EDM 720: Dinosaur trackway discovery in Ardley, Oxfordshire

That this House commends researchers from the Universities of Oxford and Birmingham on uncovering and excavating the largest known dinosaur footprint site in the UK, traversed by some of the Middle Jurassic period's biggest dinosaurs; notes the continuity of significant palaeontological discoveries in the region, dating back to William Buckland's discoveries at Stonesfield of a Megalosaurus in 1824; congratulates Gary Johnson for his discovery of the footprints on this 166 million-year-old dinosaur highway, in the course of his duties on the quarry floor at Dewars Farm Quarry near Ardley in Oxfordshire; recognises the diligent work of over 100 scientists, students, and volunteers, in unearthing over 200 well-preserved dinosaur footprints, including overlapping tracks, where the three-toed print of a Megalosaurus, a carnivorous theropod, partially compressed the large, rounded footprint of a Cetiosaurus, a herbivorous sauropod; wishes the team success in preserving the trackways for future generations; and looks forward to further discoveries, and additions to the fossil record, in the course of subsequent investigations as this impressive site continues to be explored.