If you ever need a reason to take a vacation to China, you may want to head to a small restaurant there.

And maybe while you’re dining on local cuisine, your lunch could lead you to a scientific discovery.

Afterall, that’s exactly what happened to one observant diner in southwest China. The eagle-eyed patron noticed a set of footprints in the stone floor of the courtyard. 

A team of paleontologists were called in. Using 3D scanners, the group confirmed that the footprints were from two dinosaurs that walked the Earth more than 100 million years ago, and were left by sauropods. The dinosaurs are known for being plant-eating dinosaurs with small heads and long necks and tails. They were known for their monstrous size, and their whole evolutionary game plan was to eat a whole bunch of plants and get big as fast as possible.

The discovery of these dinosaur footprints is significant for paleontological research, especially in China. 

“I would say that right now, China, in particular with regards to dinosaur footprints, is undergoing a fossil renaissance. A lot of new and exciting spots are being discovered,” said Scott Persons, a paleontologist at the College of Charleston, who has worked with the Chinese scientists involved in this discovery.

An outline of the dinosaur print found in China. Photo by Lida Xing

The fact that these footprints were found in a restaurant courtyard is a reminder that the remains of fossils are still all around us, even in urban areas. “Even sometimes when I go on walks around Salt Lake City (Utah), a lot of the sidewalks that we have out there are made from early Jurassic sandstone. And I haven’t seen a dinosaur in there yet, but you’ll see little tracks made by proto-mammals and scorpions and spiders that were crawling all over these sand dunes. So there’s really a whole sort of urban paleontology,” said Riley Black, a paleontologist and science writer.

While fossil footprints may not seem as dramatic as finding bones, they provide valuable insights into how dinosaurs lived.

Tracks are fossilized behavior. That is the motion of a living animal. And usually, tracks are some of the only evidence that we have of dinosaurs’ social behavior,” Black said.

The footprints were estimated to be around 10 meters (32 feet) long, indicating the size of the owner of the footprints in life. The discovery of these footprints, dubbed as “restaurant tracks,” has gained global attention.

A sauropod. Image courtesy of Dr. Andreas Jannel

This discovery serves as a reminder to always be curious about our surroundings and pay attention to the world around us. 

“It’s a testament to the value of being curious about our surroundings and paying attention to the world around us. For some lucky people, discoveries can come from unlikely places – even while you’re having a bite to eat,” concluded Dr. Anthony Romilio from the University of Queensland’s Dinosaur Lab.

Remember, it’s good to take time and look at the world around you. As Dr. Lida Xing from the China University of Geosciences said, “The footprints went unnoticed for so long, but once you know what they are, it’s hard to unsee them.”

Watch below for a look at the stunning footprints found.

Sources: NPR | IFLScience | Cretaceous | Research