This AI App Can Tell Which Dinosaur Made a Footprint

Researchers have developed an artificial intelligence app that identifies the dinosaur species responsible for ancient footprints by analyzing their shape and structure. The tool, named DinoTracker, allows users to upload photos or drawings via mobile phone for instant analysis. The app was created by a team led by the Helmholtz-Zentrum research centre in Berlin in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh. It was trained on nearly 2,000 real fossil footprints and millions of simulated variations to account for changes during preservation. The system recognizes eight key features including toe spread, heel position, ground contact area, and weight distribution. Evaluations showed the app matched human expert classifications about 90 percent of the time. Analysis of tracks more than 200 million years old revealed similarities to bird feet. Footprints from the Isle of Skye in Scotland, formed around 170 million years ago, were attributed to early relatives of duck-billed dinosaurs. The study appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Funding came from the National Geographic Society, the Leverhulme Trust, and other organizations.