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Zerbst Trackway
The Trackway is the first stop on the tour. Guests get to gander at 67 million year old foot prints by some of the coolest dinosaurs in the books. There was a Struthiomimus walking along the edge of the water, a Edmontosaurus coming out of the water, a crocodile also coming out of the water, a few Tyrannosaurs pacing and last but not least there was Saurexallopus zerbsti. The Saurexallopus zerbsti track was named after the family, but basically a pretty cool oviraptor.
The trackway was first found in 1997 by a hunter who was tracking some deer. Knowing we had dinosaur bones he ran back to the ranch house and told Leonard about his find. Leonard scratched his head knowing that there were no tracks in the Lance Formation, but he went and looked anyway. Excitement grew when he saw (which would be found to be Struthiomimus) tracks walking through the rock. Not knowing who to contact at first he called a University. The individual also must have scratched his head knowing that there were no tracks in the Lance. He told Leonard that most likely they were cow tracks and ended the conversation. Thankfully that didn't stop Leonard and his quest to figure out what they were. He just knew that they weren't cow tracks. One phone call led to another phone call which led to another and eventually a palaeontogist by the name of Martin Lockley came and was finally able to identify the tracks.
The tracks are honestly amazing. You can see the algae that was growing on the mud. You can see the skin impression in the Edmontosaurus track. You can see the swish the crocodile tail made in the mud. You can see the holes that snails lived in. You can get a feel that the Tyranosaur was pacing. Your mind can race trying to figure out what pushed the dried mud into the wet mud. And you can see the only track in the world, Saurexallopus zerbsti. There used to be two tracks of the Saurexallopus zerbsti that were side by side. One day during a tour it was discovered that someone must have wanted it for themselves and had chipped one completely away. The only thing that they got was chips of rocks. The track was completely destroyed. We are thankful we still have the ones we have left.
Time since 1997 hasn't been kind to the tracks. Struthiomimus is fading alot. We have taken molds of the last Zerbsti just in case, but seeing it in its whole is still pretty cool.
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