologist Sebastian Apesteguia, who is studying the find.

The print was found some 40 miles (64 km) outside the city of Sucre in central Bolivia by a tourist guide earlier this month. The soft clay area near Sucre is well known for dinosaur tracks, and skeletal remains of the abelisaurus have also previously been found in the region.

“This print is bigger than any other we have found to date in the area,” Apesteguia said. “It is a record in size for carnivorous dinosaurs from the end of the Cretaceous period in South America.”