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Bolstering this idea of a panic-inducing theropod was its trackway pattern,
which was unusual. Based on their measurements, Thulborn and Wade figured it
wasmovingslowly,atonly8kph(5mph),andbecause itcrosseditsrightfootover
its line of travel, then its left foot, it may have even paused at some points before
pickingupspeedandturningsharplytotheright.Frustratingly,thisisalsothepoint
where the trackway reaches its end, forever eroded. This odd trackway pattern, ex-
pressed byonly eleven footprints, led Thulborn and Wade to propose that the thero-
pod might have been stalking, looking for prey in a target-rich environment.
Thulborn and Wade's map of the tracksite and other analyses of the tracksite
constituted a masterpiece of meticulousness, supplying a wealth of data to support
their interpretations. From their work they published two peer-reviewed papers, the
first with the provocative title of “Dinosaur Stampede in the Cretaceous of Queens-
land,” published in 1979. The second, published in 1984, was a much longer and
more detailed report modestly titled “Dinosaur Track-ways in the Winton Forma-
tion (Mid-Cretaceous) of Queensland.”
Istillpointtothe1979paperasoneofthemostcompelling Ihaveeverreadin
ichnology and often re-read it to remind myself of what constitutes a “gold stand-
ard” in the traditional study of dinosaur tracks. I also keep in mind that Thulborn
andWadecompletedtheirstudyof3,300trackswithoutthebenefitoftoolswenow
take for granted: no high-resolution digital cameras, digital calipers, global-posi-
tioningsystems(GPS),geographicinformationsystems(GIS),imageanalysis,laser
scanners, 3-D modeling, Internet, or other technological shortcuts that would have
made such a study far easier. Just heaps of hard physical labor, lots of surveying
and other measurements, and scientific reasoning, served with a healthy dollop of
intuition on top. And the end result was a tale that still astonishes.
This story of a dinosaur stampede in Queensland was so intriguing that it is
rumored to have inspired one of the more spectacular scenes in the movie
Juras-
sic Park
(the first one, that is, not its awful sequels). In this scene, a flock of the
LateCretaceous theropoddinosaur
Gallimimus
(“ostrichmimic”) stampedesinfear
