How Long Did It Take Dinosaurs to Develop an Upright Gait?!

The ancestors of dinosaurs did not suddenly shift from sprawling limbs positioned at the sides of the body to upright legs placed beneath it. Instead, the transition took place over a long evolutionary period.

This was reported by a team of paleontologists led by Lorenzo Marchetti of the Berlin Museum of Natural History, who studied ancient tracks in the Dolomite Alps in Italy.

The researchers closely examined fossilized footprints of ancient archosauromorphs — dinosaurs and their close relatives — preserved in the Bletterbach Geopark.

By comparing the tracks with the animals’ anatomy, the scientists concluded that they belonged to erythrosuchids, large predatory reptiles.

The main focus of the study was to determine how the way these creatures moved changed over time.

Their limbs were originally positioned at the sides of the body, much like those of modern lizards. Over time, the legs gradually shifted underneath the body.

By the middle of the Triassic period, they were already capable of standing on fully upright limbs.

Their toes became longer, and the animals began walking by supporting themselves mainly on their toes rather than on the entire foot.

The reduction of the forelimbs eventually paved the way for the emergence of the first bipedal dinosaurs.

According to the scientists, while fossilized bones mainly provide information about body structure, fossilized footprints are among the most valuable sources for showing how animals actually moved.

The study once again demonstrated that the famous upright gait of dinosaurs was not the result of a sudden evolutionary leap, but rather a gradual process that developed step by step.