Severely dry conditions outside Dallas have uncovered evidence of a long-dead Texan.
Footprints of Acrocanthosaurus – a 113-million-year-old dinosaur – are commonly found at the bottom of the Paluxy River in Dinosaur Valley State Park.
But as an intense drought hit Texas this summer, the river dried up and revealed prehistoric traces.
A state park representative said CNN that the newly discovered traces belong to an Acrocanthosaurusrelative of T-Rex which was 15 feet (4.6 meters) tall.
Footage from the tracks shows three wide toes splayed from the heel, reminiscent of Jurassic Park. Acrocanthosaurus actually lived shortly after the Jurassic period, in the early Cretaceous period.
The slopes at the state park were first opened in 1909, according to their website. By the 1930s, paleontologists had identified tracks in the park as belonging to theropods—as Acrocanthosaurus and T. rex – and sauropods similar to the known ones brontosaurus.
In 2022, Dinosaur Valley State Park is located about 70 miles (112 kilometers) outside of Dallas. But in the early Cretaceous, the area was on the coast of an ocean and covered in mud that collected dinosaur tracks, the park’s website said.
The area of Texas near Dinosaur Valley State Park is in the midst of “extreme” to “exceptional” drought conditions, according to the U.S. government’s Drought Monitor.
This dry spell is part of the ongoing “megadrought” in the US Southwest that has plagued the region for more than 20 years. According to a recent study, this is the driest period in the region in at least 1,200 years.
Other long-lost secrets—though not so long ago—were also revealed in the Southwest as a result of the drought. In Lake Mead, officials found five sets of human remains this summer, including one believed to be a crime victim from the late 1970s or early 1980s.
A World War II-era sunken boat was also discovered as the lake’s shoreline receded.
The current megadrought is fueled by the climate crisis, and scientists expect droughts to become worse and more frequent as the planet continues to warm.
In addition to the drought, Texas has also faced recurring heat waves this summer, with temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius). Intense storms this week in Dallas left many roads flooded and at least one person dead.
It’s a heartbreaking story, more to come