Cal Orcko is Covered in Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints

Sunday, July 30, 2017

Cal Orcko is Covered in Thousands of Dinosaur Footprints

Cal Orcko, located 3 miles south of downtown Sucre in Bolivia, is home to the world’s largest and most diverse collection of dinosaur footprints from the Cretaceous Period.

Flickr/Hanumann

The limestone cliff hosts about 5,000 dinosaur footprints, with many dating back 68 million years.

Discovered on the grounds of the local cement company Fancesa in 1985, the cliff was closed off to tourists after mining conditions and erosion began damaging the area.

After eight years of closures, tours started last year to allow visitors the opportunity to marvel at these footprints.

Flickr/Ryan Greenberg

From the Parque Cretacico, which hosts a museum and dinosaur models, fossils, and paleontological information, you can take a one-hour guided tour to select areas of the wondrous paleontological site.

Flickr/Médéric

The tour starts in the Parque Cretacico, where you’re given a helmet as a safety requirement from the cement factory before going to the south part of the cliff, which hosts footprints of Theropods (carnivorous dinosaurs).

Then you’re taken through the cliff with your guide, who explains the history behind the Sauropod (long-neck herbivores) footprints you’ll see. There are tracks from entire herds of Sauropods, ranging from 26 feet long to an impressive 65 feet.

Flickr/Médéric

You’ll also get to peak at “under footprints,” the oldest layer of prints, which date back 70 million years.

The site contains the footprints of at least eight different species and stands as an ever-changing record of history in the Cretaceous era.

Flickr/Jenny Mealing

As parts become eroded, new prints are continuously being found in the area, which is why the park has submitted Cal Orcko to the Unesco World Heritage list in an effort to continue preserving the footprints.

Guided tours are offered Monday through Saturday at noon and at 1 p.m. Tours cost $4.35.

Source: www.businessinsider.com