It was a relief to read about something other than our impending doom as a society. I think it is really cool that we can find bones and footprints of dinosaurs and plants from millions of years ago.
From the footprints alone, paleontologists can roughly identify which types of dinosaurs were in the region. This is incredible because it can lead to so much more information about what they ate or did during the day. We can further speculate why they were in the area and what kinds of food they ate. Some limitations that footprints may have are that there can be discrepancies among paleontologists as to which dinosaur do the footprints belong too. We learn a lot by examining fossils as well. In the fossils, we can tell how hollow the bones are or how strong or weak they might have been. For example, the hollow bone showed that the dinosaur had feet similar to that of birds. They would create lighter footprints, etc. This provides information as to what the dinosaur might have looked like and allows us to draw conclusions on how that might have affected its lifestyle. Although it is extremely difficult to be completely accurate due to lack of bones and other information, it is still incredible insight.
I am really excited to see these thousands of footprints and dozens of fossils in person. It is amazing to think that we walk the same earth these huge enigmatic creatures once did.
attenuated
to weaken or reduce in force, intensity, effect, quantity, or value
abutment
-a masonry mass supporting and receiving the thrust of part of anarch or vault.
-a force that serves to abut an arch or vault.
