Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

17 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

18 hours ago

S&P 500, Nasdaq Near Record Highs as Rate-Cut Bets Creep Up

23 hours ago

Bobby Sherman, Easygoing Teen Idol of the 1960s and ’70s, Dies at 81

23 hours ago

Cargo Ship That Caught Fire Carrying Electric Vehicles Sinks in the Pacific

23 hours ago

US Supreme Court Backs South Carolina Effort to Defund Planned Parenthood

24 hours ago

4 Million Acres of California Forests Could Lose Protection. What Trump’s ‘Roadless Rule’ Repeal Could Do

2 days ago

West Nile Virus Detected in Mosquitoes in Fresno County

2 days ago

Fresno Residents Join Nationwide Fast to Call Attention to Gaza Crisis

2 days ago

Suspect in Bombing at California Fertility Clinic Dies in Federal Custody

3 days ago
Dinosaur Tracks Make Fresh Impression at Valley Forge Park
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
March 6, 2019

Share

VALLEY FORGE, Pa. — The national park on the site where George Washington and the struggling Continental Army endured a tough winter during the American Revolution boasts a new feature that’s a couple of hundred million years old — dozens of fossilized dinosaur footprints discovered on rocks used to pave a section of hiking trail.

The trace fossils, as they are known, are scattered along a winding trail at Valley Forge National Historical Park, on slabs purchased in 2011 from a nearby commercial quarry.

To the untrained eye, they appear as indistinguishable bumps in the sandstone rock, with the largest about 9 inches long. On a recent weekday, hikers, joggers and dog walkers used the trail, oblivious to the marks of prehistoric animals beneath their feet.

Those marks drew the attention of Tom Stack not long after he began working as a volunteer park ambassador at Valley Forge in 2017.

Stack, who has a background in geology and paleontology, recognized the approximately 210 million-year-old rocks known as argillite as being similar in age and type to fossil-bearing rocks used to construct a 1930s-era bridge on the Gettysburg battlefield, about 100 miles to the west.

Most of the tracks left in what were once muddy flats consist of three-toed foot impressions from the early days of dinosaurs, although Stack also found footprints from a non-dinosaur reptile, a relative of the modern crocodile. The largest would have been a bipedal theropod that was 6 to 9 feet long and 4 to 6 feet high.

Footprints Found Are Not Unique or Even Particularly Rare

“They’re subtle, they’re not easy to spot, but once you learn the characteristics of them, given the right sunlight angle and, at times, the moisture on the rock, then they are easier to identify,” Stack said.

There are also distinctive patterns in the rock thought to be caused by the cracking of dried mud, and from the ripples of a lake or river.

“There’s no question that they are. They’re consistent with the tracks that occur in equivalent-age beds all over the East Coast.” — National Park Service paleontology program coordinator Vince Santucci

The National Park Service requested the exact location of the rocks not be publicized, to help protect them from being damaged or removed. Officials said visitors will be told about the rocks and how park resources are protected, but not where to find them. The 5-square-mile park has about 30 miles of trail.

The dinosaur footprints Stack found are not unique or even particularly rare, and don’t add to the body of scientific knowledge about the creatures, said National Park Service paleontology program coordinator Vince Santucci. They date from later in the Triassic period and before the Jurassic era that’s so familiar to moviegoers.

“There’s no question that they are” dinosaur trace fossils, said Santucci, who examined them in person last April. “They’re consistent with the tracks that occur in equivalent-age beds all over the East Coast.”

More than 270 National Park Service properties contain some sort of paleontological resource, from Dinosaur National Monument in Colorado and Utah to the fossils scattered in rock used to build the Lincoln Memorial and Capitol Reflecting Pool in Washington, D.C.

A Significant Ice Age Fossil Location Beneath Valley Forge

Most fossils found on Park Service land are still where they were discovered, in the original bedrock location. But others were moved by human activity, including a set of burrows from an ancient species that appear on the rock facade of a visitor’s center bathroom at Valley Forge. Those rocks originated outside the park.

“I would think they are of value as an educational tool. Dinosaurs are a wonderful way to hook people into paying attention to the geological environment. Every kid loves dinosaurs.” Helen Delano, a senior scientist with the Pennsylvania Geologic Survey

There also happens to be a significant Ice Age fossil location beneath the Valley Forge park, the Port Kennedy bone cave. First discovered in 1871, it has produced fossils that include giant tapirs, ground sloths and saber-toothed cats. Port Kennedy is considered one of the most important mammal fossil sites in North America, with some findings having been displayed at the park visitor center, although most are at the Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia. That 750,000-year-old site was lost after a quarry was filled — partly with asbestos — before being rediscovered by scientists in 2005. It is not accessible to the public.

