Valley of the Dinosaurs

The Valley of the Dinosaurs is an area in the state of Paraíba, Brazil, that contains many fossilized dinosaur tracks. It contains the Valley of the Dinosaurs Area of Relevant Ecological Interest, a sustainable use area of relevant ecological interest. This in turn contains the smaller and fully protected Valley of the Dinosaurs Natural Monument. In 2015–16 there was concern that renovations to the tourist attraction, which had been delayed through lack of funding, might not be respecting the integrity of the site.

The Valley of the Dinosaurs is an area in the sedimentary basin of the Peixe River that holds over 50 types of ancient animal tracks, including those of stegosaurus, allosaurus and iguanodons. The valley covers an area of about 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) that includes the city of Sousa, Paraíba, and ten other municipalities. It is in a Caatinga biome. Tracks have been found in about 30 locations in the valley, with fossilized footprints of over 80 species at about 20 different stratographic levels. Most of the tracks are of carnivorous dinosaurs.

The tracks the dinosaurs made in the damp earth beside ponds and rivers in rainy periods hardened over long periods of drought, gained new layers of sand and clay from floods, and fossilized. Footprints are as small as 5 centimetres (2.0 in), perhaps from dinosaurs the size of modern chickens, up to 40 centimetres (16 in) long, such as that of a four-ton iguanodon. The most visited site is the island called the Passagem das Pedras (Crossing of Stones) in the bed of the Peixe River. This is about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) from the urban centre of Sousa.

Explanation from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_of_the_Dinosaurs,_Para%C3%ADba