There are at least 35 Park Service properties known to have fossil tracks of ancient vertebrates, and vandalism and theft have been a problem. Federal law prohibits visitors from disturbing park elements.

A park spokesman said there have been preliminary discussions about developing an interpretive program to give visitors information about the trace fossils. Stack said the park should consider removing rocks that contain the best fossils, to prevent damage or theft.

“I would think they are of value as an educational tool,” said Helen Delano, a senior scientist with the Pennsylvania Geologic Survey. “Dinosaurs are a wonderful way to hook people into paying attention to the geological environment. Every kid loves dinosaurs.”

Stack said the rocks are abundant, cheap and durable, so they have long been used for paving, sidewalks, garden walls and similar features in the Philadelphia area.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

DON'T MISS

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

DON'T MISS

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

DON'T MISS

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

DON'T MISS

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

DON'T MISS

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

DON'T MISS

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

DON'T MISS

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

DON'T MISS

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

UP NEXT

Tesla Executive, Elon Musk Confidant Leaves EV Maker, Bloomberg News Reports

UP NEXT

How a Birthday Boat Ride on Lake Tahoe Turned Tragic

UP NEXT

Cuomo Concedes to Mamdani in New York City Democratic Mayoral Contest

UP NEXT

Mamdani Holds Lead Over Cuomo in Democratic Primary for NYC Mayor

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Sentenced to 8 Years in Federal Prison in Deadly Fentanyl Case

UP NEXT

Victims Identified as Death Toll Climbs to 8 in Lake Tahoe Boating Tragedy

UP NEXT

Florida to Build ‘Alligator Alcatraz’ Detention Center for Migrants in Everglades

UP NEXT

Americans Worry Conflict With Iran Could Escalate, Reuters/Ipsos Poll Finds

UP NEXT

Advisory Warns of ‘Heightened Threat Environment’ in US After Iran Strikes

UP NEXT

Amazon’s Prime Day 2025 Levels Up With Four Days of Deals Starting July 8

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

16 hours ago

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

16 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

16 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

17 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

18 hours ago

Clovis Police Searching for At-Risk Missing Man Last Seen in Fresno

18 hours ago

State Department Approves $30 Million for Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

18 hours ago

Wonderdog Still Barking: Justin Wilson Thrives With Boston Red Sox

18 hours ago

Anna Wintour to Step Down From Vogue Editor-in-Chief Role, Media Reports Say

19 hours ago

Feds Charge Bullard High Teacher With Child Porn, Sexual Exploitation of a Minor

19 hours ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

Independence Day is right around the corner and people are ready to celebrate! GV Wire compiled a list of Fourth of July events happening in...

7 minutes ago

7 minutes ago

Fourth of July Celebrations Begin Saturday. Here’s Your Fresno Area Guide

Hawaiian Airlines airplanes on the runway at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S. April 28, 2020.
15 hours ago

Hawaiian Airlines Hit by Cyber Attack

A view of Harvard campus on John F. Kennedy Street at Harvard University is pictured in Cambridge, Massachusetts, U.S., December 7, 2023. (Reuters File)
15 hours ago

US House Committee Subpoenas Harvard Over Tuition Costs

A convicted felon was arrested in Fresno County after investigators found a rifle, handgun, and ammunition while serving a search warrant. (Fresno PD)
16 hours ago

Convicted Felon Caught With Guns, Ammunition in Fresno Bust

16 hours ago

Fresno Advocates Want Respect for Immigrants, Defend Miguel Arias

American_Flag_Bitcoin_1280x720
16 hours ago

Crypto Industry Moves Into US Housing Market

Journalist Bill Moyers delivers the keynote speech at the People for the American Way Foundation's Spirit of Liberty dinner in Beverly Hills September 21, 2004. (Reuters File)
17 hours ago

Bill Moyers, Broadcaster and LBJ’s White House Press Secretary, Dies at 91

President Donald Trump speaks during a "One Big Beautiful" event at the White House in Washington, DC., U.S., June 26, 2025. (Reuters/Nathan Howard)
18 hours ago

Trump Says a Deal Related to Trade Was Signed With China on Wednesday

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend